Marcel Dupré - Works for Organ, Vol. 13 (George Baker)

Information

Composer: Marcel Dupré

• Zephyrs
• 6 Antiennes pour le Temps de Noël, Op. 48
• 79 Chorales, Op. 28 (selections)
• Vision, Op. 44 (Poème Symphonique) '...Et la lumière luit dans les ténèbres.'
• Deuxième Symphonie, Op. 26

George Baker, organ

Date: 2003

Label: Naxos

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Description

Descended from a family of organists and musicians, Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen in 1886. Taught by his father, he had his first appointment as an organist at the age of twelve and in 1898 became a pupil of Alexandre Guilmant, his teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, with Vierne and Widor, studying composition with the latter and winning the Prix de Rome in 1914. Unfit for military service, he substituted for Vierne at Notre-Dame between 1916 and 1922, and found time to study all Bach’s music for the organ, in 1920 playing in recital the complete organ works, thus establishing his reputation. An international career followed, with recitals throughout the world. This he coupled with the position of professor of organ at the Conservatoire from 1926 and employment as Widor’s successor as organist at the Paris church of St Sulpice. He served as director of the Conservatoire from 1954 to 1956 and died in 1971. Equally gifted as a composer and as a performer, Dupré was a master of organ improvisation, in particular on the fine instrument at St Sulpice.

Zephyrs is a reconstruction by the American organist and writer Rollin Smith of an improvisation by Marcel Dupré on a theme by Leopold Stokowski, taken from a recording. It represents an art of which Dupré was a master, with brilliant improvisations in his recitals, often on themes offered by members of the audience, and ending, on occasions, although not here, with a skilfully constructed fugue.

The Six Antiennes pour le Temps de Noël, Op. 48, (‘Six Antiphons for the Christmas Season’), were written in 1952. The first, Ecce Dominus veniet, et omnes sancti ejus cum eo: et erit in die illa lux magna, alleluia (‘Lo, the Lord shall come, and all his saints with him: and there shall be on that day great light, alleluia’), for Vespers of the first Sunday of Advent, takes as its basis the plainsong of the antiphon, heard first in the upper part. The second, Omnipotens sermo tuus, Domine, a regalibus sedibus veniet, alleluia (‘Thy all-powerful word, Lord, shall come from the abodes of kings, alleluia’), is a Vespers antiphon for the fourth Sunday of Advent, again based on the plainsong. Tecum principium, in die virtutis tuae in splendoribus sanctorum, ex utero ante luciferum genui te (‘Thine is the princedom in the day of thy virtue, amid the splendours of the saints, from the womb before dawn I engendered thee’) is an antiphon for Second Vespers on Christmas Day. The composer varies slightly the inflection of the plainchant, the basis of a tranquil meditation. Germinavit radix Jesse: orta est stella ex Jacob: Virgo peperit Salvatorem: te laudamus, Deus noster (‘The root of Jesse has had seed; the star of Jacob has arisen: the Virgin has brought forth the Saviour: we praise thee, our God’), an antiphon for Second Vespers on the Feast of the Circumcision, develops the chant in a livelier mood. It is followed by Stella ista sicut flamma coruscat, et Regem Regum Deum demonstrat: Magi eam viderunt et magno Regi munera obtulerunt (‘That star shines as a flame, and shows God, the King of Kings: wise men saw it and offered gifts to the great King’), for Second Vespers on the Feast of the Epiphany, offers the plainsong melody in the upper part in a serene meditation. The Second Vespers antiphon for the Purification, also heard at the blessing of the candles, Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel (‘A light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel’) has the plainsong in the pedals, in a jubilant setting.

The Seventy-Nine Chorales, Op. 28, were intended to serve as an introduction to Bach’s chorale preludes, offering relatively simple versions of the same chorale melodies, later to be tackled in their more elaborate form. Durch Adam’s Fall ist ganz verderbt (‘Through Adam’s fall is the world defiled’) is heard on manuals only in a two-part version. The familiar Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott (‘A mighty fortress is our God’) is heard in fuller form, a Lutheran version of Psalm 46. Erbarm’ dich mein, o Herre Gott (‘Have mercy upon me, O Lord, my God’) is in the form of a canon at the octave between the soprano and tenor voices. Ich hab’ mein’ Sach’ Gott heimgestellt (‘In thee, O God, have I put my trust’) has the chorale melody in the tenor. It is followed by Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (‘Unto thee I cry, Lord Jesus’), which has the chorale melody in an elaborated version in the soprano.

The symphonic poem Vision, Op. 44, first published in 1948, has the explanatory superscription ‘Et la lumière luit dans les ténèbres’ (‘And the light shines in the darkness’). It is with the darkness and lower depths that the work starts, growing louder, until a passage marked Grave, with a trompette theme over shifting sustained chords. The flute stop is used as one of a pair of voices, moving on to an Andante cantabile, introducing the characteristic sounds of the voix céleste. The music slowly unwinds, increasing in pace before a toccata-like Vivo and a dynamic climax, a clearly defined melody and a massive Largamente, as the light shines through the darkness. The work ends with a brief return to the motif of the opening.

Further chorales from the collection of Op. 28 start with two versions of In dich hab’ich gehoffet, Herr (‘In thee, Lord, have I hoped’), in E minor and A major respectively, the second appearing in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. In dir ist Freude (‘In thee is joy’) is a chorale for New Year’s Day, with full organ, and the well-known In dulci jubilo for Christmas, making use of the voix céleste. The selection ends triumphantly with Valet will ich dir geben (‘Farewell’), for full organ, with the chorale in the pedals.

The Symphonie No. 2, Op. 26, in C sharp minor, was published in 1929. It starts with a Preludio in which a toccata-like passage is contrasted ontrasted with the grander figuration of the opening and other chordal writing, providing the two subject groups of first movement form. There is a massively orchestrated climax, before a recapitulation and a C sharp major ending. The B minor Intermezzo, the third of its three sections a varied recapitulation of the first, has a more complex central section, as always with careful registration prescribed. The marching chords of the C sharp major Toccata give way to a mood of relative relaxation, before their return, with a now familiar pedal motif that returns yet again in the final section.

— Keith Anderson

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Marcel Dupré (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist and composer. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Guilmant, Vierne and Widor, and won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1914. Renowned for his extraordinary memory and virtuosity, he performed more than 2,000 organ recitals worldwide. Dupré served as organ professor and later director of the Paris Conservatoire, while remaining titular organist at St. Sulpice from 1934 until his death. His extensive, technically demanding compositions and influential teaching shaped generations of organists, such as Jehan and Marie-Claire Alain and Olivier Messiaen.

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George Baker (born 1951) is an American organist, composer, educator and dermatologist. After earning his bachelor's degree at Southern Methodist University, he pursued advanced studies in Paris and received the Prix de Virtuosité from the Schola Cantorum in 1975. Baker also obtained his master's degree and became a dermatologist. A winner of several international organ competitions, he has produced acclaimed recordings, including the complete organ works of J. S. Bach and Louis Vierne. He has also published over 20 compositions and currently teaches organ improvisation at SMU Meadows School of the Arts.

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