Editing Louis Vierne

{{short description|French organist and composer (1870–1937)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Louis Vierne
| image              = Vierne 1910.JPG
| caption            = Vierne {{circa}} 1910
| alt                = 
| birth_name         = Louis Victor Jules Vierne
| birth_place        = [[Poitiers]], France
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1870|10|08|df=y}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1937|06|02|1870|10|08|df=y}}
| death_place        = Paris, France
| education          = [[Paris Conservatory]] (1894-1911) [[Schola Cantorum]] (1911-1935) [[École César Franck]] (1935-1937)
| occupation         = {{plainlist|
* Organist
* Composer
}}
| years_active       = 1892–1937
| works              = [[List of compositions by Louis Vierne|List of compositions]]
| relatives          = [[Charles Colin]], [[René Vierne]]
| signature          = Louis Vierne - Signature.jpg
}}

'''Louis Victor Jules Vierne''' (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French [[organist]] and [[composer]]. He was the organist of [[Notre-Dame de Paris]] from 1900 until his death. As a composer, much of his output was [[Organ (music)|organ music]], including six symphonies and four suites, and works for choir and organ, including a ''[[Messe solennelle (Vierne)|Messe solennelle]]'' for [[choir]] and two [[Pipe organ|organs]]. He toured Europe and the United States as a concert organist. His students included [[Nadia Boulanger]] and [[Maurice Duruflé]].<ref name="Bärenreiter" />

== Life ==
Louis Vierne was born in [[Poitiers]] on 8 October 1870,<ref name="Bärenreiter" /> the son of Henri-Alfred Vierne (1828–1886), a teacher, who became a journalist. He was editor-in-chief of the ''Journal de la Vienne'' in Poitiers, where he met his future wife, Marie-Joséphine Gervaz. The couple had four children.<ref name="Warszawski" /> Louis was born nearly blind due to [[Congenital cataract|congenital cataracts]]. His unusual gift for music was discovered early.<ref name="Warszawski" /> When he was only two years of age, he heard the [[piano]] for the first time: his neighbor played him a Schubert lullaby, and after he had finished young Louis promptly began to pick out the notes of the lullaby on the piano. From April 1873, his father worked for the ''Paris-Journal'', moving with the family to [[Paris]].<ref name="Warszawski" /> At age six, Louis underwent an [[iridectomy]] in both eyes. He was then able to distinguish shapes and people, and could read large letters.<ref name="Laukvik" /> He took piano lessons with Madame Gosset in [[Lille]], where his father worked for the ''Lille Memorial''. She transcribed the music on large [[Staff (music)|staves]]. He also learned [[Braille]].<ref name="Warszawski" />

In 1880, the family returned to Paris where his father worked for several newspapers including ''[[Le Figaro]]''.<ref name="Warszawski" /> Vierne studied the piano with Louis Specht, a blind teacher at the [[Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles]] (National Institute for the Young Blind). He was impressed when listening to [[César Franck]] playing the organ in 1881:{{blockquote|The organ played a mysterious prelude, quite unlike any I had heard at Lille; I was bowled over and became almost ecstatic. ... I could not hold back my tears. I knew nothing; I understood nothing; but my instinct was violently shaken by this expressive music echoing through every pore.<ref name="Smith" />}} Vierne was accepted as a student of the institution in 1881.<ref name="Laukvik" /> Franck recommended that he study the organ, and Vierne began lessons with Louis Lebel and [[Adolphe Marty]].<ref name="Laukvik" /> He studied [[harmony]] privately with Franck, and attended classes at the [[Paris Conservatoire]], admitted as a full-time student in 1890.<ref name="Warszawski" /> When Franck died on 8 November 1890, [[Charles-Marie Widor]] succeeded him. Vierne became his assistant in the organ class and as organist at [[Saint-Sulpice, Paris|Saint-Sulpice]]. Vierne was awarded first prize in the organ class of the Conservatoire in 1894. He remained assistant to Widor in the organ class, and also to his successor [[Alexandre Guilmant]] from 1896.<ref name="Warszawski" />

In July 1898, Vierne was godfather at a baptism, and Berthe Arlette Taskin the godmother. She was born in 1880, and was a [[contralto]] singing who had worked with her father, the [[baritone]] and teacher at the Conservatoire [[Émile-Alexandre Taskin]]. Vierne proposed to her on 18 July, and they got married on 20 April 1899. Widor was the organist in the church ceremony on 22 April at Saint-Sulpice. Their first son, Jacques, was born on 6 March 1900.<ref name="Warszawski" />

On 21 May 1900, Vierne won the competition for the position of titular organist at [[Notre-Dame de Paris]].<ref name="Warszawski" /> On 11 September, he gave a recital together with his wife, as part of the world fair, [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]].<ref name="Warszawski" /> He held the post until his death in 1937.<ref name="Bärenreiter" /> Although he held one of the most prestigious organ posts in France, the organ of Notre-Dame was in a state of disrepair throughout much of his tenure at the instrument. He eventually undertook a transcontinental concert tour of North America to raise money for its restoration.<ref name="Carus" /> The tour, which included major recitals on the famous [[Wanamaker Organ]] in [[Philadelphia]] and its smaller sister instrument, the Wanamaker Auditorium Organ in New York City, was very successful, although the trip physically drained him.<ref>The Friends of the Wanamaker Organ. ''The Official Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Guide to Philadelphia's Historic Wanamaker Grand Organ.'' The Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Press: 1996.</ref>

When Vierne's mother died on 25 March 1902, he moved to a larger flat on Rue ses Saints-Pères. A second son, André, was born on 6 January 1903, and a daughter, Collette, was born on 5 January 1907. In 1906, a street accident in Paris caused him to badly fracture his leg, and it was briefly thought that his leg would need to be amputated. The leg was saved, but his recovery, and the task of completely re-learning his [[Pedal keyboard|pedal]] technique, took a half a year.<ref name="Laukvik" />
[[File:Louis Vierne et ses élèves à la Schola Cantorum.jpg|thumb|250x250px|Louis Vierne at the Schola Cantorum]]
Vierne obtained a divorce on 4 August 1909, citing the infidelity of his wife. While she became custodian of the younger children, Jacques remained with his father.<ref name="Warszawski" /> <!--His congenital cataracts did not make him completely blind, but he was what would be called today "legally blind." Early in his career, he composed on outsized manuscript paper, using "a large pencil" as his colleague [[Marcel Dupré]] recounted. Later in life, as his already limited sight continued to diminish, he resorted to Braille to do most of his work.<ref name="Warszawski" />-->

Vierne taught, as an assistant, at the Conservatoire for nineteen years, where his students included [[Joseph Bonnet]], [[Nadia Boulanger]], [[Marcel Dupré]] and [[Henri Mulet]].<ref name="Warszawski" /> He was expected to succeed Guilmant as head of the organ class, but instead, [[Eugène Gigout]] was appointed,<ref name="Laukvik" /> succeeded in 1926 by Dupré. Vierne taught at the [[Schola Cantorum de Paris|Schola cantorum]] from 1912.<ref name="Warszawski" /> His students uniformly described him as a kind, patient and encouraging teacher. Among his pupils were [[Augustin Barié]], [[Edward Shippen Barnes]], [[Lili Boulanger]], [[André Fleury (organist)|André Fleury]], [[Isadore Freed]], [[Henri Gagnebin]], [[Gaston Litaize]], [[Édouard Mignan]], [[Émile Poillot]], [[Adrien Rougier]], [[Alexander Schreiner]], and [[Georges-Émile Tanguay]]. In the summer of 1913, he was awarded two medals from the Salon des musiciens.

With the outbreak of [[World War I|WW1]] in 1914, Vierne's son Jacques, still a minor, wished to enlist in the military. Louis Vierne signed the necessary dispensation. Vierne went to [[Switzerland]] in 1916 for [[glaucoma]] treatment, expecting to be away for only four months, with Dupré deputy organist at Notre-Dame, but due to complications, he returned four years later.<ref name="Laukvik" /> In May 1917, Jacques was transferred to the 44th Field Regiment as a driver. He committed suicide on 12 November 1917 in Prosne in the [[Marne (river)|Marne]]. Vierne composed the [[Piano and String Quintet (Vierne)|Piano Quintet]], Op. 42, in commemoration. His brother [[René Vierne|René]] died at the front on 29 May 1918, remembered in ''Solitude'', a poem for piano.<ref name="Warszawski" />

Vierne returned to Paris in 1920. A year later, he met Madeleine Richepin, a young singer for whom he set poems by Baudelaire (''Poème d'amour'') which they performed in concerts together. In June 1922, he toured Switzerland, [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] and [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]. In 1924, he toured England and Scotland, and played in [[Lyon]] and Brussels. In 1927, he undertook a U.S. tour of three months with Richepin. In 1928, they spent the summer at a castle in [[Angers]], where he composed ''Les Angélus'', orchestrated ''Poème d'amour'' which they premiered in Paris on 1 March 1930), and began his lyrical drama ''Antigone''. After the death of [[Vincent d'Indy]] and the conflicts that followed, he left the Schola cantorum for the [[École César Franck|César Franck School]] in 1931.<ref name="Warszawski" />

The government of [[France]] made Vierne a [[Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur]] in 1931.<ref name="Warszawski" />

== Death ==

On 2 June 1937, Vierne gave his 1,750th organ recital at Notre-Dame. He completed the main concert, which members of the audience said showed him at his full powers ("as well as he has ever played"), playing his "Stèle pour un enfant défunt" from his ''Triptyque'', Op. 58. The closing section was to be two improvisations on submitted themes. He read the first theme in Braille, then selected the [[Organ stop|stops]] he would use for the improvisation. He suddenly pitched forward, and fell off the bench as his foot hit the low "E" pedal of the organ. He lost consciousness as the single note echoed throughout the church. He had thus fulfilled his oft-stated lifelong dream — to die at the console of the great organ of Notre-Dame.<ref name="Foerch" /><ref name="Houlihan" /> [[Maurice Duruflé]], another major French organist and composer, was at his side at the time of his death.<ref name="Bärenreiter" />

== Music ==
: See ''[[List of compositions by Louis Vierne]]'', [[:Category:Compositions by Louis Vierne]]
{{listen
 | filename     = Louis Vierne Final Symphonie No1.ogg
 | title        = Final Movement of Organ Symphony No. 1 in D minor, op. 14
 | description  = Performed by Marc Giacone
 | format       = [[Ogg]]
 | filename2    = Carillon de Westminster Vierne MFlierl.ogg 
 | title2       = Carillon de Westminster, op. 54
 | description2 = Matthias Flierl plays the organ of St. Jakob, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany ( Rieger/Austria, IV/69)
 | format2      = [[Ogg]]
|filename3=Sur une tombe Vierne op.36 10.ogg
|title3=Prelude, Op 36 No. 10 (Sur une tombe)
|description3=Performed on an organ by Ulrich Metzner
|format3=[[Ogg]]
}}
Vierne had an elegant, clean style of writing that respected form above all else. His harmonic language was romantically rich, but not as sentimental or theatrical as that of his early mentor [[César Franck]]. Like all of the great ''[[fin de siècle]]'' French organists, Vierne's music was very idiomatic for his chosen instrument and has inspired most of the great Parisian organist-composers who followed him.

His output for organ includes six [[organ symphony|organ symphonies]], ''24 Fantasy Pieces'' (which includes his famous ''[[Carillon de Westminster]]''), and ''[[Vingt-quatre pièces en style libre]]'', among other works. There are also several chamber works ([[sonata (music)|sonatas]] for violin and cello, a [[piano quintet]] and a [[string quartet]] for example), vocal and choral music, and a [[Symphony (Vierne)|Symphony in A minor]] for [[orchestra]].

== Discography ==
;Organ
*''Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works'': [[Pierre Cochereau]] & [[George C. Baker]]; Solstice; 7 CDs
*''Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works'': [[Christine Kamp]]; Festivo; 8 CDs completed of 10
*''Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works'': [[Ben van Oosten]]; MDG; 9 CDs
*''Louis Vierne: Complete Organ Works'': [[Wolfgang Rübsam]]; IFO Records, 2008); 8 CDs
*''Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6'': [[Marc Dubugnon]]; Aethon Recordings;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Intégrale des symphonies de Louis Vierne par Marc Dubugnon - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj0Y1iOTD0oWbN69ADWCOSkbpAHwP4fne |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=www.youtube.com}}</ref>
*''Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6'': [[Martin Jean]]; Loft Recordings
*''Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6'': [[David Sanger (organist)|David Sanger]]; Meridian Recordings
*''Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6'': [[Günther Kaunzinger]]; Koch-Schwann
*''Organ Symphonies Nos. 1-6'': [[Jeremy Filsell]]; Signum Classics
*''Second Symphony for Organ'': [[Christopher Houlihan]]
*''24 Pièces de fantaisie'': Kaunzinger; Novalis; 2 CDs

*''24 Pièces De Fantaisie'': [[Gaston Litaize]]; La Voix de son Maitre; 2 LPs
*''24 Pièces en style libre op. 31'': Kaunzinger; Koch-Schwann; 2 CDs

;Choir and organ
*''Louis Vierne: Complete Choral Works'': [[Truro Cathedral Choir]]; Robert Sharpe & [[Christopher Gray (organist)|Christopher Gray]]; Regent Records (2008)
* ''Messe solennelle'': [[Pierre Pincemaille]] (organ), ''Ensemble de cuivres de l'[[Opéra de Paris]]'', 1998 - Forlane 16786 {{OCLC|690092154}}.

;Other
*''Louis Vierne: Symphonie en la mineur, Poème pour piano et orchestre'' – François Kerdoncuff, piano; [[Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège]]; [[Pierre Bartholomée]], conductor; Timpani (2007)
*''Louis Vierne: La Musique de chambre intégrale'' (The Complete Chamber Music) – François Kerdoncuff, piano; [[Olivier Gardon]], piano; [[Alexis Galpérine]], violin; Odile Carracilly, viola; Yvan Chiffoleau, cello; Christian Moreaux, oboe; Pascale Zanlonghi, harp; Quartour Phillips; 2 CDs; Timpani (2005)
*''Louis Vierne: Piano Quintet op. 42'': [[Stephen Coombs]], piano; [[Chilingirian Quartet]]; Hyperion
*''Louis Vierne: Piano Quintet op. 42'': Tamara Atschba, Louise Chisson, Matthias Adensamer, Alexander Znamensky, Christophe Pantillon; Gramola (2014)
*''Louis Vierne: Preludes for piano op. 38:'' Tamara Atschba; Gramola (2014)
*''Louis Vierne: L'œuvre pour piano'' (Works for piano) – [[Olivier Gardon]]; 2 CDs; Timpani (1995)
*''Louis Vierne: Mélodies'' – [[Mireille Delunsch]], soprano; François Kerdoncuff; Christine Icart, harp; Timpani (1997)
*''Louis Vierne: Mélodies'' (volume I) – Delunsch; Kerdoncuff; Timpani (2005)
*''Louis Vierne: Songs'': Rachel Santesso, soprano; [[Roger Vignoles]], piano; Andrew Reid, organ; Hugh Webb, harp; Deux-Elles

== References ==
{{reflist
| refs =

<ref name="Foerch">{{cite journal
| last = Foerch
| first = Christian
| title = A Beautiful Stroke? A Side Note on the 75th Anniversary of the Spectacular Death of the French Organist and Composer Louis Vierne (1870–1937)
| journal = Cerebrovascular Diseases (Basel, Switzerland)
| publisher = Department of Neurology, [[Goethe University]]
| location = [[Frankfurt am Main]]
| date = 2012
| volume = 34
| issue = 4
| pages = 322–5
| language = de
| doi = 10.1159/000342648
| pmid = 23146962
| doi-access = free
}}</ref>

<ref name="Houlihan">{{cite news
| last = Houlihan
| first = Christopher
| author-link = Christopher Houlihan
| url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-houlihan/louis-vierne-concert-organist-tribute_b_1559222.html
| title = Famous Last Notes: The Epic Death of Louis Vierne
| date = 31 May 2012
| newspaper = [[Huffington Post]]
| access-date = 24 February 2013
}}</ref>

<ref name="Laukvik">{{cite web
| last1 = Laukvik
| first1 = Jon
| author-link1 = Jon Laukvik
| last2 = Sanger
| first2 = David
| author-link2 = David Sanger (organist)
| url = https://www.carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien/10/1815300/1815300x.pdf
| title = 3ème Symphonie op. 28
| website = [[Carus-Verlag]]
| date = 2007
| pages = 6–8
| access-date = 22 September 2020
}}</ref>

<ref name="Smith">{{cite book
| last1 = Smith
| first1 = Rollin
| last2 = Vierne
| first2 = Louis
| date = 1999
| title = Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lKtDXBjrHMIC&pg=PA10
| publisher = Pendragon Press
| page = 10
| isbn = 978-1-57-647004-6
}}</ref>

<ref name="Warszawski">{{cite web
| last = Warszawski
| first = Jean-Marc
| url = https://www.musicologie.org/Biographies/v/vierne_louis.html
| title = Vierne Louis, biography
| date = 31 May 2012
| website = musicologie.org
| language = fr
| access-date = 6 October 2020
}}</ref>

<ref name="Bärenreiter">{{cite web
| url = https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/focus/louis-vierne-1870-1937/
| title = Louis Vierne / 150th Birthday / 8 October 2020
| date = 2020
| website = [[Bärenreiter]]
| access-date = 14 July 2020
| archive-date = 3 December 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201203034508/https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/focus/louis-vierne-1870-1937/
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

<ref name="Carus">{{cite web
| url = https://www.carus-verlag.com/en/persons/louis-vierne/2/
| title = Louis Vierne / 1870 - 1937
| website = [[Carus-Verlag]]
| access-date = 14 July 2020
}}</ref>

}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |first=Rollin |last=Smith |title=Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lKtDXBjrHMIC |publisher=Pendragon Press |year=1999 |isbn=1-57647-004-0}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Vierne, Louis|cname=Louis Vierne}}
* {{ChoralWiki|Louis Vierne}}
* {{DNB portal|119278308}}
* {{AllMusic|id=mn0001516494}}
* {{cite web|url=http://philosopherswheel.com/vierne.htm|last=Meece|first=Eric|title=Louis Vierne, the Man and his Music}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120620195720/http://notredamedeparis.fr/spip.php?article399 Louis Vierne / Organist] [[Notre-Dame de Paris]] (archived)
* {{YouTube|rJKCaGha7nE|Louis Vierne performing at Notre Dame de Paris}}
* Performances of organ works by Louis Vierne in MP3 and MIDI formats at [http://www.logoslibrary.org/classical/vierne/index.html Logos Virtual Library]
* [http://www.myorganmusic.com/Orgonazene/Orgona_videok.html Vierne organ music videos from Tihany]

{{Louis Vierne}}
{{Authority control}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vierne, Louis}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1937 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Poitiers]]
[[Category:Blind classical musicians]]
[[Category:French classical organists]]
[[Category:French male classical composers]]
[[Category:Composers for pipe organ]]
[[Category:French Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Organ improvisers]]
[[Category:Composers for piano]]
[[Category:French cathedral organists]]
[[Category:19th-century French classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century French classical composers]]
[[Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery]]
[[Category:Pupils of Charles-Marie Widor]]
[[Category:Pupils of César Franck]]
[[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:20th-century French male musicians]]
[[Category:19th-century French male musicians]]
[[Category:French male classical organists]]
[[Category:French blind people]]