André Marchal
André Marchal | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | André Louis Marchal |
| Born | 6 February 1894 Paris, France |
| Died | 27 August 1980 (aged 86) Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France |
| Occupation(s) | Organist, organ teacher |
| Instrument | Pipe organ |
André Louis Marchal (6 February 1894 – 27 August 1980) was a French organist and organ teacher. He was one of the great initiators of the twentieth-century organ revival in France and one of the cofounders of the Association des amis de l'orgue alongside Norbert Dufourcq.
Biography
[edit]Marchal was born blind in Paris. Undaunted by this handicap, he studied the organ under Eugène Gigout at the Paris Conservatoire and there, in 1913, won First Prize in organ-playing. Four years later he also won the prix d'excellence for fugue and counterpoint.
Marchal concertized widely, both in France and abroad. He played a series of recitals at the Cleveland Museum of Art in late 1947 and early 1948.[1] Marchal taught organ at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris, in addition to serving as titular organist of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1915–1945) and Saint-Eustache (1945–1963). He resigned from Saint-Eustache in 1963, his departure being brought about over a conflict concerning the correct organ builder to be hired to restore Saint-Eustache's instrument.[2]
He was an unparalleled improviser and was recognized as such by Fauré.[3] Among his students were many distinguished musicians such as Jean Langlais, Peter Hurford, Louis Thiry and Jean-Pierre Leguay, one of three titulaires du grand orgue of Notre-Dame de Paris.
He died in 1980 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz at the age of 86.
Awards and recognition
[edit]- Officer of the Légion d’honneur (1960)
- Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1965)
- National Patron of Delta Omicron[4]
External links
[edit]- Short biography by the organist's daughter, Jacqueline Englert-Marchal
- A 1962 recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcGPFfVCiDI
References
[edit]- ^ "Andre Marchal" (PDF). The Diapason. 39 (2): 2. January 1, 1948.
- ^ Robert Laffont, Dictionnaire des interprètes, Paris 1982, quoted on Erato Disques (CD set), Franck: L'œuvre Intégral Pour Orgue 1994.
- ^ "Arbiter Liner Notes". Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ Delta Omicron Archived 2010-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
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- 1894 births
- 1980 deaths
- Musicians from Paris
- Organ improvisers
- French classical organists
- Blind classical musicians
- Officers of the Legion of Honour
- Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 20th-century French classical musicians
- 20th-century French organists
- 20th-century French male musicians
- French male classical organists
- French blind people
- French classical musician stubs
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