Pierre Cochereau Improvises at Notre Dame de Paris

[Vladislaw81]

Yes, Pierre Cochereau is the one and only organ Master. I'm Russian, not Francais, but I can feel it, too. It's great!

And, of course, the acoustics of Notre Dame de Paris is unbelieveable fantastic. To my mind, no one cathedral has this kind of acoustics. Large, even giant, all-mighty. I'd called it The Voice Of God. It sounds like as if God Himself came rom the heaven.

[DecimaNona45]

@SebastianoColetta Queste cose vengono dette da persone ignoranti , sopratutto nell'organaria materia , dove l'ignoranza dilaga .

[DecimaNona45]

@SebastianoColetta Ma no dai non era così brutta come improvvisazioni ... un po' strana ... un consiglio .. ascoltale bene le improvvisazioni di Pierre Cochereau

[LCRECORDS1]

Is not this one the great organ Cavaille Coll, this one which is??? Is that it(he,she) marks?

[AdversusHaereses]

How is this piece of ugliness worthy of being played in the House of the Lord?!

[Sinatra70]

@AdversusHaereses - I don't know how famiiar you are with the work of Pierre Cochereau, but during his lifetime he was considered one of the greatest improvisers in the world. This is not one of my favorites among his improvisations; I would refer you to his album of improvisations on Christmas themes (Solstice CD SOCD-152). I think you will find that a much better representation of the type of work he did at Notre Dame. I would also recommend finding other Cochereau videos on YouTube as well.

[sdegrace]

C'est quelque chose!!! Très vigilant le monsieur!

[keithcb2003]

back in 1963 I was fortunate to stand beside this man one Sunday morning. Truely amazing.

Keith

[aamusc]

@keithcb2003 Yes, that is a blessing. Thanks for sharing!

[shylock2]

This improvisation was published in 2005-2006. It followed a concert that included the great passacaglia (Bach) and a piece by Couperin I forget the title. Regarding improvisation, it consisted of six parts in all. The 3 missing pieces took place after the first part (it). The whole forms a kind of symphony in six movements, connected by a single theme, often repeated endlessly throughout the work.

[chamade216]

Hi, who published this? Weher can I buy this CD or DVD?

[shylock2]

Prodigieuse improvisation! Le grand Cochereau semble réveiller les forces obscures de la cathédrale, tel un démiurge.

[shylock2]

Cette improvisation a été publiée en 2005-2006. Elle concluait un concert qui comprenait la grande passacaille (Bach) ainsi qu'une pièce de Couperin dont j'ai oublié le titre. Pour ce qui concerne l'improvisation, elle comprenait six parties en tout. Les 3 pièces manquantes prenaient place après la première partie (celle-ci).

[ceesopurk]

SO UGLY!!!!!

[chamade216]

1:11 is like Hindemith's piano sonata no.3. fugue:-) to me.

[PaterEngelbert]

Schauerlich, aber großartig.

[omahas9000]

I think it's vitally important that we remember the fidelity of this recording....in other words, we can't know the full nuance of the work. This man is genius, that much is clear. Marcel Dupre said nothing less. I only wish we could have been there...on that day.

[lefantomedelopera7]

This was a very nice and traditional (and... exothic) organ play. I would love to see an improvisation played in a 'barroque way', some intense voices fight. Well, I know it is the tradition, and it's not something to say crap, if you don't like it, don't hear it, it's only like 'modern art', you would never know what's going on without knowing and feeling the whole thing,

[GJmusique]

OK, this is gonna earn me a kazillion negative points, but I don't care:

I HATE this man. He ruined the beautiful french music tradition. It's technically and harmonically that advanced, that you can't tell the difference to his dissonant atonality and a toddler's drawing...

*hides*

[adriorgue]

c'est surtout un des plus grands maitres de l'improvisation et au contraire il a enrichit la tradition de la musique française, votre commentaire est trés pauvre et injustifié.

[ContreBombarde]

@GJmusique Wow... you really could get into trouble with that. For me, Cochereau is a legend and my idol.... BUT, we all have our likes and dislikes. No amount of negativity from me or anyone will make another change their view. Plain and simple.

[chamade16]

With respect, perhaps you should widen your vocabulary. The musical language used is no more 'advanced' than Prokofiev, Bartok, Poulenc or Dupre, i.e. nearly a century old now, and arguably rather conservative, compared with Schoenberg, Messiaen, Xenakis, Stockhausen...

As for ruining a tradition, I'd say he was seemlessly part of it.

[931DPM]

I hope the remaining parts of the entire improvisation by Pierre Cochereau will be posted here as well in the future. So far, only selections have been published:

I. Prélude and Ricercare

II. Adagio (apparently preceded by several variations, not yet published)

III. Final-Toccata.

[PiedPuyper]

Cochereau was one of the geniuses of the 20th century.

I have heard him play the Dupre Symphonie-Passion, then improvise his own 4 movement Symphonie-Passion.

I'll never forget it.

[organman52]

This is not improvisation. It is rambling around in an environment of devices, chord clusters and rhetoric.

[choirboyfromhell1]

WOAH!..... INCREDIBLE!

[64ftContraBombarde]

1:08 you can hear the bells in the background!

[Pedalpoint1]

I have watched this far to many times. But even so, it never ever gets boring! I love this. WOOOOOOOOOOOW! LOL

[nofactzone]

Looking for a recording : Camille Saint Saëns Symphony n°3 in C min op.78, 'with organ' : 4th mvt .P Cochereau ( played at Notre Dame Paris), w/the Berlin Phil, Cond. H von Karajan. DG 439 014-2. How would this happen? Von K & the Phil decamped to Paris to play at the Cathedral? Wow! As a kid, godparents (Parisian) took us to hear Cochereau improvise Sunday afternoons. I can remember the sense of dematerialisation, as the mighty instrument THUNDERED and ROARED. We felt literally blown away!

[Pierrefilant]

@nofactzone Je crois pouvoir vous dire que Pierre Cochereau a dû enregistrer cette symphonie avec un casque sur les oreilles,en duplex avec l'orchestre de Karajan,ou à posteriori .P.C. était un habitué de cette technique.Voir à ce sujet le livre d'Yvette Carbou et le DVD de Soltice.

Dominique Fellot, ancien conseiller technique de Pierre Cochereau. dominique.fellot@orange.fr

[advisorC101]

My ears are ringing! Its like shell shock!

[obxemt]

I'm with you. I don't doubt his technical ability, but this is terrible.

[codeman2008]

Each part of this improvisation is related, the beginning model is heard again in the flute when he plays a flute over string stops, and again when he starts on principals, and then again several times in the pedal. What he does with the manuals and pedal from 2:29 - 2:50 is absolutely stunning and beautiful. :D

[tribuswinkel]

do it better genius....

[Sesquiltera]

This isn't Messiaen for sure, it's an improv by Cochereau himself.

[1401JSC]

It certainly doesn't have the research for colours that Messiaen's works show.

Admirable, quand même.

[cezig]

Emouvant de revoir ce grand organiste ! merci !

[Palata6]

Any sheet music available for this?

[orgatrain]

None of that Shit

(the recording devices(ever worked after the restoration, it was one of the biggest wastes of tax payer money in Frances history.

[richard50000]

NUL!!!!!!!!!

[musicistarompipalle]

Sicuramente geniale e irragiungibile, ma improvvisare in quell'organo e con quell'acustica è ben più agevole che in uno strumento meccanico messo in un'acustica meno roboante

[AlainLeboeuf]

la cathédrale de Paris est un grande cathédrale , où la Bombarde résonne en grands echos .

[boltonbrowne]

hmmmmm....sounds like...Messiaen?

[BeFrSc]

same style, french, early 20th Century, Cochereau was taught by Marcel Dupré, so you're very close. But Cochereau wasn't as experimental as Messiaen was, not as bold or serialist. But just listen to that Chamade stop roar throughout the Cathedral, WOW!!

[BeFrSc]

i've been mad for ages lol. but come on, I made that comment 5 months ago, thats before I learned a lot in theory lol recently lol. shhhhhh, keep it quiet lol.

[BeFrSc]

Those were the days lol, Vierne is my favourite though, way above anyone else.

[GJ1986]

sounds like... something I don't like :P

[Capricornboy]

GJ1986 your face is.... something I don't like

[GJ1986]

Bad luck. I'm lesbian anyway ;)

[KptNeemo]

Who asked you if you liked GJ1986's face or not? You can keep comments like that, to yourself.

[Sesquiltera]

Say that to him

[Capricornboy]

Who asked you what I can say or not? You take your unmusical fag ass out of here, you're nothing but a dirt eating garbage can full of poop!

[virginiaorganbuilder]

Not that good...

[jezzatheorganist]

That's not the present console of today is it?

[Sulpice1863]

What you see is not the current console. Cochereau's console was replaced during a major overhaul of the organ during the 1990s.

[keraulophone]

Has the whole console been removed? I thought only the wiring had been replaced by a new computer.

[Sulpice1863]

I have been told that the shell, keyboards, and interior electrical systems have all been replaced. However, I seem to recall that the pedal board is from the Cochereau era. A servo-motion keying system was installed during the 1990s rebuild, but my understanding is that it was removed or simplified later. The combination action system is controlled from a PC, which certainly was not present in Cochereau's console.

[keraulophone]

The bench is also still Cochereau's. There is a small dark spot on the place he used to put down his cigarette!

[Sulpice1863]

Interesting. That is a new one on me. I will look for the stain the next time I am there.

[acorntechnique]

@keraulophone

Smoking inside the church....

[chamade216]

I don't think the whole console was repleaced in 1991. As far as I know they kept almost everything from Cochereau's console except the electronics. The keys, the stops and the wood are the same but a bit larger.

[Sulpice1863]

I have been told from reliable sources that all the shell was replaced too. If the key tops are from the earlier console, they must have been refinished. Certainly the key action is new.

[piccolotpt]

I do not hear any music here.

[CamilleCDC]

Deaf as a post perhaps?

[chamade216]

That's your problem:-)))))

[chamade216]

When he plays I can't believe how he does it, He had an incredible piano technique also. I think the organ's voice was the best between ~1970-1990. He was the truly magican, nobody can even imitate him ever since...

I wish I had seen him only once, but I was just 3 in 1984. I started practicing piano and organ late, at 14 years old, when I heard Pierre Cocherau impovisiong "Marche Royale" on the radio. I like him the most, and I like this organ the most.

[1401JSC]

Why "imitate"?

It would only be a diluted and somewhat sterile shadow of the original.

To be a good improvisator, you have to be original, I think.

[organimagister]

Wooooow!!!

[djrazormaid]

I saw Cochereau in conert in Houston in the early 80's. Absolutely stunning! The organ master of inproves.

[ThirtyTwoFoot]

Heard him in Paris and then in London when he played at the Royal Albert Hall. He made the organ there sound just like Notre Dame! Goodness knows how he did it. Unbelievable playing.

[marcdub2004]

@sovereign254,this was recorded in the early 80'ies, when the organ was "dying", like Pierre was declining. Both suffered, the organ from problems with the electrics and several other dysfunctions besides tuning problems, and Pierre from increasing problems getting his organ restored (and several others i wont name here...) Thereto the recording isn't that good. Nevertheless there is still this fire of the genius he was... Pierre we miss you!

[CamilleCDC]

No, it was recorded in 76 or 77 and broadcasted again when he died!

[marcdub2004]

Where do you have this Info from ? As i Know, the recording of "un concert à notre-dame" was in 1980.

[CamilleCDC]

I got this info from somebody who was present when PC played.

[ds1868]

Pierre Cochereau was a genius, thanks for posting this!

[ronanmurray]

Wow!

[sovereign254]

Maybe it's just how it was recorded but it sounds very dissonant to me. Probably would've been much better heard in person.

[ContreBombarde]

AMAZING! I first heard Cochereau back in 1998 and he still never ceases to amaze me... and that gorgeous organ too. Such a magnificent combination of the man and the instrument. If whoever posted this is the person who filmed him, they're the luckiest _____ on earth! I can't even begin to imagine hearing Cochereau "live"... maybe in the afterlife if there are organs in heaven!

[chamade216]

Thank you for posting it. I adore and keep listening to him all the time. Please add more and more videos of him.

[BeFrSc]

The French Organists are the masters of Improvisation, indeed, this man was a genius, he was taught by Marcel Dupré, and he was one of the best improvisers of all time. Dupré's Symphonie Passion is one of my favourite pieces, and that was an Improvisation.

[sykobeachparty]

I can't believe nobody's commented on this yet. This man was a genious.