Léonce de St Martin improvises at Notre Dame (1)

[FromHolbergsTime]

A special sound portrait of this grand instrument and fine artist, recorded with an authenticity which still speaks today. **********

Glenn

[daviddifiore]

I believe there are recordings of St Martin playing his Carillon ( it is a disc of French organists from that era;was available through OHS) and the Toccata and Fugue in d-minor of Bach. I found his playing quite wonderful actually and his playing of the Carillon (Suite cyclique) really excellent. No sign of any amateur on these recordings...

[gjmrs]

Just had to correct your info about his appointment to the cathedral: Vierne didn't want him to succeed, and the 55 organists that wrote to the cathedral chapter were not in favour of him at all. He was an amateur organist, and the paris music world were horrified that the post was given to him against Vierne's express wishes - He wanted Duruflé...

[JFSnail]

thanks for the info.

Having re-read the French source text via online translation, says.... 55 musicians wrote to the cathedral to ask for a contest as Vierne had wished. St Martin was kept on by the cathedral authorities, as he was Vierne's deputy, so they though Vierne would have approved. And so the recriminations began and continued until his death.

It is true that of all the many great talents in Paris at the time that St Martin was chosen...

[Jacobre156]

What is the buzzing sound that can be heard throughout the recording?

[JFSnail]

The track was one that I downloaded from somewhere a few years ago and must have been taken from an old LP, you can hear the pops on a regular basis. The transfer from Lp to mp3 isn't terribly good either, may have been recorded from speakers into a mic.

I personally don't hear buzzing...

[Jacobre156]

Perhaps buzzing was not a good word for what I am hearing... and example of what I was referring to can be heard at 0:15-0:18.

[Paxbritannica]

This is the bell for the Elevations during Mass, rung in the traditional French way of 1-3-1; 1-3-1 (or 3). Alas, no longer. So a splendidly atmospheric souvenir from the liturgy of bygone days - thank you, JFSnail!!

It would be very interesting to know from whence this short piece comes. It is not the same improv as on the Motette CD10761 "L'Orgue Cavaille-Coll" set. LdeSM was much loved, and the "L'Association des Amis de LdeSM" has many other recordings of him which might one day appear.

[JFSnail]

Many thanks for that info, Paxbritannica!

[Paxbritannica]

Your LP is LdeSM aux grandes orgues de Notre-Dame de Paris Edition Studio SM 33-22 In Memoriam.

Very rare. Please share more if you find it!

[ds1868]

Sorry can't hear any buzzing - plenty of atmosphere yes, and general stuff due to recording issues etc, but no buzzzzzzzzzing.

[ds1868]

Another great recording, thanks for posting. This illustrates again (with the other recording) that Leonce de St Martin was more than up to the job at NDdeP. May his soul rest in peace.

[FromHolbergsTime]

A rare slice of heaven for organists and lovers of great architecture. It is good to have such a rare sonic portrait of this artist available.

[chwidder]

What you fail to say is that there was another , far more prominent petition in 1937, not directed against de Saint-Martin per se, but in favour of a contest he had little chance of winning, given stiff competition by smart young lads such as Langlais, Litaize, Duruflé, etc.

This is not to say that de Saint-Martin was a bad organist — just that a prestigious position such as Notre-Dame could have done with someone more at the top of the job.

[JFSnail]

Thanks for the info, I didnt know about this other petition. It seems the organ lofts of Paris were full of intrigue! Its difficult to know which stories are true and which are false.

I've heard stories that Dupre didn't want Durufle to the get the job at Notre Dame when St Martin died. Instead he got one of his pupils installed, Cochereau, who hadn't even officially entered the contest for the job! I am glad PC got the position though :-)

[chwidder]

I'm surprised by this, since Dupré held Duruflé in very high esteem, and even took him as his assistant at the Conservatoire organ class for a number of years.

On the other hand, it is known that Dupré didn't want the position at Notre-Dame for *himself* when it was offered to him in 1954, to remain faithful to Widor's wish for him to stay at St-Sulpice.

(On the other hand, I'm not sure there even *was* a contest at Notre-Dame in 1954.)

[JFSnail]

Thinking back, I may be wrong in my earlier comments, my memory might be playing tricks. Perhaps Vierne was so well loved and as St Martin was his deputy, they wanted to continue in the same musical vein?

I dont really know enough to comment, and am always ready to learn :-) But there is no doubting there were many talented organists around at the time. But if we had a younger organist in the post we might never have had Cochereau at Notre Dame...

[chwidder]

It is indeed known that in 1937, the Notre-Dame chapter preferred de Saint-Martin over anybody else. That's the main reason why they did not want to organize a contest.

Mind you, having a contest does not necessarily mean equity for all involved. Let's face it: the *real* reason why Vierne won the contest in 1900 is not that he was the best (which he probably was), but that he was hand-picked by big boss Widor.