Nol a la Française #9950

The world is filled with joyful music at Christmas time, and nowhere is the music more exuberant than in the organ lofts of France. Beginning already in the 1600s, the tradition of holiday organ concerts grew to be so popular that in some places the French clergy outlawed them-their ‘dulci jubilo’ having swung a bit to far into the jubilo end of things. But why not? Even the angelic hosts would smile at the joyous works of Jean Guillou, Pierre Cochereau, Jean-Francois Dandrieu and the others, whose genius enlivens the vaults of Notre Dame Cathedral and other churches in Marseilles, Thiérache and Rouen and whose music brightens every corner during this remarkable season. Philippe Gueit, Andre Isoir, and Rene Oberson also play their part in this Pipedreams pageant.