Pierre Cochereau: A Centenary Tribute #2427
. . . honoring the memory of the famous organist (1924-1984) of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, whose improvisations are legendary.
Hour 1
ROUGET DE LISLE: La Marseillaise (Notre Dame Cathedral) Solstice 94/96 (r. 11/12/70)
COCHEREAU: Improvisations for Mass (Entrée-Kyrie ‘Orbis factor’-Offertoire-Agnus Dei-Sortie) –Maitrise de Notre-Dame/Jehan Revert; Arnold Batselaere (choir organ); Pierre Cochereau (Notre Dame Cathedral) FY/Solstice 019 (r. 2/27/76)
COCHEREAU: Allegro-Adagio & Scherzo, fr Symphonic Improvisation (1962 Aeolian-Skinner/Caruth Auditorium, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX) Solstice 375 (r. 4/14/66)
COCHEREAU: Lent, fr Symphonie en Improvisation (Notre Dame Cathedral) Philips 446 642-2 & Solstice 237 (r. 12/1963)
JOSEPH d’HAUDIMONT: Jerusalem et Sion Filiae --Maitrise de Notre-Dame/Jehan Revert; Leon Souberbielle (choir organ); Pierre Cochereau (Notre Dame Cathedral) FY/Solstice 001 (r. 6/1973)
Filler – COCHEREAU: Lent, fr Symphonie en Improvisation (see above)
Hour 2
COCHEREAU: Easter Sortie on O filii et filiae (Notre Dame Cathedral) Solstice 94/96 (r. 4/22/73)
LOUIS VIERNE: Kyrie, fr Messe Solennelle, Op. 16 –Maitrise de Notre-Dame/Jehan Revert; Jacques Marichal (choir organ) & Pierre Cochereau (Notre Dame Cathedral) FY 064 (r. 2/2/78)
LÉONCE de SAINT-MARTIN: Agnus Dei, fr Mass in E , Op. 13 –Maitrise de Notre-Dame/Jehan Revert; Denise Chirat-Comtet (choir organ) & Pierre Cochereau (Notre Dame Cathedral) Solstice 161 (r. 1966)
MARCEL DUPRE: Resurrection, fr Symphonie-Passion, Op. 23 (1868 Cavaillé-Coll/Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France) Solstice 177/8 (r. 1955) & FY/Solstice 020 (r. 3/1. 975)
COCHEREAU: Improvisation on Cantem toto la gloria (featuring Cochereau’s 14-stop portable organ built in 1962 by Philippe Hartmann, recorded at Notre Dame des Anges, Collioure, France) Solstice 200 (r. 7/22/69). Should you be curious and ‘want to try this at home’, this improvisation has been published as transcribed by David Briggs.
COCHEREAU: Communion Improvisation (Notre Dame Cathedral) Solstice 226 (10/3/76)
COCHEREAU: Improvised Gregorian Sortie (1925 Skinner+1963 Aeolian-Skinner/Cathedral of Saint Paul, MN) PD Archive (r. 10/19/79)
Filler – COCHEREAU Easter Sortie (see above)
A 19-CD box of Cochereau recordings, Raretés et Inédits, including much previously unreleased material, is available from FY/Solstice. Also highly recommended is Anthony Hammond’s inclusive biography: Pierre Cochereau, Organist of Notre-Dame, published by the University of Rochester Press.
You can search for other Cochereau performances in our archive and elsewhere online, also looking for transcriptions of Cochereau improvisations performed by David Briggs and Jeremy Filsell.
Continuing support of PIPEDREAMS is provided in loving memory of Lucinda and Wesley Dudley by their family, with additional support from Walter McCarthy, Clara Ueland, and the Greystone Foundation, from Jan and Steve Kirchner, from the Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund of the HRK Foundation, and from listener-contributors to this public radio station. Support also comes from Parsons Pipe Organ Builders of Canandaigua, NY and Pasi Organ Builders, Inc. of Roy, WA, members of APOBA, the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America, a collaborative of designers, creators, and maintainers of pipe organs found in religious and educational institutions, concert halls, and residences throughout the United States and beyond. An APOBA resource guide and member prospectus is available at APOBA.COM.
