Marie-Claire Alain

Marie-Claire Alain

born on 10/8/1926 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Île-de-France, France

died on 26/2/2013 in Parigi, France

Marie-Claire Alain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Marie-Claire Alain (10 August 192626 February 2013) was a French organist and organ teacher best known for her prolific recording career.[1]

Background and education

Marie-Claire Alain was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 August 1926.[2] Her father Albert Alain (1880-1971) was an organist and composer, as were her brothers, Jehan (1911-1940) and Olivier (1918-1994). She began assisting her father when he played organ in the parish church at the age of 11.[1] She studied at the Paris Conservatory in the organ class of Marcel Dupré, where she was awarded four first prizes.[3] She also studied harmony there with Maurice Duruflé.[2]

Career

She won the 2nd prize for organ at the Geneva International Music Competition in 1950.[4]

She taught at the conservatory of Rueil-Malmaison and the Paris Conservatory.[1] Her pupils included Cherry Rhodes, James M. Higdon, Jr, George C. Baker, Robert Bates, Diane Bish, Guy Bovet, James David Christie, Jesse Eschbach, Monique Gendron, Gerre Hancock, Marcus Huxley, Gunnar Idenstam,[5] Wolfgang Karius, Jon Laukvik, Lyn Hubler Loewi, Michael Matthes, Margaret Phillips, Daniel Roth, Claire Rozier, Wolfgang Rübsam, Helga Schauerte,[6] Dong-ill Shin, Martin Souter, Norma Stevlingson, Martin Strohhäcker,[7] Thomas Trotter, Kenneth Weir, Fritz Werner and Zsuzsa Elekes. Upon her death, the list of her students was described as a "who's who of the present-day organ world".[1]

She was the most-recorded organist in the world, with over 260 recordings in her catalogue. Alain recorded the complete organ works of J.S. Bach three times as well as the complete organ works of over a dozen other major composers of works for the organ, as well as many individual works.[3] She was devoted to the organ works of her brother Jehan, who died before she began her conservatory studies. A recording of works for organ and trumpet with Maurice André was among her most popular.[1] When her third recording of Bach's works for organ appeared in 1994, she explained to The Organ, a British journal, why she was recording them again:[1]

Alain had a long association with the St Albans International Organ Festival.

She succeeded her father as organist of the parish church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye after his death in 1971 and served for 40 years.[1]

She married Jacques Gommier in 1950. He died in 1992. Their son Benoît died in 2010. Alain died on 26 February 2013 in a nursing home in Le Pecq, a suburb of Paris, survived by their daughter.[1]

Awards

  • Sonning Award (1980; Denmark)
  • Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (2010; France)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Whitney, Craig R., Marie-Claire Alain, Master of the Organ, Dies at 86, March 4, 2013. URL accessed on March 4, 2013.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Randel, Don Michael, ed. (1996). Alain, Marie-Claire The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, p. 910, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Marie Claire-Alain (Organ). Bach Cantatas. Retrieved on March 4, 2013.
  4. Laureates. Concours De Geneve International Musical Competition. Retrieved on 12 December 2011.
  5. Idenstam
  6. Helga Schauerte
  7. de:Martin Strohhäcker
  • Marie-Claire Alain at All Music Guide

External links

  • Interview, The Organ
  • Interview Organ Month Haarlem, 1988
  • Obituary, Orgel Nieuws, 26 February 2013
  • Obituary, Diapason, 27 February 2013
  • Pipedreams Documentary Part I, 12 February 2001
  • Pipedreams Documentary Part II, 25 February 2002
This page was last modified 11.02.2014 16:25:55

This article uses material from the article Marie-Claire Alain from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.