Aloÿs Claussmann (5 July 1850Archives du Haut-Rhin online, act dated 6 July 1850, no. 22, view no. 202. – 7 November 1926) was a French organist, pianist and composer.
Biography
Born in
Uffholtz
Uffholtz ( gsw, Üffholz; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The organist and composer Aloÿs Claussmann (1850–1926) was born in Uffholtz.
File:Uffholtz, Eglise Saint-Erasme.jpg, Saint Erasmus Ch ...
,
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...
(Alsace), Claussmann was a pupil of organist
Eugène Gigout
Eugène Gigout (; 23 March 1844 – 9 December 1925) was a French organist and a composer, mostly of music for his own instrument.
Biography
Gigout was born in Nancy, and died in Paris. A pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, he served as the organi ...
at the École Niedermeyer de Paris, where he obtained first prizes in piano and organ, before winning the Grand Prix of the Ministry of Fine Arts in 1872. The following year, he settled in
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Clermont-Ferrand (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Clermont-Ferrand), is a Gothic cathedral and French national monument located in the town of Cl ...
. The new Merklin organ was inaugurated in 1877 by Edmond Lemaigre, the first holder. Claussmann succeeded him in 1888 until his death in 1926.
A virtuoso interpreter, he chose to pursue his entire career in the
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label=Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.chamber music and vocal music, it is to the organ that he reserved the essential and most characteristic of his production, with about 350 compositions, fully in the post-Romantic music that he celebrated with brilliance but yet with sensitivity. He fulfilled his duties as organist of the cathedral, and assumed the function of director of the Conservatory, but he also performed well-known piano concertos with the orchestra of the city, which he occasionally directed.
The Alsatian origin of Claussmann makes his music a very successful synthesis of French and German schools, in which one certainly can identify
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...
, whose influence is certain, and Robert Schumann, but which possesses an indisputable personality of his own.
His work, together with those of other composers such as Marie-Joseph Erb from Strasbourg,
Émile Bourdon
Joseph Antoine Émile Bourdon (; 14 February 1884 – 11 July 1974) was a 20th-century French organist and composer.
Biography
Bourdon was the son of Magdelaine Louise Villate de Peufeilhoux (of noble descent) and Victor-Louis-Gabriel Bourdon ...
in Monaco, Edouard Commette in Lyon, canon Fauchard in Laval, to name but a few, contributed to forge, in a way, the missing link between a recognised and celebrated Parisian organ music and the more discreet but undeniable contribution of the provincial masters to the elaboration of a language that contributed to the reputation of the French organ school.
Works
A total of 544 pieces have been identified: 350 organ pieces, 113 piano pieces, 62 songs (or ''mélodies''), 22 violin or cello pieces. Henry Lemoine was his principal publisher from 1904 to 1924. Most of his organ works are still available.
Discography
* ''Toccata'', 2 ''Scherzos'', ''Minuetto'', ''Méditation'', ''Fantaisie héroïque'', ''Cavatine de Raff'', ''Antienne'', and ''Mass'' for organ, by
Hervé Désarbre
Hervé Désarbre (born in 1957) is a French organist and rganist of the Ministry of Armed Forces He is titular of the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Église Notre-Dame du Val-de-Grâce in Paris.
Biography
Born in Roanne (Loire), Desarbre stud ...
at the historical John Abbey organ of Renaison (Mandala).
* ''Claussmann, pièces pour orgue'', by François Clément on the organ of the city of Clermont-Ferrand (Art & Musique).
* ''Cortège triomphal'' by Willibald Guggenmos, on the organ of Wangen im Allgäu, Stadtpfarrkirche St. Martin (Psallitte).
* ''Pièce pour orgue'' by André Isoir at Hochfelden (ARDAM).
* ''Toccata'', Op. 64, par Aitor Olea Juaristi, at the organ of Vasconia (Aarus).
* Works for piano: ''Sonate'', Op. 45; ''Six pièces'', Op 60; ''Caprice'', Op. 47, par Stéphane Poyet (piano).
Bibliography
* P. Balme, "Aloys Claussmann", in ''Auvergne littéraire et artistique'' (no. 28, Dec. 1926).
* J. Desaymard, "Aloys Claussmann", in ''Bulletin historique et scientifique de l'Auvergne'' (vol. LI, 1931).
* Émile Lafay, "Aloyse Claussmann", in ' (vol. 69, p. 518).
* P. Desaymard, "Bibliographie des œuvres d'Aloys Claussmann", in ''Bulletin historique et scientifique de l'Auvergne'' (vol. 90, no. 668, January–March 1981).