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André Jean-Marie Isoir (20 July 1935 – 20 July 2016) was a French
André Jean-Marie Isoir (20 July 1935 – 20 July 2016) was a French organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
and pedagogue.
Biography
André Isoir was born in 1935 inSaint-Dizier
Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture Of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France.
It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Haute ...
in Grand Est
Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten;
Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Isoir studied with Édouard Souberbielle
Jacques Auguste Édouard Souberbielle (17 June 1899 – 29 January 1986) was a 20th-century French organist, Kapellmeister and music educator.
Biography
Souberbielle first studied with his mother, a former pupil of Émile Delaborde, son of Char ...
(organ) and Germaine Mounier Germaine Mounier (7 February 1920 – 27 June 2006) was a 20th-century French classical pianist and music educator.
Biography
Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Mounier won First prize at the Conservatoire de Paris. She worked the piano with Yves Nat and ...
(piano) at the École César Franck The École César-Franck (César Franck School, named after César Franck) was a music school founded in Paris in January 1935 by Guy de Lioncourt, Louis de Serres, Pierre de Bréville and Marcel Labey. It was produced by a split from the Schola Ca ...
and under Rolande Falcinelli
Rolande Roberte Ginabat-Falcinelli (18 February 1920 – 11 June 2006) was a French organist, pianist, composer, and music educator.
Biography
Rolande Falcinelli (born Ginabat), the grandniece of Marcel Falcinelli and granddaughter of Louis N ...
at the Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
where he won the first prizes in organ and improvisation in 1960.
Thereafter he won several international organ competitions. In 1965 he won the improvisation competition in St Albans (UK). And, in three successive years, he won the competition in Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
(Netherlands), earning the "Challenge Award," the only French interpreter to have achieved this distinction since the inception of the competition in 1951.
André Isoir was organist titulaire at St-Médard in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
from 1952 to 1967 and at St. Severin in 1967. Since 1973 he has been titulaire (head organist) at the ancient Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
in Paris.
In 1974 Isoir was appointed to the organ staff at the Conservatoire d'Orsay, in 1977 promoted to the rank of National School of Music. He became a full professor in January 1978 and remained at Orsay until 1983, when he was appointed to the Conservatoire National de Region de Boulogne-Billancourt, where he taught organ until 1994.
Isoir recorded some sixty discs, notably for Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses" ...
. His recordings have been awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in 1972, 73, 74, 75, 77, 80, 89 and 91 as well as the «Président de la République» prize for "Le Livre d'Or de l’Orgue Français". In February 1974 he was awarded membership of the Friends of the Organ for his "Variations sur un psaume huguenot". He has recorded the complete organ works of J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
, which remains one of the benchmark performances of Bach's organ music. His recordings of works by 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 p ...
on the organ of the Cathedral of Luzon were also highly praised.
André Isoir completed his musical culture by gaining a thorough knowledge of the organ. In his view, knowledge of the instrument contributes to a better approach to different musical styles in terms of both technology and performance.
Isoir was awarded '' Chevalier des Arts et Lettres'' by the National Order of Merit, best instrumental soloist of the year to 2nd Victoires de la Musique, and also "Choc de l’année 2000" from the magazine ''Le Monde de la musique
''Le Monde de la musique'' was a French monthly musical magazine published from 1978 to 2009 with a circulation of 20,000 copies in 2008.
It was founded in 1978 by ''Le Monde'' and ''Télérama'' at the initiative of Jean-Michel Croissandeau, in c ...
'' for his interpretation of the Art of Fugue
''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...
by J.S. Bach. Some of his most notable students have included François Espinasse, Michel Bouvard
Michel Bouvard (born 17 March 1955 in Argenteuil, Val-d'Oise) is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Savoie department and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement (frenc ...
, Jean Boyer, and others.
He died on 20 July 2016, his 81st birthday, in Longpont-sur-Orge
Longpont-sur-Orge (, literally ''Longpont on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in ÃŽle-de-France in northern France.
From 1954 to 1962, the villa in Longpont-sur-Orge owned by William and Noma Copley served as a social hub and a cen ...
.
His son, Daniel Isoir, is a pianist who founded La Petite Symphonie. Inheriting his father's interests, Daniel Isoir has recorded Franck's piano works.
Sources
* Entry to André Isoir in the French Wikipedia, translated December 25, 2008, using Google Translate. Retranslated without a translation program and revised May 20, 2010.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isoir, Andre 1935 births 2016 deaths French classical organists French male organists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Organ improvisers French composers French male composers People from Saint-Dizier Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Male classical organists