André Gabriel Edmée Pirro (12 February 1869 – 11 November 1943) was a French

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

and an

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 ...

. Born in

Saint-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 ...

, Pirro learned to play the organ from his father Jean Pirro. 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 ...

where he became and organist and a

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

for the

Collège Stanislas de Paris The Collège Stanislas de Paris (), colloquially known as Stan, is a highly selective private Catholic school in Paris, situated on " Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs" in the 6th arrondissement. It has more than 3,000 students, from preschool to '' clas ...

. He studied with

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 ...

and taught music history at the

Schola Cantorum The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History La Schola was founded i ...

. Pirro published his academic

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on the ''Aesthetics of Bach'' in 1907, followed by ''Descartes and the Music. His famous pupils include Yvonne Rokseth,

Vladimir Fedorov Vladimir Anatolyevich Fedorov or Fyodorov (russian: Владимир Анатольевич Фёдоров, born 22 April 1971) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. He is the 1993 World bronze medalist with Anjelika Krylova. He is now ma ...

, Dragan Plamenac, Armand Machabey, Geneviève Thibault de Chambure, Marc Pincherle,

Jacques Chailley Jacques Chailley (24 March 1910 – 21 January 1999) was a French musicologist and composer.Alain Lompech, "Jacques Chailley, musicologue-praticien et infatigable chercheur", ''Consociatio internationalis musicæ sacræ, Musicæ sacræ ministerium ...

, Eugénie Droz, and Aimee Wiele. These days he is probably most often remembered through his musicological collaborations with

Alexandre Guilmant Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (; 12 March 1837 – 29 March 1911) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of La Trinité from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantor ...

concerning reprints of ancient organ music.

Publications

* ''L'Esthétique de Jean-Sébastien Bach'' (Paris, 1907), English translation by Joe Armstrong ''The Aesthetic of Johann Sebastian Bach'' (Lanham, MD, 2014), * ''L'orgue de Jean-Sébastien Bach'' (Paris, 1895), * ''Jean-Sébastien Bach'' (Paris, 1906), English translation by Mervyn Savill ''J. S. Bach'' (New York, 1957), * ''Descartes et la musique'' (Paris, 1907) * ''Dietrich Buxtehude'' (Paris, 1911), * ''Schütz'' (Paris, 1913), * ''Jean-Sébastien Bach, auteur comique'' (Madrid, 1915), * ''Les Clavecinistes : étude critique'' (Paris, 1924), * ''La Musique à Paris sous le règne de Charles VI, 1380-1422'' (Strasbourg, 1930), * ''La Musique française du Moyen Âge à la Révolution'' (Paris, 1940), * ''Histoire de la Musique de la fin du XI siècle à la fin du XVI'' (Paris, 1940), * numerous articles in French and other journals, * 14 biographical notes for the Archives des maîtres de l'orgue (Paris, 1897–1909).

References

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

, « Hommage à André Pirro », ''Information musicale'', no. spécial, 3 Dec. 1943 * Y. Rossens, « André Pirro », ''Revue de musicologie'', no. XXVI, 1944 * N. Bedgman, « André Pirro », ''Revue de l'enseignement supérieur'', no. 2, 1956 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirro, Andre 20th-century French musicologists French classical organists French male organists Pupils of César Franck Pupils of Charles-Marie Widor Schola Cantorum de Paris faculty French people of Italian descent People from Saint-Dizier 1869 births 1943 deaths Male classical organists