Marie-Claire Geneviève Alain-Gommier (10 August 1926 – 26 February 2013) 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 ...

, scholar and teacher best known for her prolific recording career, with 260 recordings, making her the most-recorded classical organist in the world. She taught many of the world's prominent organists. She was a specialist in Bach, making three recordings of his complete organ works, as well as French organ music. She was the sister of the famous organist-composers

Jehan Alain Jehan-Aristide Paul Alain (; 3 February 1911 – 20 June 1940) was a French organist, composer, and soldier. Born into a family of musicians, he learned the organ from his father and a host of other teachers, becoming a composer at 18, and compo ...

and Olivier Alain and was the daughter of amateur organbuilder Albert Alain. Alain was commonly deemed one of the most illustrious organists of her generation, and bore an international reputation. Critics were unanimous in praising the clarity of her playing, the purity of her style, the intense and lively musicality of her interpretations and her fluency in the art of organ registration.

Background and education

Marie-Claire Geneviève Alain, the youngest of the four Alain children, was born in

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

on 10 August 1926. Her father Albert Alain (1880–1971) was an

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, as were her brothers

Jehan Jehan is a male given name. It is the old orthography of Jean in Old French, and is rarely given anymore. It is also a variant of the Persian name Jahan in some South Asian languages. People with the given name Jehan * Jehan Adam (15th century) ...

(1911–1940) and

Olivier Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popul ...

(1918–1994). Her mother was Magdeleine-Claire Alberty (born 1890). At the age of 11 she began assisting her father when he played organ in the parish church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She studied 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 ...

in the organ class of Marcel Dupré, where she was awarded four first prizes. She also studied harmony there with Maurice Duruflé. After her father's death in 1971, she succeeded him as organist of the parish church of Saint-Germain-en-Laye until her retirement in 2011.

Career

Alain won the 2nd prize for organ at the

Geneva International Music Competition The Geneva International Music Competition () is one of the world's leading international music competitions, founded in 1939. In 1957, it was one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competition (WFIMC), whose he ...

in 1950. She taught at the conservatory of

Rueil-Malmaison Rueil-Malmaison () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2017, it had a population of 78,152. It is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Par ...

and the Paris Conservatory. Her pupils included

George C. Baker George C. Baker (born June 9, 1951 in Dallas, Texas) is an American organist, composer, pedagogue, and dermatologist. Biography Baker received his first musical instruction at age four. In 1961, he began to take organ lessons with Phil Baker ...

Diane Bish Diane Joyce Bish (born May 25, 1941) is an American organist, composer, conductor, as well as executive producer and host of ''The Joy of Music'' television series. As a concert organist, she performs at concerts throughout North America and Euro ...

Guy Bovet Guy Bovet (born 22 May 1942 in Thun) is a Swiss organist and composer. Career Bovet studied under Marie Dufour in Lausanne, Pierre Segond in Geneva and Marie-Claire Alain in Paris. From 1979 to 1999 he taught Spanish organ music at the Univer ...

James David Christie James David Christie (born 1952) is an American classical organist and teacher. Until accusations of sexual misconduct emerged in August 2018, he was Chair and Professor of Organ at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Distinguished Artist in Resi ...

Monique Gendron Monique Gendron is a Canadian organist of international renown. She won first prize at the St Albans International Organ Festival in England and at the Grand Prix of Chartes in France. She has recorded sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and George F ...

Gerre Hancock Gerre Edward Hancock (February 21, 1934 – January 21, 2012) was an American organist, improviser, and composer. Hancock was Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at the University of Texas at Austin. He died of cardiac arrest in Austin, Texas ...

Edward Higginbottom Edward Higginbottom, DPhil (Oxon), BMus (Cantab), (born 16 November 1946, Kendal) is a music scholar, organist, choirmaster and conductor. Most of his career has been as organist at New College, Oxford, where he led their choir for more than 35 ...

Marcus Huxley Marcus Huxley (born 11 December 1949) is an English cathedral organist, who served in St. Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham between 1986 and 2017. Background Marcus Richard Huxley was born in Chelmsford, Essex, England. He was educated at Pembrok ...

Gunnar Idenstam Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

, Wolfgang Karius,

Jon Laukvik Jon Laukvik (born 16 December 1952, in Oslo) is a Norwegian organist. Laukvik studied church music, organ and piano in Oslo. Afterwards, he worked with Michael Schneider and Hugo Ruf in Cologne and Marie-Claire Alain in Paris. In 1980, he was a ...

, Michael Matthes,

Domenico Morgante Domenico Morgante (born 1956) is an Italian musicologist, organist and harpsichordist. Biography As a researcher he has worked on various European Projects of Music. Of many compositions of the past has performed salvages and restorations critics ...

, Daniel Roth,

Wolfgang Rübsam Wolfgang Friedrich Rübsam (born October 16, 1946, in Gießen) is a German-American organist, pianist, composer and pedagogue. Biography After his musical training with Erich Ackermann in Fulda, Germany, Rübsam studied at the Musikhochschule ...

, David Sanger, Helga Schauerte,

Dong-ill Shin Dong-Ill Shin won first prize in the national competition for piano sponsored by ''The Korea Times'' at the age of ten. When he was eleven he made his debut with the Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra playing Mozart's Concerto in d minor No. 20. Attrac ...

, :de:Martin Strohhäcker, Marina Tchebourkina, Thomas Trotter,

Fritz Werner Fritz Werner (15 December 1898 – 22 December 1977) was a German choral conductor, church music director, conductor, organist and composer. He founded the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn in 1947 and conducted it until 1973. Career Born in Berli ...

and the Hungarian Zsuzsa Elekes. Upon her death, the list of her students was described as a "who's who of the present-day organ world". She was the most-recorded classical organist in the world, with over 260 recordings in her catalogue. Alain 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 music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...

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. 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 Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

was among her most popular. 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: Alain had a long association with the St Albans International Organ Festival. She edited compositions by her brother Jehan for publication, including ''

Chanson à bouche fermée (Song for closed mouth), JA 039, is a composition for unaccompanied four-part choir by Jehan Alain. He wrote the music in 1933. It is to be performed with closed mouth. It was published in 1989, edited by his sister Marie-Claire Alain. History ...

''. She married Jacques Charles Gommier (born 1925) on 17 June 1950; until his death in 1992 in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. 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 Aurélie.

Awards

* Léonie Sonning Music Prize (1980; Denmark) * Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(2010; France)

References

External links

*
Interview, ''The Organ''

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alain, Marie-Claire 1926 births 2013 deaths French classical organists Women organists Organ improvisers People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye Conservatoire de Paris alumni Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Léonie Sonning Music Prize 20th-century French musicians Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Erato Records artists 20th-century classical musicians