Norbert Stéphane Jean-Marie Dufourcq (21 September 1904 – 19 December 1990) 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 ...

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

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 musicographer.

Biography

Norbert Dufourcq was born in 1904 in

Saint-Jean-de-Braye Saint-Jean-de-Braye () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. It is an eastern suburb of Orléans. The organist and musicologist Norbert Dufourcq (1904–1990) was born in the commune. On 14 February 2020, the municipal co ...

in the Loiret department of France. His parents were the historian Albert Dufourcq who worked as a professor at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...

and Madeleine Dufourcq, née Prot. He was the third of six children. Trained at the

École des chartes École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sav ...

and holder of a doctorate of literature, and an

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

palaeographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

, Norbert Dufourcq nonetheless devoted himself to music. An amateur organist (pupil of

André Marchal André Louis Marchal (6 February 1894 – 27 August 1980) was a French organist and organ teacher. He was one of the great initiators of the twentieth-century organ revival in France and one of the cofounders of the ''Association des amis de l'orgu ...

), he served as titular organist of the organ of the

Saint-Merri The Church of Saint-Merri or ''Église Saint-Merry'') is a parish church in Paris, located near the Centre Pompidou along the rue Saint Martin, in the 4th arrondissement on the Rive Droite (Right Bank). It is dedicated to the 8th century abbot of ...

church in Paris from 1923 to his death. The Clicquot/ Cavaillé-Coll

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

was restored by the company in a under the direction of its owner between 1946 and 1947. Many

stop Stop may refer to: Places * Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck d ...

s were added to the instrument. A professor of

music history Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...

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 ...

from 1941 to 1975 and

musicology 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 ...

at the

École normale de musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...

between 1958 and 1963, he is also the author of numerous articles and books on music in general, the

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

and

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

in particular; Moreover, he founded the journal ''Recherches sur la musique française classique'', continued by Marcelle Benoît.

Pedagogy

In 1946, he participated in a collective work entitled ''La Musique des origines à nos jours'' for the writing of which he surrounded himself with musicologists such as Solange Corbin de Mangoux. A very early organ enthusiast, he was co-founder with

Bérenger de Miramon Fitz-James Berengar is a masculine name derived from Germanic roots meaning "bear" and "spear". The name appears frequently among certain noble families during the Middle Ages, especially the Unruochings and those related. Bérenger is the French form, while B ...

of the ''Association des Amis de l’orgue'' in 1926–27. He also established the magazine ''L’Orgue'' in which he expressed his ideas on the historicity of French classical organs. He was also responsible for the restitution and publication in modern edition of classical French organ music such as ''Livres d’Orgue'' by

Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (c. 1632, Paris – 13 November 1714) was a French organist, composer and theorist. His first ''livre d'orgue'' is the earliest surviving published collection with traditional French organ school forms (a collection by Loui ...

Gilles Jullien Gilles Jullien (c. 1651/165314 September 1703) was a French Baroque composer and organist. He is credited with bringing the style of French organ music then current in Paris to Chartres.Apel 1973, 734. Almost nothing is known about Jullien's l ...

Nicolas Lebègue Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue (also ''Le Bègue''; c. 16316 July 1702) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was born in Laon and in the 1650s settled in Paris, quickly establishing himself as one of the best organists of the cou ...

Louis-Antoine Dornel Louis-Antoine Dornel (30 March 1680 in Presles, Val-d'Oise near (Beaumont-sur-Oise) – 22 July 1757) was a French composer, harpsichordist, organist and violinist. Biography Dornel was probably taught by the organist Nicolas Lebègue. He was app ...

, Boëly,

Michel Corrette Michel Corrette (10 April 1707 – 21 January 1795) was a French composer, organist and author of musical method books. Life Corrette was born in Rouen, Normandy. His father, Gaspard Corrette, was an organist and composer. Little is known of ...

, as well as the manuscript by

Mathieu Lanes Mathieu Lanes (1660–1725 in Toulouse) was a French harpsichordist, organist and composer. Life Almost nothing is known about him, except that he was organist and choir master of the Saint-Étienne Toulouse Cathedral at the beginning of the 1 ...

, for example; as well as a controversial rebuild of the organ of

Auch Cathedral Auch Cathedral (french: Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Marie d'Auch) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Auch in the Midi-Pyrénées, France. It is a national monument, and is the seat of the Archbishopric of Auch. Under the Concordat ...

in which a large amount of historical 17th-century pipework was destroyed, and electrification of the

tracker action Tracker action is a term used in reference to pipe organs and steam calliopes to indicate a mechanical linkage between keys or pedals pressed by the organist and the valve that allows air to flow into pipe(s) of the corresponding note. This is ...

. Dufourcq was president of the French association of musicologists

Société française de musicologie Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

from 1955 to 1958. His archives of the ''Commission des orgues'' are kept in the archives of the city of Paris, Papiers Norbert Dufourcq, 1933–1984, Cotes: D70Z 1 à 10, référence de l’instrument de recherche: VII.2.3.

Personal life

On the day before his 22nd birthday in 1926, he married the historian Odette Latron (1904-1994). Dufourcq had five children, one of which was the diplomat Bertrand Dufourcq; who was the father of the businessman,

Nicolas Dufourcq Nicolas Georges Norbert Dufourcq (born 18 July 1963) is a French businessman. He has been the general manager of the Banque Publique d’Investissement ( Bpifrance) since its creation in January 2013. Early life and education Dufourcq was born in ...

. He died on 19 December 1990. A simple funeral service, in accordance with his will, was held in the Parisian church of Saint-Sulpice in his memory. He was buried at the

Montmartre Cemetery The Cemetery of Montmartre (french: link=no, Cimetière de Montmartre) is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis ...

afterwards.

Bibliography

*1933: ''La musique française'',

Éditions Larousse Éditions Larousse is a French publishing house specialising in reference works such as dictionaries. It was founded by Pierre Larousse and its best-known work is the ''Petit Larousse''. It was acquired from private owners by Compagnie Europée ...

, Paris. *1935: ''Esquisse d'une histoire de l'orgue en France du XIIIe au XVIIIe siècles, étude technique et archéologique de l'instrument'', thèse pour le doctorat ès-lettres. *1938: ''La musique d'orgue française au XXe.'', Paris. *1942: ''Les Clicquot : facteurs d'orgues du Roy, contribution à l'histoire d'une famille d'artisans d'origine champenoise sous l'Ancien Régime'', Floury, Paris. *1946: ''La musique des origines à nos jours'', under the dir. of Norbert Dufourcq, Larousse. *1948: ''Jean-Sébastien Bach, le maître de l'orgue'', Floury, Paris. *1948: ''L'Orgue'', PUF, Paris, ''(

Que sais-je ? "Que sais-je?" (QSJ) (; Literally: "What do I know?", ) is an editorial collection published by the Presses universitaires de France (PUF). The aim of the series is to provide the lay reader with an accessible introduction to a field of study wr ...

)''. *1949: ''Le clavecin'', PUF, ''(Que sais-je ?)''. *1969: Marcelle Benoît, Norbert Dufourcq and Bernard Gagnepain, ''Les grandes dates de l'histoire de la musique''''Les grandes dates de l'histoire de la musique'' on Amazon
/ref> 3rd ed., 1995.

References

Sources

* "Norbert Dufourcq (1904-1990)". ''L'Orgue''. ''Cahiers et mémoires'' issues 49-50 (1993): 292 pages.

External links

Musica et Memoria
Biographical notes and photos. Extended biography.

Le grand orgue de St-Merry par Pierre Astor. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dufourcq, Norbert Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature) 20th-century French musicologists French classical organists French male organists École Nationale des Chartes alumni Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni Music historians 1904 births People from Loiret 1990 deaths 20th-century organists 20th-century French male musicians Writers about music 20th-century classical musicians Presidents of the Société française de musicologie Male classical organists