![Olivier Latry im Wiener Stephansdom 09-10-2020 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Olivier_Latry_im_Wiener_Stephansdom_09-10-2020_2.jpg)
Olivier Jean-Claude Latry (born 22 February 1962) is 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 ...
,
improviser
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
, and composer. He is professor of organ in 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 ...
.
He became interested in the organ after listening to recordings by
Pierre Cochereau
Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau (9 July 1924 – 6 March 1984) was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue.
Cochereau was titular organist of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1955 to his death in 1984 and was responsibl ...
. His first experience with a church organ was in 1974, when he played the organ at his local church at his older brother's
wedding
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...
. During the
homily, his arms supposedly fell on the organ
console
Console may refer to:
Computing and video games
* System console, a physical device to operate a computer
** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device
** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...
, causing a rather dissonant noise in the church.
Latry was born in
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
, the youngest of three children (Christian, Jean-Yves, Olivier) born to Robert Latry and Andrée Thomas. After having begun his musical studies in his hometown, in 1978 he enrolled in the organ class under the blind organist
Gaston Litaize
Gaston Gilbert Litaize (11 August 1909 - 5 August 1991) was a French organist and composer. Considered one of the 20th century masters of the French organ, he toured, recorded, worked at churches, and taught students in and around Paris. Blind ...
at the Academy of Saint-Maur who he heard in concert, and took composition classes with Jean-Claude Raynaud at the Paris Academy. Both studied under
Marcel Dupré
Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...
. After becoming Professor of Organ in the Catholic Institute of Paris in 1983 and subsequently at the Academy of Rheims, he succeeded Gaston Litaize at the Academy of Saint-Maur in 1990. In 1995, Latry was named professor of organ in the Academy of Paris, a post held jointly with
Michel Bouvard.
In 1985, at 23 years of age, Latry was awarded the post of one of four ''titulaires des grandes orgues'' of
Notre-Dame,
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 ...
together with
Yves Devernay
Yves Marie-Édouard Devernay (Tourcoing 9 May 1937 – Tourcoing 10 December 1990) was a 20th-century French organist, improviser and composer.
Biography
First a pupil of Jeanne Joulain at the Roubaix conservatory, in 1958 he joined Rolande ...
,
Philippe Lefèbvre and
Jean-Pierre Leguay
Jean-Pierre Leguay (born 4 July 1939 in Dijon) is a French organist, composer and improviser. He studied with André Marchal, Gaston Litaize, Rolande Falcinelli (organ), Simone Plé-Caussade (counterpoint), and Olivier Messiaen (composition), ...
, following the death of
Pierre Cochereau
Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau (9 July 1924 – 6 March 1984) was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue.
Cochereau was titular organist of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1955 to his death in 1984 and was responsibl ...
.
In addition to this role and his teaching positions, Latry carries out a career as concert performer: he has played in over forty countries across five continents, in particular in the United States, where he made his first tour in 1986, becoming one of the most popular French organists in that country.
Latry does not intend to specialize in music of a specific time period, but has gained a reputation for performing music by his contemporaries. He is renowned for his performances of the works of
Olivier Messiaen and has recorded the complete organ works of Messiaen for
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
. Latry is also considered to be a distinguished improviser, in the tradition of a distinguished French line that runs from
Charles Tournemire
Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphoni ...
through to
Pierre Cochereau
Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau (9 July 1924 – 6 March 1984) was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue.
Cochereau was titular organist of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1955 to his death in 1984 and was responsibl ...
. Influenced by his Roman Catholic faith, he based his 2007 organ composition ''
Salve Regina
The "Salve Regina" (, ; meaning 'Hail Queen'), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina ...
'', reflections on the
Gregorian Marian hymn, on previous improvisations.
''Olivier Latry : « C’est un miracle que l’orgue de Notre-Dame ait échappé aux flammes »''
on ''Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
''
References
External links
Olivier Latry's biography
in French and English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latry, Olivier
People from Boulogne-sur-Mer
1962 births
Living people
Organ improvisers
French classical organists
French male organists
Cathedral organists
Pedal piano players
Deutsche Grammophon artists
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Conservatoire de Paris faculty
21st-century organists
21st-century French male musicians
20th-century organists
20th-century French male musicians
20th-century French musicians
21st-century French musicians
Male classical organists