Eugène Gigout (; 23 March 1844 – 9 December 1925) was a French organist and a composer, mostly of music for his own instrument.

Biography

Gigout was born in Nancy, and died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

. A pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, he served as the organist of the French capital's Saint-Augustin Church for 62 years. He became widely known as a teacher and his output as a composer was considerable. Renowned as an expert improviser, he also founded his own music school. His nephew by marriage was

Léon Boëllmann Léon Boëllmann (; 25 September 1862 – 11 October 1897) was a French composer, known for a small number of compositions for organ. His best-known composition is '' Suite gothique'' (1895), which is a staple of the organ repertoire, especially i ...

, another distinguished French composer and organist. The ''10 pièces pour orgue'' (composed 1890) include the ''Toccata in B minor'', Gigout's best-known creation, which turns up as a frequent encore at

organ recital An organ recital is a concert at which music specially written for the organ is played. The music played at such recitals is typically written for pipe organ, which includes church organs, theatre organs and symphonic organs (also known as conc ...

s. Also fairly often played, and to be found in the same collection, is a ''Scherzo in E major''. Other notable pieces by Gigout are ''Grand chœur dialogué'' (1881), and ''Marche religieuse''. Gigout's works are now available on several commercial recordings. His pupils included his nephew Boëllmann, Victoria Cartier, André Fleury, Henri Gagnon, André Marchal,

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

, and Albert Roussel.

Selected compositions

Organ

* ''Six Pièces'' (1872, 1876, 1885) * ''Trois Morceaux'' (1888) * ''Cent Pièces brèves'' (1889) * ''Dix Pièces'' (1889) * ''Album grégorien'', 2 volumes (1895) * ''Trois Pièces'' (1896) * ''Prélude et fugue'' (1897) * ''Rapsodie sur des airs populaires du Canada'' (1898) * ''L'Orgue d'église'' (1902) * ''Poèmes mystiques'' (1903) * ''Interludium'' (1906) * ''70 Pièces'' (1911) * ''Nouveau recueil de douze pièces'' (1912) * ''Pièce jubilaire'' (1918) * ''Cent Pièces nouvelles'' (1922) * ''Dix Pièces'' (1923) * ''Deux Pièces'' (1923)

Piano

* ''Staccato-Étude''; ''Rêverie''; ''Bagatelle'' (all 1868) * ''Pièce symphonique''; ''Caprice-Ballet''; ''Fantaisie scolastique'' (all for piano 4-hands, 1879) * ''Quatre Pièces'' (1886) * ''Hymne à la France'' (1892) * Sonata (1904) * ''Trois Improvisations caractéristiques'' (1912) * ''Aux escaldes'' (1926)

External links

*
Free scores
at the Mutopia Project 1844 births 1925 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century French composers 19th-century French male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Composers for pipe organ French classical organists French male classical composers French Romantic composers French male organists Musicians from Nancy, France Pupils of Camille Saint-Saëns Male classical organists {{organist-stub