Léonce Marie-Joseph, Comte de Saint-Martin-de-Paylha (31 October 1886 - 10 June 1954), shortened to and more well known by Léonce de Saint-Martin, was a French organist and composer.

Biography

He was born in

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig ...

(Tarn). As the successor of

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a '' Messe solennelle ...

in 1937, he was organist at Notre-Dame de Paris until his death in 1954. Saint-Martin was heavily attacked for his appointment to Notre Dame by the Cathedral chapter, since it was done without competition. Saint-Martin was also mainly self-taught, and did not enter the conservatory, and thus was deemed to be an amateur organist. These accusations were easily seen to be false by eye-witnesses, such as

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 ...

, who took Saint-Martin's place as titular organist after the latter's death. An example of his fine skill can be seen in his organ compositions, filled with emotional and spiritual writing. Saint-Martin was also a pious man, as he stated "but whatever the Good Lord wills is fine by me" concerning his death. His virtuosity can be seen by the fact that he played

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 ...

's op. 7 to the satisfaction of Dupré's wife, Jeanne Pascouau, at a time when

Charles-Marie Widor Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the mid-Romantic era, most notable for his ten organ symphonies. His Toccata from the fifth organ symphony has become one of th ...

stated that these pieces were unplayable. He later 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 ...

. On the 10th anniversary of his death, the association "Les Amis de Léonce de Saint-Martin" was created on February, 27th of 1963. The association organise a special event every 10 years since his death, which has included artists such as Pierre Cochereau, Jehan Revert, Michel Chapuis and

Pierre Pincemaille Pierre-Marie François Pincemaille (8 December 1956 – 12 January 2018) was a French organist, improviser, and pedagogue. He was known for his organ improvisations, both in concert and on CD and for his recordings of Charles-Marie Widor's ...

. He was a distant relative of philosopher

Louis Claude de Saint-Martin Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (18 January 1743 – 14 October 1803) was a French philosopher, known as ''le philosophe inconnu'', the name under which his works were published; he was an influential of the mystic and human mind evolution and ...

Works

For organ solo

* ''Six pièces brèves'' op. 11 (1926) # Prélude # Pastorale # Intermezzo # Andante # Choral # Final * ''Offertoire pour Fêtes simples de la Sainte Vierge'' op. 10 (1929) * ''Suite cyclique'' op. 11 (1930) # Prélude # Fugue # Cantilène # Carillon * ''Scherzo de concert'' op. 18 (1930) * ''Paraphrase du psaume 136'': ''super flumina Babylonis'' op. 15 # Tristesse des Hébreux captifs de Babylone # Lamentation au souvenir de Jérusalem # Babylone la Superbe # Les Hébreux maudissent leurs vainqueurs * ''Offertoire sur deux noëls'' op. 19 (1937) * ''Stèle pour un artiste défunt'' (dedicated to

) op. 20 (1938) * ''Postlude de fête'' «Te Deum laudamus» op. 21 (1938) * ''Berceuse de Noël'' op. 25 (1939) * ''Genèse'' op. 26 (1940) # La marche sous la malédiction # Les éléments et la vie # Mort d'Adam ; prière et mort d'Ève * ''Passacaille'' op. 28 (1940) * ''Choral-Prélude pour le temps de l'Avent'' op. 31 (1940) * ''Venez, divin Messie'' op. 32 (1940) * ''Pastorale'' op. 35 (1942) * ''Le salut à la Vierge'' op. 34 (1944) * Toccata de la Libération'' op. 37 (1944)'' * ''À la gloire de saint Louis'' op. 33 (1945) * ''Toccata et fugue de la Résurrection'' op. 38 (1945) * ''Symphonie Dominicale'' op. 39 (1946-1948) # Prélude # Aria # Fantaisie-Choral # Prière # Postlude * ''Symphonie Mariale'' op. 40 (1948-1949) # Prélude # Salve Regina # Ave Regina # Alma Redemptoris # Postlude * ''Cantique Spirituel'' op. 41 (1950)

For choir

* ''Tu es Petrus'' (4 voices and 2 organs) op. 7 (1929) * ''Messe en Mi'' (4 voices, 2 organs, 3 trumpets and 3 trombones ad lib.) op. 13 (1931-1932) * ''

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...

''(voices and organ) op. 17 (1934) * ''

Panis angelicus (Latin for "Bread of Angels" or "Angelic Bread") is the penultimate stanza of the hymn "" written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the feast, including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of ...

'' (choir and organ) op. 27 (1940) * ''Kyrie funèbre'' (4 voices and 2 organs, brass ad lib.) op. 36 (1944) * ''

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for " y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical servic ...

'' (4 voices and 2 organs) op. 42 (1950-1951)

For organ and other instruments

* ''In Memoriam, Paraphrase de l'Hymne national'' (organ and brass)

Mélodies (voices and piano)

* ''Soir d'automne'' (1910) * Six mélodies # ''Paris d'avril'' # ''Grisaille'' # ''Mariez-vous'' # ''Cimetière de Paris'' # ''L'heure du thé'' # ''Vampire'' * ''L'enfant'' * ''Hymne à la très chère'' op. 13 (1932) * ''Sur les balcons du ciel'' op. 14 (1932) * ''Midi'' * ''Novembre'' * ''Hiver'' * ''Ivresse au printemps'' * ''Esquisse'' on a poem from

Tristan Klingsor Tristan Klingsor, birth name (Arthur Justin) Léon Leclère (born Lachapelle-aux-Pots, Oise department, 8 August 1874; died Nogent-sur-Marne, 3 August 1966), was a French poet, musician, painter and art critic, best known for his artistic associat ...

(1945) * ''Espérance'' (1952)

Transcriptions

* ''Concerto Grosso n°8'' « Pour une nuit de Noël » - Corelli * ''Passacaille'' - F. Couperin le Grand * ''La grande Porte de Kiev'' -

Moussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

* ''Le vol du bourdon'' -

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

* ''Saint-François de Paule marchant sur les flots'' -

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Transcribed Improvisations

* ''Improvisation pour l'élévation'' - Transcribed by Jason Baruk * ''Improvisation Libre'' - Transcribed by Jason Baruk * ''Entrée Improvisé pour Noël'' - Transcribed by Jason Baruk