André Gabriel Edmée Pirro (12 February 1869 – 11 November 1943) was a French

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 m ...

and an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

. Born in

Saint-Dizier Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture Of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Hau ...

, Pirro learned to play the organ from his father

Jean Pirro Jean Pirro (24 December 1813 – 3 February 1886) was a French linguist who in 1868 invented the "universal language", Universalglot. He was born in Woustviller, France. He was also the father of André Pirro. He died on 3 February 1886 in Saint ...

. In

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. ...

where he became and organist and a choirmaster for the

Collège Stanislas de Paris The Collège Stanislas de Paris (), colloquially known as Stan, is a highly selective private Catholic school in Paris, situated on "Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs" in the 6th arrondissement. It has more than 3,000 students, from preschool to ''classe ...

. He studied with

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

and taught music history at the

Schola Cantorum The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History La Schola was founde ...

. Pirro published his academic

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...

on the ''Aesthetics of Bach'' in 1907, followed by ''Descartes and the Music. His famous pupils include Yvonne Rokseth, Vladimir Fedorov, Dragan Plamenac,

Armand Machabey Armand Machabey (7 May 1886 – 31 August 1966) was a 20th-century French musicologist. Biography A student of Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum de Paris and André Pirro at the Sorbonne, Machabey's thesis ''Histoire et évolution des form ...

Geneviève Thibault de Chambure Geneviève, comtesse Hubert de Chambure Thibault (20 June 1902, Neuilly-sur-Seine – 31 August 1975, Strasbourg) was a French musicologist associated with the revival of interest in early music. She graduated from the Sorbonne in 1920 with a the ...

, Marc Pincherle, Jacques Chailley, Eugénie Droz, and

Aimee Wiele Aimee van de Wiele (8 March 1907 - 2 November 1991) was a Belgian keyboardist and composer, born in Brussels. She began her music studies at the Brussels Conservatory, where she studied with E. Bosquet and won the Laure van Cutsem prize for piano, ...

. These days he is probably most often remembered through his musicological collaborations with Alexandre Guilmant concerning reprints of ancient organ music.

Publications

* ''L'Esthétique de Jean-Sébastien Bach'' (Paris, 1907), English translation by Joe Armstrong ''The Aesthetic of Johann Sebastian Bach'' (Lanham, MD, 2014), * ''L'orgue de Jean-Sébastien Bach'' (Paris, 1895), * ''Jean-Sébastien Bach'' (Paris, 1906), English translation by Mervyn Savill ''J. S. Bach'' (New York, 1957), * ''Descartes et la musique'' (Paris, 1907) * ''Dietrich Buxtehude'' (Paris, 1911), * ''Schütz'' (Paris, 1913), * ''Jean-Sébastien Bach, auteur comique'' (Madrid, 1915), * ''Les Clavecinistes : étude critique'' (Paris, 1924), * ''La Musique à Paris sous le règne de Charles VI, 1380-1422'' (Strasbourg, 1930), * ''La Musique française du Moyen Âge à la Révolution'' (Paris, 1940), * ''Histoire de la Musique de la fin du XI siècle à la fin du XVI'' (Paris, 1940), * numerous articles in French and other journals, * 14 biographical notes for the Archives des maîtres de l'orgue (Paris, 1897–1909).

References

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production an ...

, « Hommage à André Pirro », ''Information musicale'', no. spécial, 3 Dec. 1943 * Y. Rossens, « André Pirro », ''Revue de musicologie'', no. XXVI, 1944 * N. Bedgman, « André Pirro », ''Revue de l'enseignement supérieur'', no. 2, 1956 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirro, Andre 20th-century French musicologists French classical organists French male organists Pupils of César Franck Pupils of Charles-Marie Widor Schola Cantorum de Paris faculty French people of Italian descent People from Saint-Dizier 1869 births 1943 deaths Male classical organists