André Louis Marchal (6 February 1894 – 27 August 1980) was a French
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 h ...
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'orgue'' alongside
Norbert Dufourcq
Norbert Stéphane Jean-Marie Dufourcq (21 September 1904 – 19 December 1990) was a French organist, music educator, musicologist and musicographer.
Biography
Norbert Dufourcq was born in 1904 in Saint-Jean-de-Braye in the Loiret departmen ...
.
Biography
Marchal was born blind 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 ...
. Remarkably undaunted by this handicap, he studied the organ under
Eugène Gigout
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. A pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, he served as the organi ...
at the
Paris Conservatoire
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 ...
; and there, in 1913, he won the First Prize in organ-playing. Four years later he also won the ''prix d'excellence'' for fugue and counterpoint.
Marchal concertized widely, both in France and abroad. He played a series of recitals at the
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...
in late 1947 and early 1948. Marchal taught organ at the
Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles
Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (''National Institute for Blind Children'' or ''Royal Institution for Blind Youth''), in Paris, was the first special school for blind students in the world, and served as a model for many subsequent schools ...
in Paris, in addition to serving as titular organist of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1915–1945) and Saint-Eustache (1945–1963). He resigned from Saint-Eustache in 1963, his departure being brought about over a conflict concerning the correct organ builder to be hired to restore Saint-Eustache's instrument.
He was an unparalleled
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 was recognized as such by Fauré. Among his students are many brilliant musicians such as
Jean Langlais
Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III (15 February 1907 – 8 May 1991) was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "" ("Breton, of Catholic faith").
Biography
Langlais was born in L ...
,
Peter Hurford
Peter John Hurford OBE (22 November 1930 – 3 March 2019) was a British organist and composer.
Life
Hurford was born in Minehead, Somerset, to Gladys Hurford (née James) and Hubert Hurford, a solicitor. He was educated at Blundell's School ...
,
Louis Thiry
Louis Henry Nicolas Thiry (15 February 1935Jean-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), ...
, one of three ''titulaires du grand orgue'' of Notre-Dame de Paris.
He died in 1980 in
Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron () is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.
History
Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity was founded on September 6, 1909 at ...