Charles-Marie Widor

Charles-Marie Widor doesn’t conform to the stereotypical image of the church organist. He was the teacher of students as disparate as Edgard Varèse, Darius Milhaud and Albert Schweizer; a friend of Proust, Maupassant and Busoni; and a habitué of smart Paris salons, where his songs and chamber music were enthusiastically devoured. Born in Lyon in 1844, the young Widor studied in Brussels at the suggestion of organ-builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, a family friend whose instruments would later have such a profound impact on Widor’s organ music. Ten organ symphonies composed between 1872 and 1900 exploit the orchestrally conceived approach championed by Cavaillé-Coll; particularly notable is the instrument for Saint-Sulpice in Paris, where Widor served as organist for over six decades. The famous “Toccata” from his Symphony No. 5 (1879) would become its composer’s calling card, but connoisseurs savour the Symphonie Gothique’s lambent “Andante sostenuto” (1895) just as much. The most unexpected surprise in a large and varied output are the four operas, the last of which, Nerto (1924), was the work of an octogenarian whose death in 1937 denied French music of one of its most multifaceted talents.