Alexandre Guilmant and the case of the missing biography

We are fortunate in having excellent English language biographies of the leading French organists of the latter half of the 19^th century and the first half of the 20^th century. Franck, Widor, Vierne, Tournemire, Dupré and Duruflé have all been the subject of significant research and excellent authorship. The organist missing from this list is Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) and to me this is a complete mystery. Guilmant was a contemporary of Franck, Widor, Vierne, Saint-Saëns and Tournemire, and was Dupré’s first teacher. If you read their biographies there are constant and complementary references to Guilmant. But you are also in the position of having to read all these books to gain even a basic understanding of his role as an organist, teacher, composer and educator.

Guilmant was a pupil of Lemmens, and in 1891 was appointed to be the organist of Sainte Trinité, a post he held until 1901. In 1894 Guilmant founded the Schola Cantorum as he was concerned by the focus on opera of the Conservatoire de Paris. The Schola Cantorum provided training for church musicians. In 1896 Guilmant succeeded Widor as Director of the Conservatoire whilst maintaining his involvement with the Schola Cantorum.

Guilmant was the first international organ virtuoso. He gave concerts in the United States (the first major French organist to tour that country), Canada, Europe and there were many recitals in England. His American achievements included a series of 36 recitals in the course of six weeks in 1904 on the St. Louis Purchase Exposition Organ, which was at that time the largest organ in the world with 140 stops over five manuals. In the course of these recitals the distinguished English organist Archibald Henderson noted that not one piece was repeated! A tour of 24 recitals followed immediately after the exposition ended.

Unlike his contemporaries, Guilmant composed almost entirely for the organ, apart from some pieces for trombone. I recall accompanying my son playing one of these, the Morceau Symphonique, for his ABRSM examination, remembering well that the piano part required serious practice! He wrote eight organ sonatas, of which the First and Third are my particular favourites. The First Sonata is unusual in that there is a version for organ and orchestra, similar in concept to Widor’s Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. There is a very readable thesis by Michael Ging at the University of Houston about the background to these two pieces and provides some interesting biographical information on both composers.

Despite his accomplishments there is a distinct lack of biographical context about him. Given his high profile in the USA in the early 20^th century it is beyond belief that there is no entry for Guilmant in Bush and Kassels ‘The Organ – An Encyclopedia’, published in the USA in 2006 – but then there is also no entry for Herbert Howells!

The first ever biography of Guilmant was published in Germany in 2002 and is entitled ‘Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911): Leben und Werk’ Also in German there is a very good 10pp profile of Guilmant entitled ‘Alexandre Guilmant – ein französischer Orgelklassiker der Romantik’. This link is to a PDF download. There is also a Sorbonne thesis in French ‘Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911), organiste et compositeur’ by the organist Kurt Leuders. It dates from 2002 and runs to 879 pages in two volumes together with two CDs. Sadly, it cannot be downloaded in a digital format and is available only on microfiche! However, if you are looking for biographical information for a recital programme you will find a good overview on the Naxos site.

From the time he was appointed to Sainte Trinité, Guilmant became one of the most visible and inspirational organists in Europe and the United States. In setting up the Schola Cantorum, and the changes he was able to make at the Conservatoire, he made a significant and long-lasting impact on organ tuition and being able to develop the careers of not only Vierne and Dupré but also most of the leading French organists active in the first few decades of the 20^th century. His compositions are familiar to most organists, ranging as they do from fairly straightforward pieces for use in churches to virtuoso compositions for recitalists.

We may play his music but how much do we know about Guilmant the man? A comprehensive biography in English is now long overdue.