Circumstantial Evidence

Proof that the creative spirit was alive when Marcel Dupré improvised in Paris eighty years ago.

On August 15, 1919, while substituting for an ailing Louis Vierne, 33-year-old Marcel Dupré improvised for an afternoon service at Notre Dame Cathedral. In the audience, totally by chance, was Claude Johnson, head of Rolls-Royce. He was so moved by the music that he encouraged Dupré to write down his improvisations, guaranteed their publication and sponsored Dupré’s subsequent London debut recital which marked the beginning of this artist’s astounding international career.

Program Broadcast dates:

• August 9, 1999

Music played in the program

DUPRÉ: 5 Antiphons, from Vepres des Fetes du Commun de la Sainte-Vierge, Op. 18 (nos. 1-5) –Suzanne Chaisemartin (1890 Cavaillé-Coll/Church of Saint Ouen, Rouen, France) Motette CD-50251

VIERNE: Motet, Ave Maria. WIDOR: Motet, Tu es Petrus. DUPRÉ: Motet, Tantum ergo –Westminster Cathedral Choir, James O’Donnell, conductor; Joseph Cullen (1932 Willis/Westminster Cathedral, London, England, UK) Hyperion CD-66898

DUPRÉ: 4 Ave maris stella Versets, Op. 18 (nos. 6-9) –Daniel Roth (1862 Cavaillé- Coll/L’Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris, France) Motette CD-10981

DUPRÉ: Ballade for Piano and Organ, Op. 30 –Alessio Bax, piano; Stefan Engels (1993 C.B. Fisk/Caruth Auditorium, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX) Naxos CD-8.554210

DUPRÉ: Toccata, Ave maris stella, Op. 18, no. 4 –Marcel Dupré (1890 Cavaillé-Coll/Church of Saint Ouen, Rouen, France) Philips CD-446 648

DUPRÉ: Quatre Fugues Modales, Op. 63 –Jeremy Filsell (1979 Moeller/Saint Boniface Episcopal Church, Sarasota, FL) Guild CD-7156

DUPRÉ: 6 Magnificat Versets, Op. 18 (nos. 10-15) –James Biery (1962 Austin/Saint Joseph’s Cathedral, Hartford, CT) AFKA CD-537