Pierre-Marie François Pincemaille (8 December 1956 – 12 January 2018) 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 ...

, improviser, and pedagogue. He was known for his organ improvisations, both in concert and on CD and for his recordings of

Charles-Marie Widor Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the mid-Romantic era, most notable for his ten organ symphonies. His Toccata from the fifth organ symphony has become one of th ...

's complete organ symphonies played on organs built by

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (; 4 February 1811 – 13 October 1899) was a French organ builder. He has the reputation of being the most distinguished organ builder of the 19th century. He pioneered innovations in the art and science of organ build ...

, as well as his recordings of the complete organ works of

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He became a chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School f ...

and

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 pa ...

, and organ works of

Pierre Cochereau Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau (9 July 1924 – 6 March 1984) was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue. Cochereau was titular organist of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1955 to his death in 1984 and was responsible ...

and

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a '' Messe solennelle ...

in particular. He was titular organist at the

Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

until his death and was regarded as one of the finest organists of his generation.

Biography

Pincemaille was born in Paris' 17th arrondissement and began piano studies in 1965; in 1968, he started to study the organ. He graduated from the

Paris Conservatory 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 ...

with five first prizes (in

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring Audio frequency, frequencies, pitch (music), pitches (timb ...

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

, organ, and

improvisation 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 taught by

Henri Challan Henri Edmond Émile Challan (12 December 1910 in Asnières – 18 February 1977 in the 14th arrondissement of Paris) was a French composer and music educator. He had a long association with the Conservatoire de Paris where he was both a student an ...

, Jean-Claude Raynaud,

Marcel Bitsch Marcel Bitsch (December 29, 1921, Paris – September 21, 2011, Toulouse) was a French composer, teacher and analyst. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and also was professor of counterpoint there. Career In 1939, Marcel Bitsch entered t ...

and

Rolande Falcinelli Rolande Roberte Ginabat-Falcinelli (18 February 1920 – 11 June 2006) was a French organist, pianist, composer, and music educator. Biography Rolande Falcinelli (born Ginabat), the grandniece of Marcel Falcinelli and granddaughter of Louis N ...

. He was appointed titular organist at the

Basilica of St Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

in St Denis (near Paris) in 1987. He was succeeded in June 2018 by his student Quentin Guérillot. Between 1978 and 1990, he won five international organ competitions: * 1978: First Prize at the Concours International d'Improvisation in Lyon * 1987: Grand Prix at the Concours Européen d'Orgue in Beauvais * 1989: First Prize at the Concours International d'Improvisation in Strasbourg * 1989: Grand Prix at the Concours International d'Improvisation in Montbrison * 1990: Grand Prix in improvisation at the Concours de Chartres He was a professor of

at the

, professor of organ improvisation at the Regional Conservatory in

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Saint-Maur-des-Fossés () is a commune in Val-de-Marne, the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. History The abbey Saint-Maur-des-Fossés owes its name to Saint-Maur Abbey founded in 638 by Queen Nan ...

, and professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Regional Conservatory in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He is known to be a master of improvisation. As an improviser, he improvised during the ceremonies at the

, and his

recitals A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety ...

, in the tradition of French organ school. As a composer, he has published an Ave Maria for mixed choir a capella (Lyon: À coeur joie, 2013), ''En Louisiane'' for trombone and piano (Sampzon: Delatour France, 2004), and ''Prologue et Noël varié'' for organ (Sampzon: Delatour France, 2007). In November 2017, three

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margare ...

s (

Pater Noster The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

; Ave Maria; Ave Verum), published with ''A coeur joie'' editions received their premiere performance at the Basilica of St. Denis. He gave more than 1000 concerts and

all around the world (France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Japan, Canada, USA, South Africa...). He was Chevalier de l' Ordre des Palmes Académiques, Chevalier de l'

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose i ...

, and Chevalier de l' Ordre de Saint-Grégoire-le-Grand. Pincemaille died on 12 January 2018, at the local hospital in Suresnes, of lung cancer, aged 61. After his death, some events were given in memoriam, like concerts or radio broadcasts.

Discography

Pierre Pincemaille recorded around twenty CDs, among which: * Complete organ work of

(Motette 12541) * Complete organ work of

(Solstice SOCD 231–232) * The 10 symphonies of

(Solstice SOCD 181–185) * Written work of

(Solstice SOCD 163) * Youth work of Olivier Messiaen (IFO 00318/19)) * 8 CDs of

Bibliography

* Völker, Elke: "Der Reiz perfekter Illusion. Ein Interview mit dem Pariser Organisten und Starimprovisator Pierre Pincemaille" (''Organ – Journal für die Orgel'' 1, no. 1 (1998): 18–21). * Pincemaille, Pierre: L'improvisateur à Notre-Dame. In: ''Pierre Cochereau: Témoignages'', ed. Yvette Carbou. Bourg-la-Reine: Zurfluh, 1999, 271–339. . * Pincemaille, Pierre: L'improvisateur à Notre-Dame. In: ''Pierre Cochereau: Un art d'illusioniste'', ed. Yvette Carbou. Sampzon: Delatour France, 2014, 263–338. . Pierre Pincemaille was also involved in the DVD "The genius of Cavaille Coll" (BBC Music Magazine Awards 2014).

References

External links

*
Pierre Pincemaille on editions Delatour

Pierre Pincemaille on LastFM

Pierre Pincemaille on Solstice Music

Biography of Pierre Pincemaille
on the website of the organs of

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly co ...

. * . * . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pincemaille, Pierre 1956 births 2018 deaths 20th-century French musicians 20th-century organists 21st-century organists French classical organists French male classical composers French male organists Organ improvisers Cathedral organists Musicians from Paris French music educators Free improvising musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni Conservatoire de Paris faculty Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Knights of St. Gregory the Great People from Herblay Deaths from lung cancer in France Male classical organists