Édouard Commette (12 April 1883, in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

21 April 1967) was an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

of international fame who served the

Archdiocese of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (; ), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archbishops of Lyon are also called primates of Gaul. The oldest diocese in Fran ...

and was organist at Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière for over 50 years. Place Édouard Commette at the foot of the hill on which the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is built is named in his honour. A student of

Charles-Marie Widor Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era. As a composer he is known for his ten organ symphonies, especially the toccata of his fifth organ sympho ...

and Victor Neuville, his recordings were known worldwide, and he was also known as a composer of accessible and tuneful organ music in his own right.

Biography

Born in Lyon in the center of the silk manufacturing district where his father was an exporter, Edouard studied

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at the

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient Provinces of France, province of Bresse (). I ...

, after which he returned to Lyon and turned his attention to

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

and harmony. A pupil of Charles Marie Widor, in 1900 he made his debut as organist in Lyon at the Church of the Good Shepherd (

Église du Bon-Pasteur The Église du Bon-Pasteur () is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located at rue Neyret on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse, near the montée de la Grande Côte, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon. Cardinal Barbarin described the church as ...

). Four years later he spent six months at the Church of Saint Polycarpe (

Église Saint-Polycarpe The Église Saint-Polycarpe (, ''Church of St. Polycarp'') is a Roman Catholic church located in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse, between rue René Leynaud, rue Burdeau and passages Mermet and Thiaffait. It is the ...

), which was renowned in Lyon for its pipe organ. He took up his post at

Lyon Cathedral Lyon Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic Church architecture, church located on Place Saint-Jean in central Lyon, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon. Begun in 1180 on the ruins of ...

in 1904 and was a professor at the

Conservatoire de Lyon A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

. Among his students were

Pierre-Octave Ferroud Pierre-Octave Calixte Ferroud (6 January 1900 – 17 August 1936)K.S. (2003). was a French composer of classical music. Life Ferroud was born in Chasselay, Rhône, near Lyon. He went to Lyon, to Strasbourg (for military service from 1920-2) w ...

and

Adrien Rougier Adrien Rougier (23 June 1892 – 1 July 1984) was a French organist, organ builder, conductor and composer. Life Born in Vernaison, to a family of silk merchants in Lyon, Rougier studied the piano and then the organ with Édouard Commette, o ...

. Called "the best French organist" by the well-known music critic

Émile Vuillermoz Émile-Jean-Joseph Vuillermoz (23 May 1878 – 2 March 1960) was a French critic in the areas of music, film, drama and literature. He was also a composer, but abandoned this for criticism. Early life Émile Vuillermoz was born in Lyon in 1878. He ...

, Commette earned similar tributes from his students and listeners from all parts of the world and is responsible for some of the earliest organ recordings. As writer David Bridgeman-Sutton notes, "These – 78s, of course – were intended for a local market: their world-wide success amazed the modest M. Commette."

Critical reception

A critic from the now-defunct site Gramophone once opined, "Edouard Commette is a notable performer of the old school. He does not keep as steady a beat as I would like in the B minor and D minor Fugues, and not everyone will approve of his tendency to slow up slightly in order to point a fugal entry... I find M. Commette's rubato convincing enough in the non-fugal movements, and he gives a noble account of the B minor and Dorian preludes."

Compositions

*''Pieces (6) for Organ: Offertoire sur des noëls; Fughetta; Allegretto; Adoration; Aspiration religieuse; Scherzo'' (Bornemann, 1914) *''14 pièces brèves pour orgue'' (Durand, 1926) *''Deux méditations pour orgue'' (Hérelle, 1947) *''Sur le lac'' *''Toccata in G''

Known recordings

*'' J. S. Bach on the Cathedral Organ of Saint Jean De Lyon, France''.

Angel Records Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in European classical music, classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. and one Peter Sellers comedy disc. The famous Recording Angel trademark ...

LP, 35368. *''Orgues et organistes français du Xx° siècle (1900–1950) •''

Léon Boëllmann Léon Boëllmann (; 25 September 1862 – 11 October 1897) was a French composer, known for a small number of compositions for organ. His best-known composition is '' Suite gothique'' (1895), which is a staple of the organ repertoire, especially ...

: Menuet et Toccata de la Suite gothique

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 organis ...

: Toccata

Gabriel Pierné Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (16 August 1863 – 17 July 1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. Biography Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Germ ...

: Prélude

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

: Allegro Molto de la 6° Sonate J. S. Bach : Pièces BWV 543, 625, 614

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death. As a composer, much of his output was Organ (music), organ music, including six ...

: Carillon de Longpont

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (19 December 1676 – 26 October 1749) was a French musician, best known as an organist and composer. He was born, and died, in Paris. Biography Clérambault came from a musical family (his father and two of his sons w ...

: Caprice sur les grands jeux – Lyon St-Jean – Disque

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

; Columbia, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1938 CD-EMI partiel (491) *''J. S. Bach : BWV 147, 582, 588, 578, 622, Je veux te dire adieu.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia-FCX 498, 1955 (dq 88) *''J. S. Bach : BWV 565, 562, 542, 645, 615, Préludes mi, ut, la min.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia-FCX 497, 1955 (dq 85) *''J. S. Bach : BWV 539, 537, 532, Chorals 605, 625, 637, 638, 727.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia, 1956 (dq 92) *''J. S. Bach : BWV 534, 536, 546, 542, 533, 543, Chorals 614, 629.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia, 1957 (dq 103) *''J. S. Bach : BWV 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 531, 547.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia, 1958 (dq 113) (42) *''J. S. Bach : BWV 538, 566, 535, 544.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia, 1961 (68) *''J. S. Bach : BWV 646, 651, 658, 661, 667, 669, 670, 671, 680, 734, 737.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia, 1962 (77) *''

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

: 3 Chorals, Pièce héroïque.'' – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia-FCX 496, 1955 (dq 88) *''Felix Mendelssohn : Marche nuptiale.

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

: Marche de Tannhauser.'' – Transcriptions de E. Commette. – Lyon St-Jean – Disque Columbia-ESBF 176, 1957

Scores

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commette, Edouard 1883 births 1967 deaths French classical organists Columbia Records artists French classical composers French male classical composers 20th-century French classical composers Composers for pipe organ Musicians from Lyon 20th-century French organists 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians French male classical organists