Michael Murray (March 19, 1943 – September 1, 2024) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

-born

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 ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Biography

He was born in

Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. Its population was 60,093 according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana metropolitan area, Kokomo metropol ...

, United States. Murray studied at

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

and

Oberlin College Conservatory of Music Oberlin may refer to: ; Places in the United States * Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas ** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township * Oberlin, Louisiana, a town * Oberlin, Ohio, a city * Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town * Oberlin ...

before entering private study with

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré (; 3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Early life and education Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré ...

in Paris. (He was the last important student of Dupré, of whom he would later write a biography). During the 1968–69 performance season, Murray performed the complete organ works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

in a series of twelve recitals in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. He later commemorated the 150th birthday of

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 ...

by playing that composer's complete organ works in 1972. He repeated the cycle for the hundredth anniversary of Franck's death in 1990 at the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhoo ...

in New York City.) Murray performed in many major cities in North America including numerous appearances as a soloist with major orchestras. Critics hailed Murray's rare combination of technique, thoughtfulness, and musical feeling. He made many recordings on the

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

label featuring the works of Bach, Franck,

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

and others. Murray was awarded an honorary doctorate by

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 2000. He served as a librarian in the Music and Dance Library at Ohio State University. After previously stepping back from touring and recording, Murray finally retired in June, 2014, from St. Mark's Episcopal Church in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, where he had served as organist for 31 years. He was named organist emeritus. Murray wrote many articles and published five books. His ''Marcel Dupré: The Work of a Master Organist'' (Northeastern University Press, ) is in its third printing. He also wrote ''French Masters of the Organ'' (Yale University Press, ) and served as editor for ''A Jacques Barzun Reader'' (HarperCollins, ). He wrote a biography of

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-born American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, ...

, ''Jacques Barzun: Portrait of a Mind'' (Frederic C. Beil, ). He died at the age of 81 in

Discography

*''Bach at The Methuen Memorial Music Hall'' *''Bach at The First Congregational Church, Los Angeles'' *''A Recital of Works by Bach, Messiaen, Dupre, Widor & Franck'' *''Bach: The Organ At St. Andreas-Kirche, Hildesheim'' *''An Organ Blaster Sampler: The Best of Michael Murray'' *''Bach and Franck'' *''Bach at St. Bavo's: Concert from St. Bavo's Church, The Netherlands'' *''Bach at Zwolle'' *''Bach in Los Angeles (Toccata & Fugue in D minor)'' *''Bach Organ Blaster'' *''Bach: Organ Works'' *''Bach: The Organs at First Congregational Church, Los Angeles'' *''Ceremonial Music for Trumpet & Organ'' (with Rolf Smedvig) *''Dupre, Franck & Widor'' *''Dupre: Symphony in G minor & Rheinberger: Organ Concerto No. 1'' (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) *''Encores a la francaise & Poulenc: Organ Concerto'' (with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) *''Franck: The Complete Masterworks for Organ'' *''Jongen: Symphonie Concertante & Franck: Fantaisie in A'' (with the San Francisco Symphony) *''Music for Organ, Brass & Percussion'' (with the Empire Brass) *''Poulenc: Gloria and Concerto for Organ'' (with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) *''Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 and Encores a la francaise'' *''Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3'' (with the Philadelphia Orchestra) *''Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Organ'' (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) *''The Willis Organ at Salisbury Cathedral'' *''The Young Bach'' *''Vierne: Organ Symphonies'' *''Works by Franck, Widor, Dupre, Bach & others''

Bibliography

*1985 ''Marcel Dupré: The Work of a Master Organist''. Northeastern, *1994 ''Albert Schweitzer, Musician''. Scolar, *1998 ''French Masters of the Organ''. Yale, *2003 Editor, ''A Jacques Barzun Reader: Selections from His Works''. Harper, *2011 ''Jacques Barzun: Portrait of a Mind''. Frederic C. Beil,

References

External links

Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Columbus Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Michael 1943 births 2024 deaths American classical organists American male classical organists Oberlin College alumni Butler University alumni 21st-century American organists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American keyboardists