Louis Vierne (1870-1937) was a pupil of César Franck. He deputised for Charles-Marie Widor at St.- Sulpice ( Paris ) from 1892 onwards, before being appointed titulaire organist at Notre-Dame ( Paris ). His pupils included Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Duruflé, whose pupil Thierry Escaich is co-editor of this edition.
Vierne’s organ compositions are masterpieces of organ music and form an integral part of the virtuoso organ repertoire. In particular, Vierne raised the form of the organ symphony to new heights and influenced the development of organ technique worldwide. His musical language was influenced to a large extent by his teacher César Franck; there are also compositional elements of Claude Debussy.
Vierne’s Third Symphony is frequently regarded as his masterwork. It marks an expansion of his harmonic language. The present Urtext edition of the Third Symphony represents one of the composer’s versions, established through a comparative analysis of the autograph and first printed edition.
“ Bärenreiter is to be commended for making available such an impressive achievement; organists have every reason to believe that the remaining volumes will continue these high standards.”
(The American Organist, June 2009)
„This is volume three of a scheduled seventeen volume complete Urtext of Vierne’s organ and piano works. The ‘Third Symphony’ has long been considered one of the composer’s finest, and it is good that it now appears in such an excellent scholarly edition. There is little to do with a publication like this other than stress through superlatives. The work is the publisher’s usual high standard, both in terms of publication and thoroughness of the underpinning scholarship, including an extensive critical report on the sources – both printed and manuscript – and the editorial approach; as well as facsimiles, illustrations and a context- setting preface. If you haven’t already subscribed to this wonderful series, you should do so now!”
(Piano May/June 2008)
“The presentation and feel of the book are excellent, the layout of the music text beautiful and thoroughly legible, and the commentary both exhaustive and exhausting”
(Organist’s Review May 2008)
- ISMN: 9790006534371 (M006534371)
