The Leading Classical Music Label Direct To You

Read reviews, listen to the music, and purchase the CD DUPRE: Works for Organ, Vol. 11

Customer Service Toll Free 866.489.4152

Music AND Flowers. The Perfect Gifts.

Spend $50 or more on NaxosDirect and we'll give you a $10 coupon for 1800Flowers.com family of stores. Offer ends Feb. 12th. Need suggestions? Click here

Flash 9 required. Click to download.

Narrow your search
with our Music Browser

Classical Music

        Ballet
        Chamber Music
        Choral
        Concertos
        Film Music
        Folk Legends
        Instrumental
        Musicals
        Opera / Operetta
        Orchestral
        Vocal

Jazz

Jazz Contemporary
Jazz Icons

New Age

Wind Band

World

        Ballad
        Bhuddist
        Chinese Music
        Classical (World)
        Early Music (World)
        Folk
        Gamelan
        Gypsy
        Hindustani
        Jazz (World)
        Klezmer
        Sufi
        Vocal (World)
        World

Special Offers:

Free MP3 Downloads

Catalogs

Internship Opportunities

Celebrating Black History

Grammy Winners on Sale

Masters of American Music

Valentine�s Day Special

Clearance

Penguin Guide

200 Essential Recordings

Recently Released

Upcoming Releases

SACD

DVD

        Ballet DVD
        Classical Concert
        Classical Documentary
        Dance Documentary
        Opera DVD
        Pop/Rock Concert

Audio Books

        Anthologies / Collections
        Arts
        Biographies
        Children's Classics
        Classic Fiction
        Great Epics and Tales
        History
        Junior Classic Fiction
        Junior History
        Literature
        Music Biographies
        Music Education
        Non-Fiction
        Philosophy
        Plays - Others
        Plays - Shakespeare
        Poetry
        Religion
        Samplers
        Sports
        Wine Guide

NaxosDirect Podcasts

Video Librarian Reviews

Labels

Naxos Label

        Naxos American Classics
        Naxos Best Of...
        Naxos Box Sets
        Naxos Cinema Classics
        Naxos Classics
        Naxos DVD
        Naxos DVD-Audio
        Naxos International
        Naxos Jazz
        Naxos Limited Edition
        Naxos Milken Archives
        Naxos Night Music
        Naxos Opera
        Naxos Orchestral
        Naxos Special Release
        Naxos Wind Band Classics
        Naxos World

Composers

Conductors

Ensembles

Orchestras

Choirs

Artists

Instruments

Producers

DUPRE: Works for Organ, Vol. 11

Home

Naxos Label

Naxos Classics

View large image

Total playing time: 01:11:32

$8.99 (CD)

In Stock - Usually ships within 24 hours.

Link to this CD Link to this page

Marcel Dupre (1886-1971) Organ Works, Volume 11 Marcel Dupre was born into a musical family in Rouen in 1886. His father was an organist who had been a...

Read more about this recording

Marcel Dupre (1886-1971)

Organ Works, Volume 11

Marcel Dupre was born into a musical family in Rouen in 1886. His father was an organist who had been a pupil of Guilmant, who became Marcel's teacher from the time the boy was eleven. Dupre was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at sixteen, and among his teachers was Widor, whose assistant he became at the great church of St. Sulpice (Paris) four years later. Having won the coveted Grand Prix de Rome in 1914, Dupre began his rise to fame with international recital tours, in which he performed (in Paris and New York) Bach's complete organ works from memory - a stunning feat which had been his ambition since he was a child. His American debut concluded with an improvised four-movement organ symphony, described at the time as 'a musical miracle'.

In 1925 Dupre bought a house in the Parisian suburb of Meudon, where he had a house organ installed which had belonged to Guilmant. Pupils from all over the world were soon to flock here. A year later he was appointed professor of organ at the Paris Conservatoire, where his pupils included both Jehan and Marie-Claire Alain, Jean Guillou, Jean Langlais and Olivier Messiaen. He succeeded Widor as organist of St. Sulpice in 1934, where he remained for the rest of his life, improvising (as has always been the custom in France) for the Mass and Office, unfailingly matching the music to the occasion. He also published a famous edition of Bach's organ works, as well as textbooks including the well-known Cours d'Improvisation. In the succeeding years until his death in 1971 he received many honours and awards, and composed works that now appear on recital programmes and in recordings all over the world. On the morning of the very day of his death (at home in Meudon) he played his two final masses at St. Sulpice.

Le Chemin de la Croix ('The Way of the Cross') is an ideal vehicle for Dupre's art, combining his genius for organ playing, his harmonic and contrapuntal gifts and, not least, his religious devotion. The individual stations of the Cross form a musical stained-glass window, juxtaposing autonomous sections of music in the way so many French composers love. Each station is depicted in a pictorial manner whose history extends from Couperin's harpsichord pieces through to Messiaen's great suites for organ.

It is perhaps dangerous to seek absolutely precise images in Dupre, but Pilate's grim (and cowardly - notice how indefinitely the music begins) sentence followed by the shrill mocking yells of the mob may be imagined in Jesus est condamne � mort ('Jesus is condemned to death'). On his way to Calvary, Jesus falls three times; in each of the relevant pieces, one can picture his agonized steps, and the weight of the Cross bearing down on his shoulders. How subtly Dupre indicates that this is more than just the toppling over of one exhausted human being! The brutality of events is interrupted by the tender meeting of Jesus with Mary; the resigned mood of the music seems to suggest that both had long realized that this moment would one day arrive.

Legend has it that a compassionate woman, St. Veronica, stepped out of the crowd and wiped the sweat and blood (caused by the crown of thorns) from Jesus's face (Une femme pieuse essuie la face de Jesus). This act of charity is expressed in terms first of pain, but concludes in the warmth of the final major chord.

The professional mourners are at hand (Jesus console les filles d'Isra�l qui le suivent ('Jesus comforts the women of Jerusalem')); but Jesus gently tells them, 'Don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children'; one hears his voice (perhaps) on the Oboe stop. Jesus tombe � terre pour la troisi�me fois ('Jesus falls the third time') reminds us of the viciousness of events; and the diabolical dancing succeeded by an awful stillness in Jesus est depouille de ses v�tements ('Jesus is stripped of his clothes') reveals our shame and disgrace.

Jesus meurt sur la Croix ('Jesus dies on the Cross') expresses, with the voix humaine stop penetrating through soft, flutey sounds, the fading away of life, and the head dropping onto the shoulder. Suddenly, we perceive the throbbing of the earthquake and the rending of the Temple veil which occurred at this moment. In number XIII, Jesus est detache de la Croix et remis � sa M�re ('The body of Jesus is taken from the cross and laid in Mary's bosom') we have the musical equivalent of the sculptural form known as the Piet�. Finally, Jesus's body is laid in the tomb, with its promise of Resurrection, which the music expresses in an inexorable crescendo. The concluding atmosphere is other-worldly, and removes us from the preceding evil (which always makes such a noise!) and towards the silence of eternal Hope.

The Seven Chorales from Op. 28 are extremely short, finding, incidentally, an ideal medium in recording. The intention is to prepare the young organist for similar pieces by Bach (such as The Little Organ Book).

These quiet little gems each express a subtly different mood; notice how (to mention but the first three) Dupre expresses the profound, meditative aspect of Mon �me glorifie le Seigneur ('My soul doth magnify the Lord'), in contrast to the joy of Dans la paix et dans la joie ('In peace and joy'), and the tenderness of O innocent agneau de Dieu ('O innocent Lamb of God').

Roger Rayner

Disc 1

The Way of the Cross, Op. 29

(more info)

Composed by: Marcel Dupre
Mary Preston, organ

I. Jesus is Condemned to Death - 2:59
II. Jesus Receives His Cross - 4:09
III. Jesus Falls the First Time - 5:09
IV. Jesus Meets His Mother - 5:34
V. Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross - 3:11
VI. Jesus and Veronica - 3:10
VII. Jesus Falls a Second Time - 4:19
VIII. Jesus Comforts the Women of Jerusalem - 5:10
IX. Jesus Falls a Third Time - 3:54
X. Jesus is Stripped of His Clothes - 3:37
XI. Jesus is Nailed on the Cross - 4:13
XII. Jesus Dies Upon the Cross - 5:15
XIII. The Body of Jesus is Taken from the Cross and Laid in Mary's Bosom - 3:47
XIV. The Body of Jesus is Laid in the Tomb - 7:38

7 Chorales, Op. 28

(more info)

Composed by: Marcel Dupre
Mary Preston, organ

No. 55: My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord - 1:18
No. 56: In Peace and Joy I Depart - 1:06
No. 61: O Innocent Lamb of God - 1:09
No. 62: O Man, Mourn for Thy Many Sins - 1:24
No. 65: Hail to Thee, Blessed Jesus - 2:16
No. 67: Our Father in Heaven - 1:16
No. 73: He that Suffereth God to Guide Him - 0:58

Reviews

Be the first to review this title

FREE SHIPPING on orders
of 5 items or more!

Earn Naxos Rewards Points by opening an account and buying your favorite music today! Create your account here.

See all of our great site features here.

Flash 9 required. Click to download.

Composer(s):
Dupre, Marcel

Artist(s):
Preston, Mary

Label: Naxos Classics
UPC: 636943437926
Item Number: 8554379
Release Date: Aug 1, 2000