1. Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era.
21 Facts About Charles-Marie Widor
1. 2.
Charles-Marie Widor was organ professor at the Paris Conservatory from 1890 to 1896 and then he became professor of composition at the same institution, following Theodore Dubois.
3.
Charles-Marie Widor was one of the first composers to use the term "symphony" for some of his organ compositions, helped in this by the organs built by Aristide Cavaille-Coll.
4.
Charles-Marie Widor was born in Lyon to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, Hungarian-born Francois-Charles Charles-Marie Widor, who was the titular organist of Saint-Francois-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889.
5.
In January 1870, with the combined lobbying of Cavaille-Coll, Saint-Saens, and Charles Gounod, the 25-year-old Charles-Marie Widor was appointed as "provisional" organist of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, the most prominent position for a French organist.
6.
Charles-Marie Widor was succeeded in 1934 by his former student and assistant, Marcel Dupre.
7.
In 1890, upon the death of Cesar Franck, Charles-Marie Widor succeeded him as organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire.
8.
Charles-Marie Widor had several students in Paris who were to become famous composers and organists in their own right, most notably the aforementioned Dupre, Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, Darius Milhaud, Alexander Schreiner, Edgard Varese, Hans Klotz, and the Canadian Henri Gagnon.
9.
Charles-Marie Widor, whose own master Lemmens was an important Bach exponent, encouraged Schweitzer's theological exploration of Bach's music.
10.
Charles-Marie Widor was named to the Institut de France in 1910, and was elected "Secretaire perpetuel" of the Academie des Beaux-Arts in 1914, succeeding Henry Roujon.
11.
In 1921, Charles-Marie Widor founded the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau with Francis-Louis Casadesus.
12.
Charles-Marie Widor was the director until 1934, when he was succeeded by Maurice Ravel.
13.
At the age of 76, Charles-Marie Widor married Mathilde de Montesquiou-Fezensac on 26 April 1920 at Charchigne.
14.
On 31 December 1933, at age 89, Charles-Marie Widor retired from his position at Saint-Sulpice.
15.
Charles-Marie Widor died at his home in Paris on 12 March 1937 at the age of 93, and his remains were interred in the crypt of Saint-Sulpice four days later.
16.
Charles-Marie Widor wrote music for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles and composed four operas and a ballet, but only his works for organ are played with any regularity today.
17.
However, Charles-Marie Widor was at the forefront of a revival in French organ music, which utilized a new organ design pioneered by Aristide Cavaille-Coll that was "symphonic" in style.
18.
Charles-Marie Widor was pleased with the worldwide renown this single piece afforded him, but he was unhappy with how fast many other organists played it.
19.
Many organists play it at a very fast tempo whereas Charles-Marie Widor preferred a more controlled articulation to be involved.
20.
Charles-Marie Widor recorded the piece, at St Sulpice in his eighty-ninth year; the tempo used for the Toccata is quite slow.
21.
Over his long career, Charles-Marie Widor returned again and again to edit his earlier music, even after publication.