#marcel dupre

[lesser-known-composers]

Ballade, Op. 30 - Marcel Dupre

Organ: Yoon-Mi Lim Piano: Hyeyoung Song

University Baptist Church (UBC) Fort Worth, Texas.

[oatlandgoodman]

Listening to a performance of Marcel Dupre's Le chemin de la Croix (The Stations of the Cross, Op. 29)

I                                    1931, tramp, tramp.  Dupre the Frenchman, Hitler

Jesus is sentenced       bestirs himself from the floor of

to death                        Europe.  We have found ourselves wanting and

                                    will adjudge ourselves the more harshly for it.

                                    tramp, tramp

  II                                   it is not yet beyond saving

Jesus is given               it can still turn out well

His cross                      we do not yet have to go along, not with all of it

                                    “We must bear the cross before it bears us”

                                   III                                 Christ plays in the ten thousand places

Jesus falls                    in this one, too?  The earth is hard as iron

the first time                meant to extract our blood

                                    must this be so?  Human pheromones, save me;

                                    disguise what is coming, hide my inner

                                    self from what is to be

                                    the hard stone of these steps, the hard

                                    word of this cross

                                    death approaches metronomically

                                    all the chambers fill with the grandeur

                                    of death, self-sacrifice

                                    who am I to deny this

  IV                                 across Europe for millenia the stifled

Jesus meets                  wails of mothers for their bloody

his mother                    dying sons – how proud I was of him

                                     how little I knew, how cleanly

                                     this rips my heart, beating, from my chest

  V                                  who is this Cyrenean?  How came he to

Simon of Cyrene         this place?  Whither will he go, after Jesus’

carries the cross           blood has stained his robe and the rough

                                    edge of this wood smoothed across his

                                    shoulder?  God forbid that there not be

                                    a special seat in heaven for he who

                                    deigned to hug that bloody wood

  VI                                 “his image made of blood,

Veronica wipes            his tears, our spit”      

the face of Jesus          the cloth can do little to staunch the flow

                                     of gore, the victim’s heart thundering

                                     wildly.  Behind, the Cyrenean’s forearm

                                     is as bloody as the cross it embraces

  VII                               Middle Passage.  A former king,

Jesus falls                    fastened to a post with a ring

the second time           of iron, falters, disease-ridden

                                    and starving, beaten,

                                    his throat aflame with thirst;

                                    he slumps back into the

                                    slime of his prison, while fast

                                    and thickly staccatoes the lash.

                                    “Lord save us from this second fall”

                                    “If salvation is so hard

                                    what about hell?

                                    If they so treat green wood,

                                    what will they do with the dead?”

  VIII                               the women of the little Polish town

Jesus meets                  would try to see the children through the wire

the daughters              and tried to believe, in their horror,

of Jerusalem                that today was not just business as usual

                                    God’s blessings on those who saw first-hand

                                    the malignity, the coming wreck

  IX                                 third fall – save us from despair

Jesus falls                    in this cacaphony

the third time               grind him the great maw of our machine

                                    break him, break him

  X                                  all is taken but his blood

Jesus is stripped          and they shall soon have that

of his garments            take it – watch the cancer advance

                                    take it – drink yourself to death

                                    take it – as the bomb goes off

  XI                                  here is our hard bed of love

Jesus is nailed              here is our place you coveted

to the cross                  here is the threshing floor of your unworldly love

                                     see your creatures straining with the effort

                                     to bind and kill you

                                     see their effort and see their skill

                                     oh so much more you have to do

                                     to save such as these, as we

                                     who macerate your flesh by the minute

  XII                                If you do not know by now you never will

Jesus dies                    of the barrenness of this vessel -        

on the cross                 a chimera, the promise of life,

                                    of fullness: make the acquaintance

                                    of this death you created for yourself, for me

                                    meet the solitude, the emptiness

                                    of these your slayers

                                    each breath is agony as the body distends

                                    prop yourself up so you can breathe once

                                    more, twice

                                    give up as you have been given up on

  XIII                              I dreamt just moments ago

Jesus’ body                 my son was killed like any criminal

is removed from          pulverized and hung

the cross                      like so much meat

                                    But my boy did not die this way

                                    these wounds did not so badly pain

                                    him, his parting from me was never

                                    such as this.  He is now mine, I care

                                    for him, I wash him with my tears

  XIV                              Hide his wounds in this wound of the earth

Jesus is laid                 the latter lovingly made, the former all

in the tomb                  malice and spite

                                    Clot this gore in gore’s receptacle

                                    give him a place to catch his breath

                                    to pick up speed for breaking through

                                    O powerless death

                                    be then his springboard, his signature

                                    take the broken limbs, the ruptured ligature

                                    the bloody brow, the pierced heart

                                    quietly retire until his healing starts

                                    Give over thy life, O death

[itwasmoonglow]

[princetonarchives]

In some on-line research using the Daily Princetonian Searchable Archives, I've discovered that Marcel Dupre, the famous French organist, performed in Proctor Hall several times in the 1920's. The performances I've found took place in February of 1923, 1924 (postponed until March because of the death of Woodrow Wilson) and 1925. Do you have any information about what pieces he performed on those programs? Thank you.

Thanks for reaching out to us. The archives of Daily Princetonian are a great start, but you’re right, they sometimes leave out information you might want.

There are several places to look for information about musical performances at Princeton University, but the programs for the Marcel Dupre organ concerts are found in the Historical Subject Files Collection (AC109), Box 277, Folder 5.

Have a question for the Princeton University Archives? Ask us anything.

[mozart-1053]

Marcel Dupré, “Souvenir” from 7 Pieces, Op.27 (1931)

[shepherdsongs]

Music for November 3, 2013 + All Saints/All Souls Sunday

Vocal Music

Requiem - John Rutter (b. 1945)

Instrumental Music

O Christ, Forgive Thy Servants - Marcel Dupré (1886 – 1971)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew.)

Hymn 287 - For all the saints, who from their labor rest (SINE NOMINE)

Hymn 619 - Ye watchers and ye holy ones (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)

Regular readers (I know there are at least 3) of this blog will notice that there is very little music in the above list this Sunday. That is because the choir is singing most of John Rutter's Requiem at the 10:15 service this Sunday. As Louise Luegner said in her notes on the Requiem, the occasion of a Requiem is one for reflection and looking back, and that is true this Sunday, as we sing this work in memory of the three choir members who have passed away during my tenure here at Good Shepherd. (Here is a link to the notes published in this Sunday's service leaflet. You have to click on the Rutter Requiem in the listing) We will also take this Sunday as an occasion to look forward, as we welcome another child into this family of faith through baptism.

We are not presenting the Requiem in its entirety as we are leaving out the last movement (A victim of time and liturgical needs), and we are moving The Lord Is My Shepherd from it's place near the end to a position between the Epistle reading and the Gospel, corresponding with the other Psalm (Out of the Deep) sung between the Old Testament and Epistle readings.

The closing voluntary is an improvisation on a Gregorian Chant for All Saints by the famed French organist of the 20th century, Marcel Dupré. He followed Charles-Marie Widor as organist at St. Sulpice in Paris in 1934 and remained at that post until his death in 1971. He performed over 2000 recitals in American and Australia, where he was legendary for his ability to improvise complex, exciting organ pieces at his concerts and services. In this work, you will hear the chant in the low notes of the pedal while the hands literally dance as they play a rippling triplet accompaniment for the tune.

[classicalnewb]

Marcel Dupre. This the piece that was considered unplayable for everyone but Marcel Dupre for several years after it was published.

[classicalnewb]

The Paganini of the organ.  Marcel Dupre lives for most of the 20th century, dying in 71. He was a child prodigy, and he was a virtuoso of the organ. He taught and composed music for the organ.

The article mentions that he is a giant among organ players, but outside of musicians who play the organ he is not well known. This Prelude and Fugue pieces are the most famous and his most played.