Vierne - Organ Symphony no.1
Maybe it’s because my nano book this year involves werewolves and vampires that I’m once again being taken in by gothic imagery. Stormy skies, old castles and church buildings with stoic statues and stained glass, and of course, organ music. Maybe also it was my recent infatuation with César Franck’s organ music that reminded me of the fantastic organ repertoire of the 19th century. And as I mentioned in a recent blog post on Franck’s Grande Pièce Symphonique, organ manufacturing evolved to include more “symphonic” pipes, dynamics that resembled orchestral instruments. After Franck, organist Charles Marie Widor came up with the “Organ Symphony”, writing symphonies [or “symphonic” suites] for solo organ because those sound dimensions were possible. After Widor’s ten organ symphonies, Louis Vierne came in at the end of the century to follow in the footsteps of this tradition. And Vierne’s first organ symphony opens with a prelude and fugue, calling back to Bach and his influence, also a nod to Franck who also drew from Bach’s organ writing. Though the prelude is far from Baroque: constantly snaking around with uncertain harmonies at a lower volume, crawling around the chromatic scale. The prelude builds up to a growl, before backing back down into a quiet but rapid ostinato while the bass plays the main melody. That builds up into large gothic chords that really do sound like spooky haunted house ambient sounds. The progression slows down and becomes a whisper as the prelude ends. The fugue is based off an awkward theme that at least feels more like a call back to the Baroque. However it isn’t bound by harmonic or rhythmic convention, so there’s a lot of fun here. Especially for how often the dynamics change, and near the end the fugue turns more into a “fugal fantasy” that you can hear in other Romantic era “fugues”. The pastorale is peaceful, and revisits the main theme of the prelude, another allusion to Franck’s organ writing. The middle allegro is like a fun little scherzo, dancing around with light quick notes that have their own ghostly suspicious flair. A more warmer choral section is in the middle of it all, before the ghostly theme repeats. The following andante is a bit more...”religious” than the pastoral, with a warmer feeling, and a sense of longing with each passing note, never moving above piano. The final has become a warhorse in the organ repertoire. Very fun with a grand organ sound, bright and triumphant, it’s a showstopper that’s often played out of context from the rest of the symphony.
Movements:
1. Prelude
2. Fugue
3. Pastorale
4. Allegro vivace
5. Andante
6. Final