The Organ Works of Marcel Dupré

Book excerpt: Marcel Dupré's career as an organist spanned the first seven decades of the 20th century, and took him all over Europe, North America, and Australasia. He delighted vastaudiences wherever he played, and attracted large numbers of enthusiastic students, for whom his church of St. Sulpice in Paris and his home at Meudon were their musical Mecca. Dupré had a profound influence on a host of musicians who sought his guidance, and as a composer for the organ his place in the historical line of J.S. Bach, the Couperins, César Franck, Widor, and Vierne is assured. Graham Steed is recognized for his skilled and musicianly advocacy of Dupré's compositions and he brings a keen and discerning intelligence to his analyses.