Musicians - Charles-Marie Widor

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	Musicians - Charles-Marie Widor

Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor (pronounced "VEE-door", French pronunciation (IPA): ) (February 21, 1844 – March 12, 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher.

Widor is best remembered today for the Toccata from his Symphony for Organ No. 5, which is often played as a recessional at wedding ceremonies. Next to the famous Toccata in D minor attributed to J.S. Bach, Widor's Toccata is the most widely known work in the organ repertory. Though he wrote scores of works for the organ, comprising hundreds of individual movements and pieces, when an organist hears a reference to "the Widor", he instantly knows the speaker is referring to the Toccata from Symphony #5. He was pleased with the world-wide reknown this single piece afforded him, though he himself did not consider it to be any better than any other individual piece he'd composed. He was, however, unhappy with how fast many other organists played it. Widor was capable of blazing speed himself, but always played the Toccata rather deliberately.

Widor was born in Lyon, and initially studied music there with his father, who was himself an organist. He got his first major job as an organist at the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris in 1870. Due to interesting circumstances surrounding his initial appointment to his job, he was first hired as an interim organist. After unsuccessfully applying for the post on a permanent basis in 1871, Widor contented himself with remaining interim organist of the church for 63 years. In 1890 he took over from Cesar Franck as organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire, where he later also became composition professor. He remained in good health to an advanced age, but was finally forced to retire from Saint-Sulpice in 1933, at the age of 89. He was succeeded by Marcel Dupré.

Widor was one of many composers to die in the year 1937, including Louis Vierne (another organist), Maurice Ravel, Gustav Holst, and George Gershwin.

Widor had several students in Paris who were to become famous composers in their own right, most notably Darius Milhaud and Marcel Dupré. He wrote music himself for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles (some of his songs for voice and piano are especially notable,) but only his works for organ are played with any regularity today. Widor showed no interest in breaking new ground by stretching tonality to his limits, as many of his colleagues did. However, his music is not unoriginal or dull. Much of it is tremendously effective in the most idomatic way for the organ, but it offers few startling suprises.

Widor's organ works include: 10 symphonies, Suite Latine, Trois nouvelles pieces, and six transcriptions of works by Bach known as the Bach Memento. The symphonies are his most important contribution to the organ literature.

It seems unusual to assign the term "symphony" to a work written for one instrument. However, Widor was at the forefront of a revival in French organ music, which had sunk to low heights during the 18th century. Aiding in this revival was the organ-builder Aristide Cavaille-Coll, who pioneered a new organ that was "symphonic" in style. The organ of the Baroque and Classical periods was designed to project a clear and crisp sound capable of handling contrapuntal writing. Cavaille-Coll's organs had a much warmer sound, ideal for the more homophonic style of writing that now predominated. This new style of organ allowed composers to write music that was truly symphonic in scope. (This trend was not limited to France, and was reflected in Germany by the works of Liszt, Reubke, and Reger.)

Widor's symphonies can be divided into three groups. The first four symphonies comprise Op. 13, and are more properly termed "suites". They represent Widor's early style. Widor made later revisions to the earlier symphonies. Some of these revisions were quite extensive. The early symphonies show great variety in writing, but neither the individual movements nor the symphonies themselves compare to his later works.

The second group of symphonies, Symphonies 5-8, are part of Op. 42. The Fifth Symphony has five movements and closes with the famous Toccata. The opening movement of the Sixth Symphony is also very famous. The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, while not very well known, contain some truly remarkable and exciting moments, and are by far the longest of Widor's Symphonies.

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