Théodore Dubois

Théodore Dubois (1837-1924) was a French Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher. He was born in Rosnay, near Reims, France, and studied music at the Paris Conservatoire, where he later became a professor. At the Conservatoire, he studied the organ with François Benoist and harmony with François Bazin. In 1861, he won France’s premier musical […]

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Sidney Torch

Sidney Torch (1908-1990) was an English conductor, composer, and cinema organist. He was born in London, England, and studied the piano at the Blackheath Conservatoire in south east London. When the cinema’s Christie Theatre Organ was installed in 1928, Torch became the Assistant Organist to the Chief Organist, Quentin Maclean. Torch took over as Chief […]

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Paul Dukas

Paul Dukas (1865-1935) was a composer and conductor, born in Paris, France. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, with amongst others Dubois and Guiraud. Dukas wrote a number of works for orchestra, choir, and other ensembles, but many of these he destroyed, being a perfectionist and unhappy with them. His best-known work is the orchestral […]

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Max Reger

Max Reger (1873-1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor and academic teacher. He is best known for his compositions for piano, organ, and orchestra, which are notable for their technical complexity and virtuosity. Reger was born in Brand, Bavaria. He received his formal training at the Munich Conservatory, where he studied with Joseph Rheinberger […]

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Maurice Ravel

Ravel was born in 1875 in the town of Ciboure, in the south of France. He attended the Paris Conservatoire, from 1889 onwards, where he studied with Gabriel Fauré and other notable musicians. ccording to musicologist Barbara L. Kelly, he “was only teachable on his own terms”, which Fauré understood, but which was not acceptable […]

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Marcel Dupré

Marcel Dupré was born in 1886 in Rouen, France. He was grandson, son, nephew and father of musicians, and began studying music at a young age. His compositions renewed the language of the royal instrument while his interpretations reshaped the repertoire of organ music entirely. He attended the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied with Alexandre […]

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Louis Vierne

Louis Vierne was a French organist and composer who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his contributions to the organ repertoire, particularly his solo organ works, which are characterized by their technical demands and musicality. Vierne was born in 1870 in Poitiers, France, and began studying […]

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Joseph Jongen

Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) was considered to be ‘one of our greatest composers from the first half of the twentieth century’ in 2003, when the 50th anniversary of his death was commemorated by concerts, lectures and an exhibition in the Royal Library of Belgium. He was a prolific composer and his opus 1 dated 1892 was […]

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Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was an Austrian composer and one of the most important figures in the development of classical music. He was born in Rohrau, Austria, and received his musical education in Vienna, where he studied with a number of prominent musicians of the time, including Georg Reutter. Haydn is considered one of the “fathers […]

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Joseph Bonnet

Joseph Bonnet (1884-1944) was a French organist and composer. He was born in Bordeaux, France, and received his musical education at the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied organ with Alexandre Guilmant and composition with Gabriel Fauré. Bonnet is known for his organ music and choral works, as well as his piano pieces and other works […]

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John Stanley

John Stanley (1712-1786) was an English composer and organist. He was born in London and received his musical education at the Chapel Royal, where he studied with William Croft and other prominent musicians of the time. Stanley is known for his organ music, including a number of voluntaries and other pieces for the instrument, as […]

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John Blow

John Blow (1649-1708) was an English composer and organist. He was born in Norfolk, England, and received his musical education at the Chapel Royal, where he studied with several prominent musicians of the time, including William Child and Christopher Gibbons. Blow is known for his contributions to the development of English opera, and is credited […]

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Johannes Gijsbertus Bastiaans

Johannes Gijsbertus Bastiaans (1873-1953) was a Dutch composer and organist. He was born in Amsterdam and received his musical education at the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he studied composition with Bernard Zweers and organ with Hendrik Andriessen. Bastiaans is known for his organ music and choral works, as well as his symphonies and other orchestral pieces. […]

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Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a German composer and pianist. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, and received his musical education at the Hamburg Conservatory, where he studied piano with Eduard Marxsen and composition with Friedrich Wieck. Brahms is considered one of the leading composers of the Romantic era, and is known for his symphonies, chamber […]

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Henri Mulet

Henri Mulet (1878-1967) grew up close to the Sacré-Coeur, the Paris basilica where his father was a choirmaster and his mother played the harmonium. At the Paris Conservatoire he studied both violoncello and organ. Widor was his organ professor, while Guilmant gave him lessons in improvisation. In 1920, Mulet published his Esquisses byzantines, ten sketches […]

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César Franck

César Franck (1822-1890). Even though he was born in Liège, and as such of Belgian origin, César-Auguste Franck may be counted among the great French composers. His works ‘pour grand orgue’ make him undoubtedly the most important French composer of organ music ever. César Franck’s parents, originating from a German-Austrian family, moved from Aachen to […]

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Susanna Veerman

Susanna Veerman (1975) studied at the Gnesin music school and the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow, where she obtained her diploma Choir Conducting in 1997. She obtained her diploma Master Choir Conducting at the Sweelinck Conservatoire in Amsterdam in 2001 with Jan Pasveer. In 2005, she obtained her diploma Master Organ with Ben van Oosten at […]

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Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin

Sophie-Véronique CAUCHEFER-CHOPLIN was born in 1959 in Nogent-le-Rotrou, France. She grew up in a musician family where she received piano instruction as a child. After completing piano, organ and harmony courses at the Ecole Nationale de Musique of Le Mans, she entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris where she studied the organ […]

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Louis Robilliard

Louis Robilliard is an organ teacher at the Conservatoire National de Région de Lyon and the main organist of the great Cavaillé-Coll organ at the St.-François-de-Sales in the same city. He is both a teacher and performing musician, which enables him to make numerous tours throughout France and abroad. His recorded works, dedicated to the […]

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Klaas Jan Mulder

Klaas Jan Mulder (1930-2008), was a Dutch organist with a career spanning decades. For his 25th anniversary as a concert organist, he made recordings at César Franck’s organ in the St. Clotilde in Paris. Fifteen years later, he travelled to Toulouse for the Festivo music label, where he performed on the then recently renovated Cavaillé-Coll […]

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