Charles-Marie Widor
b. Lyons, February 21, 1844
d. Paris, March 12, 1937
Biography
Charles-Marie Widor was a great French composer of the late Romantic
tradition. His father, the organist of St. François, was his first teacher.
He later studied with Jacques Lemmens in Brussels. Even as a boy, Widor was
a skilled improviser. By 1860, at age 16, he replaced his father as the
organist at St François. In 1869 he became the organist at St. Sulpice, a
position he did not relinquish until 1934 he was 90 years old. In 1890
Widor succeeded Franck as a professor of organ at the Paris Conservatory.
Among his pupils was the famed Albert Schweitzer.
Widor was the first great composer in the symphonic organ style. His pieces
are all large-scale concert works. Many employ the French toccata style,
which features fast sixteenth note figurations over solo pedal. Typical of
Widor is bravura piano technique in the organ medium. Widor only included
religious themes in his final 2 symphonies, the Symphonie Gothique (op. 70)
and the Symphonie Romaine (op. 73).
Works
10 organ symphonies