Jehan Alain's Trois Danses, considered his masterpiece, were completed just before his untimely death in 1940, giving them a premonitory character.
Performer Biography
William Whitehead, the organist, won first prize in the Odense International Organ Competition in 2004, leading to an increasingly busy recital career.
Recording & Production
The recording includes occasional contributions from dusk-time swallows, a sound associated with French ecclesiastical buildings in mid-July.
Recording & Production
This recording was inspired by the Oberthür organ in Auxerre Cathedral, built in 1986, which blends French classical and romantic traditions.
Recording & Production
The organ builder, Dominique Oberthür, greatly admired the music of Maurice Duruflé, whose works are featured on this album.
Composer's Artistic Vision
For Jehan Alain, the dance was a medium to express his musical genius, embodying both the joy of life and a self-destructive, obsessive force.
Compositional Technique
Alain's Trois Danses musically represent ideas of life and death through two distinct themes and two juxtaposed keys separated by a tritone.
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