Since 1945, Jean Langlais's instrument has been the famous organ in the Parisian church of Sainte-Clotilde, built by the master of French romantic organ building, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
Composer Biography
Jean Langlais, one of the composers on this album, characterized himself as an "old-fashioned organist" and a "musician at the organ."
Compositional Technique
In Otto Olsson's Te Deum, the extensive orchestral apparatus of his Requiem is reduced to strings, harp, and organ, making it accessible to smaller ensembles.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Otto Olsson's ideal for the organ at Gustaf Vasa Church was French romanticism with an unmistakably Nordic palette, which he described as "entirely constructed according to my own ideas."
Composition History
Otto Olsson's Requiem from 1903 was never heard by the composer and was first performed 12 years after his death in his "own" church.
Composer Biography
Jean Langlais, who was blind from birth, received his musical education by becoming an organist, which was the only possible path for a blind young man at that time.
Composer Biography
Otto Olsson, another composer on this album, was organist for almost fifty years at the Gustaf Vasa Church in Stockholm, where he planned the rebuilding and expansion of the large organ.
