Despite his blindness and personal anguish, Vierne used his mélodies to express and reconcile his emotions, consistently reflecting his world's beauty and pain.
Performer Biography
Michael Bundy, the baritone on this recording, specializes in French mélodie and has written a book on the songs of Widor, Vierne, and Tournemire.
Compositional Technique
Vierne's mélodies, while appearing compositionally easy, feature deep harmonic complexity and extreme vocal ranges, creating moments of dark anguish contrasted with startling simplicity.
Performer Biography
Jeremy Filsell, the pianist on this recording, is a virtuoso performer who has established an international recital career as both a pianist and an organist.
Composition History
The work 'La ballade du désespéré' was considered by Vierne to be his last composition, as indicated by his manuscript notation 'Op. 61 et ?dernier?'.
Composer Biography
Vierne's life was marked by tragedy, including the deaths of his two brothers and teenage son in the Great War, and his parents from painful illnesses.
Composer Biography
Louis Vierne, the composer, was the organist of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from 1900 until his death.
