Mr. Walker studied as an undergraduate at Trinity College, Hartford, with the great Dupré student Clarence Watters. Being thus indoctrinated and equipped with an M.A. from Harvard and the F.A.G.O. certificate, when the war was over Mr. Walker became music director of the American Cathedral, in September 1948. That winter, he picked up the telephone and engaged Marcel Dupré for a Lenten recital. With that endorsement, he also lined up Maurice Duruflé, Jean Langlais, André Marchal and Olivier Messiaen for 9:00 p.m. recitals the other Fridays of Lent. The resourceful Mr. Walker was courting Janet Elizabeth Hayes, a soprano studying in Paris at the time. She was a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where she had served on the faculty and eventually obtained a Frank Huntington Beebe award to study abroad. Mr. Walker became engaged to her that winter and convinced her harmony teacher Nadia Boulanger to provide themes for those who would improvise to close the recitals. Mr. Walker played the opening recital and conducted the performance of the Brahms Requiem with orchestra on Good Friday to close the series, with soloists Janet Hayes, soprano, and Joseph Luts, baritone.
The success of the concerts was such that he repeated the series in Lent 1950 with Gaston Litaize in place of Dupré, but otherwise the same performers. In December of 1950, he left Paris to assume his duties at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City. With this "hit-parade" of performers, the organization of this series, instrument, repertoire and impact are worthy of an assessment.
Following up on Mr. Walker's talent with the telephone, Frederick W. Beekman, Dean of the American Church of the Holy Trinity (Pro-Cathedral), augured with his pen. He sent a letter, dated February 15, seeking 1,000 franc contributions2 for patrons who were assured of reserved pews. Sixty-eight are listed in the program, including prominent Parisians as well as members of the Cathedral. Beyond the expenses of printing programs and posters, artist honorariums were 10,000 francs3 each except Dupré who received 20,000 francs. Clever Charlie Walker arranged that the professional Orchestre de Chambre de Paris was placed at his disposition for the Brahms gratis in exchange for use of the building for other concerts being organized by the director Pierre Duvauchelle. With patron contributions of 68,000 minus the artist fees of 60,000, plus Requiem soloists, printing, etc., the financial situation was quite comfortable without the free-will offering collected at each concert.
The only other comparable series in town was at Trocadero, where the Cavaillé-Coll organ was rebuilt by Gonzalez in Neoclassic style with a modern "American" console, featuring octave couplers and pistons, in the Palais de Chaillot. It reopened in 1942. Most of the famous French organists performed in concert there. Otherwise during the war there was little recital activity because fuel for heating, metal for pipe repairs and most other materials were strictly rationed. Unlike the many Parisian churches shuttered during the occupation, the American Cathedral had benefitted from its designation as the official German Protestant church and the organ and building were therefore maintained. Prior to the war, the 1887 Cavaillé-Coll III/45 56/30 was twice rebuilt by the successor companies in 1922 and 1929, thus attaining IV/62 61/32.4
Today in the USA, a presenter might assume that an audience would be attracted by a series of concerts by foreign performers since the public would find little novelty in a set of local ones, however famous. The context of these in Paris was quite different. In addition to the privations of the war which precluded recitals in churches, organists regularly improvise the voluntaries at services. Music-lovers and congregations had little opportunity to hear repertoire. Knowing this, Mr. Walker asked for a balanced program in addition to improvisations, and encouraged the composer/performers to play their most recent works. These concerts thus attracted large audiences and the press. Present-day considerations to present an encyclopedic overview, a broad sampling of national schools, diverse musical styles, etc., seem not to have been important.
A look at the precise programs in 1949, for instance, shows that in addition to programming a performance of each of the three Franck Chorals, Mr. Walker arranged that several performers played some of their most recent works. Langlais played his Suite Française (1948), Dupré, his Vision (1948), Duruflé, his Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain (1943) and Messiaen, his Nativité (1936). Nativité aside, the Lenten theme was only loosely followed. Some included works of their contemporaries: Langlais, the Litaize "Lamento," Walker, the Dupré Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, Duruflé, excerpts from the Dupré Chemin de la Croix. Only Walker and Dupré deigned to honor American composers under this rubric: Walker played the Piston Chromatic Study on B-A-C-H and Dupré, the Eric DeLamarter Prelude on a Theme in Gregorian Style (H.W. Gray, 1920).
Marchal, Langlais and Dupré improvised to close their programs. Although the themes written by Mlle Boulanger are lost, Mr. Walker recalls that they were angular and not easily retained. "What good does it do to be a master of inverted retrograde when nobody can remember the theme of your improvisation? It was a learning experience for me to realize that audiences get the most pleasure out of hearing a recognizable theme getting brilliant treatment from a master."5 Duruflé, Messiaen and Walker did not improvise.6
The 1949 programs also show the breadth of repertoire played. Mr. Walker (born 1920) opened the series on March 4 with three Bach works: Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543; Trio Sonata I, BWV 525; and Herzlich tut mich verlangen, BWV 727. He moved on to a Brahms setting of the same chorale, then the Franck E Major Choral, and the Piston and Dupré already mentioned.
On March 11, André Marchal (1894-1980), the blind organist of Saint-Eustache, played an all-French program.7 Extracts from larger pieces of Titelouze, de Grigny, Couperin, du Mage and Clérambault provided a view of the eighteenth century, and the Boëly Fantaisie et Fugue (in B-flat Major) a glimpse of the nineteenth. The program concluded with the Symphonie, opus 5, written in 1907 by Augustin Barié (1883-1915). Of Marchal's interpretation of this piece, Messiaen writes "what a joyful memory, pure and sunny, the Symphony of Barié, played in five scenes of expressive freshness."8 Mr. Marchal improvised to close his program. Marchal's historical research did not lead to an academic performance style, but informed a fluid, expressive player. The many Marchal recordings still available or in library collections can provide aural evidence of this to those who wish to know more of his playing, while some may remember his performances made during several concert tours of the USA in the 1960s.9
Jean Langlais (1907-1991), pupil of Marchal and organist of Franck's church Sainte-Clotilde, opened his program on March 18 with the Franck second Choral. This was his only nineteenth century piece, for he continued with the Tournemire "Eli, Eli, Lamma Sabacthani" from his Seven Last Words, Litaize "Lamento" in memory of his friend and Conservatoire classmate Jehan Alain who was killed during the war, and the "Final" from the Sixth Symphony of Vierne. The Langlais pieces that followed were "Cantilène" from the Suite Brève, "Chant Héroïque" from Neuf Pièces, and the premiere of sections of his Suite Française. He also concluded with an improvisation. Langlais was in his prime at this time, and Mr. Walker reports a thrilling performance, which readers may investigate through the many recordings Langlais made or may recall from his American recitals.
Marcel Dupré (1886-1971), pupil of Guilmant and Vierne and successor to Widor at Saint-Sulpice, played on March 25. His was not at all a light program, for he opened with the Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542, of Bach, and continued with Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Sagen of Liszt, and "Allegro Maestoso" from Symphonie Gothique of Widor. Prelude on a Theme in Gregorian Style, written by the American organist Eric DeLamarter, was the quiet interlude before the Dupré works that would close the concert. First, from the very recent iMr. Dupré played "And the light shineth in darkness," then Prelude and Fugue in C Major. He closed with an improvisation. Performances not just of the master but of these specific works exist in recordings to satisfy the curiosity of those interested in his playing style.
Mr. Walker asked Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) to perform his La Nativité du Seigneur on the April 1 program.10 Messiaen was a harmony student of Duruflé and organ student of Dupré at the Conservatoire. Mr. Walker found Messiaen the most careful registrant. Messiaen asked that Charlie play passages on various registrations in order to assess their effectiveness as he walked around the cathedral. As mentioned earlier, neither Messaien nor Duruflé improvised to close their programs. Providing a reference as for the other performers, Mr. Messiaen made a recording of the Nativité.
Though Mr. Walker came to Paris intent to study with Dupré as Clarence Watters wished, Dupré recommended that he work with Duruflé instead, but Charlie's schedule precluded any lessons. He was surprised that Duruflé arrived for his practice by bicycle, but this was the harmony professor's standard conveyance to Conservatoire classes and around Paris.11 Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986), organist of Saint-Étienne du Mont,12 opened his concert on April 8 with the Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582, of J. S. Bach. Three other Baroque works followed: "Récit de tierce en taille" and "Basse de trompette" from the Convents Mass of Couperin, and Concerto in B-flat Major (op. 4, no. 2) of Handel. He then played Choral 3 of Franck. His contemporary works were the "Andantino" from Pièces de Fantaisie of Vierne, four movements from Le Chemin de la Croix of Dupré, and the Duruflé Prélude et fugue sur le nom d'Alain.
The next Friday was Good Friday, and featured a performance of Brahms Requiem with orchestra, the cathedral choir, and soloists, Mr. Walker conducting.
The constellation of players at important parishes in Paris in 1949/1950 is interesting to compare with the performers' roster at the American Cathedral. Though these were the most famous known to Mr. Walker, others may have selected eminent musicologist Norbert Dufourcq who was at Saint-Merry; the important music critic Bernard Gavoty who was at the Invalides; long-lived ladies and Dupré students Rolande Falcinelli and Suzanne Chaisemartin who were at Sacre-Coeur and Saint-Augustin; Baroque revival champion Michel Chapuis who was at Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois; and rising star Pierre Cochereau who was at Saint Roch13 in waiting for the position at the cathedral, Notre-Dame, where Vierne's successor Leonce de Saint-Martin served. Of these, Mr. Walker only remembers meeting Pierre Cochereau at the American Cathedral recitals. He came to a program with Jean Langlais, who was the most regular in attendance at the recitals of his colleagues. One may note the absence of women from the roster and the representation of blind organists, which increased in 1950 when Litaize replaced Dupré.
The review in The Diapason, presumably by its Paris correspondent Hugh McAmis, is interesting enough to be quoted in its entirety.14
Recitals by Noted Men at the American Cathedral in Paris
Americans in Paris, as well as native Parisians, are enjoying a treat at the American Pro-Cathedral church of the Holy Trinity, where a Lenten recital series has been arranged by Charles Dodsley Walker, cathedral organist and choirmaster. On the list of recitalists are André Marchal, Jean Langlais, Marcel Dupré, Olivier Messiaen and Maurice Duruflé.
The series of Friday evening recitals began March 4 with a program by Mr. Walker, after which came the recitals of the five great French organists. The programs contain a wide variety of French music of all periods. Especially well represented was the contemporary school of French organ composition, as each organist-composer had been asked to include some of his own compositions. Improvisations, for which the themes were provided by Nadia Boulanger, concluded the recitals of Marchal, Langlais and Dupré.
Concluding the series will be a Good Friday choral concert by the cathedral choir singing the Brahms Requiem under Mr. Walker's direction, with Janet Hayes, soprano; Joseph Luts, bass; and Marthe Bracquemond, organist. Both soloists for the performance, which will be in English, are young Americans in Paris for vocal study. Miss Hayes, who is from Evanston, Ill., is a former member of the faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston and of Boris Goldovsky's New England Opera Theater. Mr. Luts, a New Yorker, has been active in church work and opera in the New York and Philadelphia areas.
The privilege of hearing the performances was considerably enhanced by the fact that the church is heated and the organ kept tuned--both of which conditions are found infrequently in Paris.
The cathedral organ, one of the finest in France, was constructed originally as a three-manual tracker action instrument by Cavaillé-Coll in 1887. In 1922, it was enlarged and modernized somewhat and in 1930 it was completely rebuilt, further enlarged and equipped with electro-pneumatic action and an up-to-date four-manual console of the American type. Charles Dodsley Walker has been organist and choirmaster of the American Pro-Cathedral since September, 1948.
Of perhaps equal interest to the review is the stoplist of the cathedral organ, which was as mentioned built by Cavaillé-Coll as a three-manual in 1887. Cavaillé-Coll/Pleyel enlarged the instrument by seven stops, increased the pedal compass to 32 notes and electrified the action in 1922. In 1929/30 it was enlarged again under Convers, with a fourth manual, Solo. This new division and the Positif were enclosed (in addition to the Récit). In the new console, the manual compass increased from 56 to 61, with 73-note chests to accommodate the super-couplers in all but the Great division. These renovations were carried out during the tenure of the flamboyant Lawrence Kilbourne Whipp as organist of the cathedral.15
PÉDALE
32' Soubasse
32' Violoncelle
16' Contrebasse
16' Soubasse
16' Bourdon (GO)
16' Violone
102⁄3' Quinte
8' Flûte
8' Bourdon
8' Violoncelle
4' Bourdon
32' Bombarde
16' Bombarde
8' Trompette
Cloches
GRAND ORGUE
16' Diapason
16' Bourdon
8' Diapason
8' Montre
8' Flûte
8' Bourdon
8' Violoncelle
4' Prestant
4' Flûte
22⁄3' Quinte
2' Doublette
Plein Jeu III
16' Basson
8' Trompette
8' Tuba (Solo)
4' Clairon
Tremolo
POSITIF (Enclosed)
16' Quintaton
8' Diapason
8' Principal
8' Bourdon
8' Salicional
8' Dulciane
4' Flûte Douce
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Doublette
13⁄5' Tierce
8' Clarinette
8' Trompette
Cloches
Tremolo
RÉCIT (Enclosed)
16' Quintaton
8' Diapason
8' Flûte
8' Gambe
8' Voix Céleste
4' Flûte Octave
4' Gambe
2' Octavin
Cornet III-V
Plein Jeu III-V
16' Bombarde
8' Trompette
8' Basson Hautbois
8' Voix Humaine
4' Clairon
Tremolo
SOLO (Enclosed)
8' Philomela
8' Viole
8' Voix Céleste
8' Tuba
8' French Horn
Tremolo
Notes
1. I am very grateful to Edward Tipton, the present Director of Music of the American Cathedral, who found the correspondence, program and poster for this series while searching the cathedral archives for material related to Maurice Duruflé, and to Charles Dodsley Walker for his kind replies to several letters and calls about this series he directed more than fifty years ago.
2. The rate of exchange being 350 francs for one dollar, this was approximately $3.00 in 1949 dollars.
3. To put this fee in perspective, at the time Langlais was paid approximately $12 per month at Saint-Clotilde.
4. Ronald Ebrecht, Maurice Duruflé, 1902-1986, the Last Impressionist (Lanham, MD, and London: Scarecrow Press, 2002), p. 172n.
5. Charles Dodsley Walker letter to Ronald Ebrecht, June 2002. Private collection.
6. While it was not Mr. Walker's custom to improvise at services, I remember both Duruflé and Messiaen as engaging improvisers during masses in the early 1970s. They are not around now, however, to explain why they chose not to improvise for these concerts.
7. Then he returned in 1950 to play all Franck. His 1959 recording of the Franck twelve major works later won him a Grand Prix du Disque.
8. L'Orgue, Cahiers et Mémoires, #38, p. 104. Ebrecht translation.
9. He also inaugurated many restored historic organs in France, including on April 24, 1966, the Lefebvre/Muller IV/50 built for Saint-Pierre, Caen in 1753 and moved to the Collégiale de la Madeleine, Verneuil-sur-Avre in 1779. This is the church where I served in 1977-79.
10. I presume not as an April fools' joke.
11. Duruflé lost the benefit of this healthy life-style in his catastrophic injuries in a 1975 automobile accident.
12. Though the main organ at his church was removed in 1939 and not reinstalled until 1956 and he was thus playing the small organ in the choir, Duruflé uses his title "Organiste du Grand Orgue de Saint-Étienne du Mont."
13. Cochereau was Duruflé's harmony student at the Conservatoire in 1944-45, and it seems that Mlle Chevalier's first evening social engagement with Duruflé was a trip to a recital by Cochereau at Saint-Roch in 1945. Ebrecht, p. 42.
14. Reprint of article from The Diapason, April 1, 1949, p. 21.
15. The recitals were not Duruflé's only involvement at the cathedral, which included his serving as examiner for a renovation of the organ in 1953, and continued until his death. His wife, Marie-Madeleine, played the inaugural recital following the 1992 renovation of the organ by Dargassies. She heard the Requiem there in 1996, for her last time. Ebrecht, p. 172 and pp. 192, 193.
