Léon Boëllmann was a Romantic French organist and composer who wrote over 160 works in his short lifetime of only 35 years. He studied music at the École de Musique Religieuse et Classique, the same music school as Gabriel Fauré, André Messager, and many other prominent organists from this era. Boëllmann's most well-known compositions include Suite Gothique for the organ and Variations Symphoniques for cello and orchestra. Boëllmann was born into a large family with 13 other siblings, and spent the majority of his childhood in the Alsace region of France. This area was under dispute and eventually taken by the Kingdom of Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, which ended in 1871. This led to the expulsion of many French Alsatians who chose to keep their French citizenship. Around this time, Boëllmann's father passed away and his family sent him to live in Paris, to continue his music studies and find work. In 1875 he enrolled in the famous École de Musique Religieuse et Classique and studied with Eugène Gigout, who was a former student of both Saint-Saëns and Fauré at the same school. Later, Gigout took in Boëllmann as an adopted son and they became very close. By 1881, Boëllmann had finished his schooling, and he began working as the organist at the St. Vincent de Paul church, in Paris. Four years later, in 1885, he married Louise Lefèvre, who was Gustave Lefèvre's daughter and Gigout's niece by marriage. In addition to his position at St. Vincent de Paul, Boëllmann taught at Gigout's school for organists, and he became a popular music critic writing for several French publications. During the last ten years of his life, Boëllmann suffered from a pulmonary disease that ultimately killed him at the age of 35. After his death, his three children were raised by Gigout. The oldest child, Marie-Louise Boëllmann-Gigout, continued the family tradition of organ performance and education, and later became a courageous freedom fighter who protected French musicians during World War II. Had he lived longer, Boëllmann would likely be regarded today as one of the great Romantic French organist-composers, in a line that included Franck, Widor, and Vierne. He composed some 68 chamber, orchestral, and other works in addition to a collection of 100 contrapuntal organ pieces published under the title Heures Mystiques. At the time, Boëllmann's Suite Gothique was an instant success, and the powerful Tocatta continues to be a favorite piece to perform for many organists. The extreme dynamics and use of the entire range of the organ give this work a very Romantic flavor. A precursor to the impressionist composers, Boëllmann also experimented with modes, as seen in his Douze Pieces, for organ, Op.16. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi

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Léon Boëllmann

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