Alexandre Guilmant

Alexandre Guilmant was a French composer, organist, and educator known during his lifetime as a virtuoso performer. He was very influential as a professor at the Paris Conservatory, and his compositions continue to be a valuable resource to both student and professional organists. He was born in 1837 in Meudon, France and began playing the organ at a very young age. He initially learned from his father, Jean-Baptiste Guilmant, who was the organist at the St. Nicolas cathedral in Boulogne, and he also studied harmony later with Gustav Carulli. Around 1849, he began filling in for his father at St. Nicolas, and four years later he became the organist at St. Joseph des Carmes. Over the next seven years, his Messe Solennelle received its first performance at St. Nicolas, he began teaching solfege at the Ecole Communale de Musique, and he joined the Société Philhamonique as a violist. In 1860, he left Paris for two years to learn from the Belgian master organist Nicolas Lemmens in Brussels. Lemmens was also a former student of Aldolf Friedrich Hesse, who studied with Johann Christian Kittel, a pupil of J. S. Bach. Following his time with Lemmens, Guilmant returned to Paris and enjoyed an almost immediate rise to fame as an organist. He was invited to inaugurate the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ at St Sulpice in 1862 and the organ at Notre Dame in 1868. Three years later, he was appointed organist at La Trinité, where he remained for 30 years. It was during this period when he composed multi-volume collections of organ works, including Pieces for Organ in Different Styles, The Practical Organist, and The Liturgical Organist. Additionally, his interest in early music led him to compile several volumes of organ music from European composers from before 1750, such as Grigny, Couperin, and Clerambault. He was appointed organist in residence at the Palais du Trocadero in 1878, and he also began touring as a recitalist in Europe, Russia, and the United States. He continued composing, performing, and travelling until the 1890s, when he became more active as an educator. With Vincent d'Indy and Charles Bordes, he helped establish the Schola Cantorum in 1894, a music school modeled after the pedagogical philosophies of César Franck. After two years, Guilmant became an organ professor at the Paris Conservatory, replacing Charles-Marie Widor, who transitioned to teaching composition. Some of his more prominent students included Joseph Bonnet, Nadia Boulanger, and Marcel Dupré. Guilmant taught, composed, and performed until his death in 1911 in Meudon.
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