“The organ! The dream of my young life.”
Henri Sauguet, La Musique, ma vie.
In his earlier years, Henri Sauguet was improvising and accompanying many church services at the organ, but did not write specifically for this instrument.
Apart from some liturgical scores, instrumental or vocal, using the organ as an accompaniment (Nec morietur in æternam with trumpet, Virgo singularis with violin, Je vous salue Marie, Requiem æternam, Pie Jesu, Petite Messe pastorale), Henri Sauguet composed Oraisons for saxophones – successively played by only one instrumentist – and organ (1976), as well as a Sonate d’église, for organ and string orchestra (1984-1985).
For solo organ only two short pieces remain, simple and intimate, like a distant echo of his earlier improvisations: a Chant nuptial for the wedding of his friend René Laporte in 1931, and this Prière nuptiale written on the occasion of the wedding of Count Georges de Montebello with Édith Decazes de Glucksbierg in 1962.
Bruno Berenguer
(translation Philippe Do)
Panorama de presse
On appréciera les modulations raffinées et la distinction de l’écriture, tout à fait digne d’un musicien de premier ordre.
François Sabatier, L’Orgue n° 276