12 Choral Preludes on Gregorian Chant Themes for Organ, Opus 8- Jeanne Demessieux Centennial Tribute

Amplify Female Composers celebrates the centennial year of the legendary French composer and organist, Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968).
She prepared this set of 12 Choral Preludes for publication in the United States in 1947 and programmed them within her legendary American concert tours. Though they are short, each movement is built upon a distinct liturgical chant tune, and the preludes are organized seasonally through the church year, such as “Rorate caeli” for Advent, “Adestes fideles” for Christmas, “Attende Domine” for Lent and “O filii et filiae” for Easter. These Gregorian chants are the centerpiece of French Catholic sacred music and have provided significant inspiration for generations of French organists. Demessieux also explores twelve distinct compositional forms with designated registration colors, that evoke historical musical traditions of many styles, from contrapuntal forms like the fugue, ornamented chorale and variations, which German masters such as Bach used frequently, the Italian cantabile and French themes like the musette and berceuse.
12 Choral Preludes on Gregorian Chant Themes for Organ, Opus 8 by Jeanne Demessieux
1. 0:00 Rorate caeli (Choral orné) - Sarah Simko
1992 D.F. Pilzecker & Company Organ of Toledo, Ohio
The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit, Michigan
2. 3:20 Adeste fideles (Musette) - Renée Anne Louprette
1975 Karl Schuke Berliner Orgelbauwerkstatt, Opus 315
Voorhees Chapel, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
3. 5:39 Attende Domine (Choral paraphrase) - Jennifer Pascual
George Kilgen & Son, Gallery Opus 5918 (1930), rev. Chancel Opus 3920 (1928), rev.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, New York
4. 8:45 Stabat Mater (Cantabile) - Linda Buzard
1991 John Paul Buzard Organ, Opus 7
The Episcopal Chapel of St. John the Divine, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois
5. 12:04 Vexilla Regis (Prélude) - Janet Yieh
2018 Noack Organ, Opus 161
St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity Church Wall Street, New York, New York
6. 14:18 Hosanna Filio David (Choral fugue) - Joy-Leilani Garbutt
1960 Aeolian-Skinner Organ, Opus 1350
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, San Francisco, California
7. 16:14 O filii et filiae (Variations) - Carolyn Craig
1935 Aeolian-Skinner Organ, Opus 927
Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, Connecticut
8. 19:41 Veni Creator (Toccata) - Nicole Marane
Austin Organ 1963 / Cornell Zimmer 2000, Opus 44
St Luke's Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia
9. 21:48 Ubi caritas (Ricercare) - Crista Miller
2010 Pasi Organ, Opus 19
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Houston, Texas
10. 24:04 In manus tuas (Litanie) - Maxine Thévenot
Reuter Organ, Opus 918/2210 (AD 2002)
The Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico
11. 27:08 Tu es Petrus (Marcia) - Susan Jane Matthews
1929 Skinner Organ, Opus 809
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Burlingame, California
12. 28:18 Domine Jesu (Berceuse) - Catherine Rodland
2007 Holtkamp Organ, Opus 2090
Boe Memorial Chapel, St Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
Other videos in the Demessieux Centennial Tribute
Te Deum - • Te Deum, Opus 11 - Jea...
Sacred Spaces and Inspirations: St Esprit & St John the Divine Documentary - • Sacred Spaces and Insp...
The Jeanne Demessieux Centennial Tribute was produced by Joy-Leilani Garbutt, Susan Jane Matthews, and Janet Yieh. Fourteen women organists participated from around the United States: Linda Buzard, Carolyn Craig, Katelyn Emerson, Joy-Leilani Garbutt, Renée Anne Louprette, Nicole Marane, Kimberly Marshall, Susan Jane Matthews, Crista Miller, Jennifer Pascual, Catherine Rodland, Sarah Simko, Maxine Thévenot, and Janet Yieh. Elizabeth Kimble was the audio and video engineer.
The Jeanne Demessieux Centennial Tribute is presented in partnership with the Boulanger Initiative, and made possible in part through the support of a Special Projects Grant from the San Francisco Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (SFAGO).

[@LofiCatholicism]

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[@EGYong-sj3cc]

What a wonderful project, and so beautifully done! I'm grateful for all the efforts that were made, from organizing, practicing, recording and editing. Thank you for allowing me to experience this music in such a special way! Blessings on you all!

[@Stirlingv8]

Thank you so much for posting this - exactly what I was looking for. Beautiful, elegant, poignant and demands a much greater popularity!

[@federicosavio]

Great achievement!!

[@TheJohn1567]

beautifully played!