Edouard Commette was an organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 from Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 of international fame who served the Archdiocese of Lyon for over 50 years.

Biography

Born in Lyon in the center of the silk manufacturing district where his father was an exporter, Edouard studied piano at the lycée of Bourg-en-Bresse

Bourg-en-Bresse

Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune in eastern France, capital of the Ain department, and was capital of the former province of Bresse . It is located north-northeast of Lyon.The inhabitants of Bourg-en-Bresse are known as Burgiens.-Geography:...

, after which he returned to Lyon and turned his attention to organ and harmony. A pupil of Charles Marie Widor, in 1900 he made his debut as organist in Lyon at the Church of the Good Shepherd (Église du Bon-Pasteur

Église du Bon-Pasteur

The Église du Bon-Pasteur is located rue Neyret on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse, near the montée de la Grande Côte, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon. Cardinal Barbarin described the church as "highly symbolic for Lyon Christians".-History:...

). Four years later he spent six months at the Church of Saint Polycarpe (Église Saint-Polycarpe

Église Saint-Polycarpe

The Église Saint-Polycarpe is a church located in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse, between rue René Leynaud, rue Burdeau and passages Mermet and Thiaffait...

), which owns one of the loveliest organs in the city.

He took up his post at Lyon Cathedral in 1904 and was a professor at the Lyon Conservatoire. Called "the best French organist" by the well-known music critic Emile Vuillermoz, Commette earned similar tributes from his students and listeners from all parts of the world and is responsible for some of the earliest organ recordings. "These – 78s, of course – were intended for a local market: their world-wide success amazed the modest M. Commette."

The organ of Lyon Cathedral was built by Daublaine and Callinet and was installed in 1841 at the end of the apse

Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...

 and had 15 stops. It was rebuilt in 1875 by Merklin-Schütze and given 30 stops, three keyboards of 54 notes and pedals for 27.

Criticism

"Edouard Commette is a notable performer of the old school. He does not keep as steady a beat as I would like in the B minor and D minor Fugues, and not everyone will approve of his tendency to slow up slightly in order to point a fugal entry... ...I find M. Commette's rubato convincing enough in the non-fugal movements, and he gives a noble account of the B minor and Dorian preludes."

Compositions

• Pieces (6) for Organ: Offertoire sur des noëls; Fughetta; Allegretto; Adoration; Aspiration religieuse; Scherzo (Bornemann, 1914)
• 14 pièces brèves pour orgue (Durand, 1926)
• Deux méditations pour orgue (Hérelle, 1947)
• Sur le lac
• Toccata in G

Known recordings

• J. S. Bach on the Cathedral Organ of Saint Jean De Lyon, France. Angel Records
  Angel Records
  Angel Records is a record label belonging to EMI. It was formed in 1953 and specialised in classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score...
  
   LP, 35368.

• Orgues et organistes français du Xx° siècle (1900–1950) •

Léon Boëllmann

Léon Boëllmann

Léon Boëllmann was a French composer of Alsatian origin, known for a small number of compositions for organ. His best-known composition is Suite Gothique , still very much a staple of the organ repertoire, especially its dramatic concluding Toccata.-Biography:The son of a pharmacist, Boëllmann was...

 : Menuet et Toccata de la Suite gothique
Eugène Gigout

Eugène Gigout

Eugène Gigout was a French organist and a composer of European late-romantic music for organ.-Biography:Gigout was born in Nancy, and died in Paris....

 : Toccata
Gabriel Pierné

Gabriel Pierné

Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné was a French composer, conductor, and organist.-Biography:Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz in 1863. His family moved to Paris to escape the Franco-Prussian War. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, gaining first prizes for solfège, piano, organ, counterpoint and fugue...

 : Prélude
Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

 : Allegro Molto de la 6° Sonate
J. S. Bach : Pièces BWV 543, 625, 614
Louis Vierne

Louis Vierne

Louis Victor Jules Vierne was a French organist and composer.-Life:Louis Vierne was born in Poitiers, Vienne, nearly blind due to congenital cataracts, but at an early age was discovered to have an unusual gift for music. Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French...

 : Carillon de Longpont
Louis-Nicolas Clérambault

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault was a French musician, best known as an organist and composer. He was born and died in Paris.-Biography:...

 : Caprice sur les grands jeux
- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

; Columbia

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1938 CD-EMI partiel (491)

• J. S. Bach : BWV 147, 582, 588, 578, 622, Je veux te dire adieu.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia-FCX 498, 1955 (dq 88)

• J. S. Bach : BWV 565, 562, 542, 645, 615, Préludes mi, ut, la min.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia-FCX 497, 1955 (dq 85)

• J. S. Bach : BWV 539, 537, 532, Chorals 605, 625, 637, 638, 727.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia, 1956 (dq 92)

• J. S. Bach : BWV 534, 536, 546, 542, 533, 543, Chorals 614, 629.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia, 1957 (dq 103)

• J. S. Bach : BWV 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 531, 547.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia, 1958 (dq 113) (42)

• J. S. Bach : BWV 538, 566, 535, 544.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia, 1961 (68)

• J. S. Bach : BWV 646, 651, 658, 661, 667, 669, 670, 671, 680, 734, 737.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia, 1962 (77)

• César Franck
  César Franck
  César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
  
   : 3 Chorals, Pièce héroïque.

- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia-FCX 496, 1955 (dq 88)

• Felix Mendelssohn : Marche nuptiale. Richard Wagner
  Richard Wagner
  Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
  
  : Marche de Tannhauser.

- Transcriptions de E. Commette.
- Lyon St-Jean
- Disque Columbia-ESBF 176, 1957