Esquisses Byzantines - Nr. V - Campanile

Henri Mulet (1878 - 1967) was a somewhat mysterious French organist and composer. He studied organ with Guilmant and Widor and served as an organist in several churches in Paris {choirmaster of the basilica of Sacré-Coeur, Paris and titular organist at St Pierre-de-Montrouge (until 1901), St Eustache, Ste Marie des Batignolles (1910), St Roch (1912), and St Philippe du Roule in Paris. He was a professor at the Ecole Niedermeyer and at the Schola Cantorum. In 1937 Mulet burnt most of his manuscripts and left Paris for Draguignan in Provence. The reasons for this are unknown. He served as organist at the cathedral in Draguignan until 1958, and afterwards he entrusted himself to the care of the nuns at the establishment there (Les Petites Soeurs des Pauvres). He spent the last 30 of his 89 years in seclusion. By the time of his death, he had been completely forgotten, and not one French newspaper printed his obituary. Most of his surviving music is largely unknown. In a tribute to Mulet, Charles Tournemire wrote: "Henri Mulet, a strange and great artist, captive of a mystic ideal. A calm improviser, some times lively, some times religious. An artist worthy of the great epoch of the Masters of the Middle Ages, which, in his case, would not exclude an understanding of present-day art. A mysterious thinker" (from: Wikipedia)

The group of 10 pieces called Esquisses Byzantines was inspired by "elements" of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris. They are inscribed "En mémoire de la Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, 1914-1919". They were published in 1920.
Nr. V - Campanile - has the comment "Tout blanc, il domine au loin". "l'Immensité des campagnes".