Noël (Esquisses Byzantines, No. 8)

Henri Mulet (12 October 1878 - 20 September 1967) was a French composer, organ, harmonium and cellist.

He was born in Paris where his father Gabriel was choirmaster of the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, where his mother would also play the harmonium; as a boy he sometimes deputised for her. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1890, where his teachers included Jules Delsart, Raoul Pugno, Xavier Leroux, Alexandre Guilmant and Charles-Marie Widor. He originally intended to be a cellist, but later served as an organist at Saint-Pierre-de-Montrouge and also taught at the École Niedermeyer and the Schola Cantorum, where he worked with his friend Vincent d'Indy. From 1922 to 1937 he was organist at St. Phillippe du Roule.

Mulet's most notable works are for organ: the Esquisses byzantines (1914-1919) and the Carillon sortie (1911/12). The former, a set of ten pieces, was a recollection of the Romano-Byzantine style of Sacré-Cœur and five of the pieces are named after some of its architectural features, including "Campanile" (bell-tower) and "Chapelle des Morts" (chapel of the dead).

In 1922 Mulet published an attack on modern schools of organ building;this was followed by similar essays. He deplored the trend to create organs which he felt were more appropriate for the cinema than for the church.

In 1937, following a financial crisis, he destroyed his manuscripts and many of his possessions and left Paris for Draguignan. There he continued as organist until 1958, often in poverty (his wife opened a toyshop in the hope of increasing their income). Ill-health led Mulet and his wife to retire to a convent in Draguignan, where he died in 1967.

I've always found this work, the eighth piece of the set of ten "Esquisses byzantines" hard to "get right." Also, Mulet's "unique registrations" must be somewhat modified.

The score and photos of Mulet and of the Church of St. Phillippe du Roule are attached below.