Priére (Sept Pièces pour Orgue)

A winner of the Prix de Rome at the age of 24, Théodore Dubois (1837-1924) is now considered to be a famously conservative composer. In 1877 he became organist at the Church of St. Madeleine and from 1871 he was a teacher of harmony at the Paris Conservatoire, of which he became director in 1896. His Prière is a gentle, introverted work, with a brighter central section for the flute stop; it was published in 1898 within his ‘Sept Pièces pour Orgue’.

The organs of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll are almost inseparable from the music of French romantic composers. Although much altered, the organ in Nancy Cathedral retains the essence of Cavaillé-Coll's instruments. In this performance, the strings of the Récit division feature prominently along with the Bourdon of the Positif, which dates from 1763.