Sortie No. 1 Op. 66

Born in Uffholtz, Haut-Rhin (Alsace), Aloÿs Claussmann was a pupil of organist Eugène Gigout at the École Niedermeyer de Paris, where he obtained first prizes in piano and organ, before winning the Grand Prix of the Ministry of Fine Arts in 1872. The following year, he settled in Clermont-Ferrand, where he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral. The new Merklin organ was inaugurated in 1877 by Edmond Lemaigre, the first holder. Claussmann succeeded him in 1888 until his death in 1926.

A virtuoso interpreter, he chose to pursue his entire career in the Puy-de-Dôme area, while a Parisian position would have been readily accessible to him. He also founded the Conservatory of Clermont-Ferrand in 1909, directing it until his death.

Although he wrote many works for piano, it is to the organ that he reserved the essential and most characteristic of his production, with about 350 compositions, fully in the post-Romantic vein that he celebrated with brilliance and sensitivity. He fulfilled his duties as organist of the cathedral, and assumed the function of director of the Conservatory, but he also performed well-known piano concertos with the orchestra of the city, which he occasionally directed.

This is his Sortie from a collection of 100 pieces, op. 66, a fine little fughette that concludes with a roar of reeds on the big 1877 Johnson.