Hyperion Records

Saint-Saëns wrote his Sept Improvisations, Op 150, between 9 December 1916 and 12 February 1917 whilst recovering in bed from bronchitis and gave their first performances in Marseille, Nice and Lyon a month or so later. With the exception of the Fantaisie pour Orgue-Aeolian of 1906 they are his first organ works since the Trois Préludes et Fugues, Op 109, written eighteen years earlier. It is to Périlhou, his friend and former pupil from the Neidermeyer school, that we should be eternally grateful for reawakening Saint-Saëns’ interest in the organ following his disillusionment and ultimate resignation from La Madeleine in 1878. Subsequent to the appointment of Périlhou as Organiste Titulaire of Saint-Sevérin at the beginning of 1891 Saint-Saëns was in the habit, accompanied by Fauré, of visiting him at the tribune each Sunday he was in Paris. The three friends would each contribute improvisations to the service before going out to lunch, Saint-Saëns often ‘dazzling his hearers with the magic of his magnificent improvisations’, according to Félix Raugel. Louis Vierne wrote of how Saint-Saëns loved to play the instrument at Saint-Sevérin and his contribution was clearly considered significant enough that in November 1897 he was given the title of honorary organist.

On completion of the Improvisations and before their first public performance Saint-Saëns went with Périlhou to the organ of the Temple de l’Étoile to play through them. The church’s organist, Alexandre Cellier, recalled in 1954 how Saint-Saëns had remarked on this occasion how enjoyable it was to play the organ; a comment he would scarcely have made in the years between 1878 and 1891. Whilst it would not be at all surprising to find the Op 150 set dedicated to Périlhou, it was in fact Gigout that received their dedication. Gigout, another of his Neidermeyer friends, was regarded by Saint-Saëns as one of the finest improvisers of his generation. Périlhou had retired in 1914 and as Gigout had been professor of organ at the Paris Conservatoire since 1911, where he included Saint-Saëns’ works among the repertoire, it seems at least possible that the set was intended to have some didactic value. Three of the set are titled and use plainchant themes. ‘Feria Pentecostes’ is based on the first hymn of Lauds for Pentecost, Beata nobis gaudia; ‘Pro martyribus’ employs three phrases from the Offertory of the Mass for a martyr, Gloria et honore coronasti eum; ‘Pro defunctis’ quotes from the Offertory of the Requiem, Domine Jesu Christe. It is interesting to note that in these movements Saint-Saëns colours his harmony with the mixolydian or aeolian modes whilst in the freely written pieces his language is more contemporary. Not since the Messe, Op 4, and the Six Duos, Op 8, had he used chant in his written compositions. The first piece is similarly unusual for its ambiguous whole-tone tonality.

from notes by Andrew-John Smith © 2011