A Lady Named Jeanne...

[Corno Dolce]

Demessieux, whose music I find so tantalising:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul8KV17la9Q&fmt=18

[jhnbrbr]

Thanks, Corno, that makes me want to hear more of her compositions. I am only familiar with her as a performer at present. I heard once that her mentor Dupre considered her a greater talent than himself.

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha jhnbrbr,

You're very welcome. I have her recordings of Franck - Imho, the best ones out there...

Cheerio,

CD

[mathetes1963]

Aloha jhnbrbr,

You're very welcome. I have her recordings of Franck - Imho, the best ones out there...

Cheerio,

CD

Yes, Demessieux's Franck is unmatched, she was in her prime and the recording is in really good sound, given it's age (late 1950's). I wonder how her work might have developed had she not died so young.

I can't access YT at work so I don't know what piece you linked, but have you ever heard her Six Etudes? The last one, "Octaves" is positively jaw-dropping!


@jhnbrbr: Am I confused or didn't she and Dupre have a falling out at some point?

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha mathetes1963,

Oh yes indeedy I have - Those etudes separate the men from the boys.

Cheerio,

CD

[acc]

have you ever heard her Six Etudes? The last one, "Octaves" is positively jaw-dropping!

Absolutely! And there are (currently) three versions of it on Youtube:

• the lady: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi6ZZQVRW50
• the guy in white: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEvcifty7WM
• the guy in black: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hh39emF4Yk

I know that in some circles it's not quite politically correct to say this, but: I think I actually prefer the guy in white here.

[acc]

Demessieux, whose music I find so tantalising:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul8KV17la9Q&fmt=18

I just found a high quality version of it on this page: http://www.aeolus-music.com/ae_de/mo...s_and_podcasts (beware: the WMV file weighs about 100k!).

[dll927]

If memory serves me, I once heard her perform at the old First Methodist church in San Jose, CA. My recollection is that she started the program doing Liszt's B-A-C-H. As was true at the time in San Jose, and apparently still is, that organ was't much to write home about, but she did her best with what she had to work with.

I've read that Dupre eventually sort of 'disowned' her. And she was another case of dying too young. She apparently never was in very good health.

[dll927]

That "guy in black" - where is that organ? It's a six-decker.

Some of these You Tube jobs are a joke - they meander all over the place but never show the organist playing. Could it be that they were made from recordings instead of videos?

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha dll927,

The *six-decker* is located in the Stifts Basilica in Waldsassen, Germany.

Cheerio,

CD

[Corno Dolce]

I just found a high quality version of it on this page: http://www.aeolus-music.com/ae_de/mo...s_and_podcasts (beware: the WMV file weighs about 100k!).

Aloha acc,

Thanx for that link - It gives a better account of the piece being played.

Cheerio,

CD

[acc]

I've read that Dupre eventually sort of 'disowned' her.

Indeed, he did. It is not clear why exactly; several reasons have been suggested. There is an interesting two-part article in The Diapason:

• part 1: http://www.thediapason.com/The-Rise-...ux-article6138
• part 2: http://www.thediapason.com/The-Rise-...ux-article6155

And she was another case of dying too young. She apparently never was in very good health.

She had problems with cancer quite early in her life (she underwent an operation in 1949), and it was cancer that eventually killed her. But her work habits didn't help: during her studies with Dupré, it is said that she worked up to 18 hours a day.

Some of these You Tube jobs are a joke - they meander all over the place but never show the organist playing. Could it be that they were made from recordings instead of videos?

This is indeed true for many Youtube videos. But the Waldsassen clip has been put there by the producer of the DVD (Federico Savio). The same is true for the clip mentioned by Corno Dolce (taken from the Aeolus Demessieux-CD-box, put on Youtube by Aeolus themselves).

[Janne]

That "guy in black" - where is that organ? It's a six-decker.

Some of these You Tube jobs are a joke - they meander all over the place but never show the organist playing. Could it be that they were made from recordings instead of videos?

.

Maxime Patel plays the Great Organ Jann of the Waldsassen Basilica, Germany.

http://www.magle.dk/music-forums/588...html#post48312

[mathetes1963]

I just found a high quality version of it on this page: http://www.aeolus-music.com/ae_de/mo...s_and_podcasts (beware: the WMV file weighs about 100k!).

Doumo arigato gozaimasu! Ripping it to my thumb drive as I type...