Pièces de fantaisie

Pièces de fantaisie
Suites Nos. 1-4 for organ
by Louis Vierne
Opus51, 53, 54, & 55
Year1926-1927
PublisherHenri Lemoine & Cie
Movements24
ScoringSolo organ

The Pièces de fantaisie, Opp. 51, 53, 54 & 55 (from French, Fantasy Pieces) is the title given to four different suites for solo organ by French composer and organist Louis Vierne. Written between 1926 and 1927, the four suites are usually treated as a single cycle of 24 pieces.

Background

Suite No. 1, Op. 51

Vierne wrote the manuscript of the first suite in Dinard, in August-September, and in Paris, in December 1926. It was premiered on February 4, 1927, even though some titles would be changed for the published version. The premiere took place in the auditorium of the New York Wanamaker department store. Vierne only performed the set in four of the 34 documented recitals he gave in America, but he played it in full every time. The composer himself is known to have recorded the "Andantino" in December 1928, together with some improvisations, at Notre-Dame de Paris. The suite was published by Henri Lemoine & Cie in 1926.[1]

Suite No. 2, Op. 53

The second suite was composed along with the first, between the months of August and December 1926. It was published upon Vierne's return from America, in May 1927. Many of these pieces are dedicated to people linked in one way or another to organ playing in the United States. The suite was published by Henri Lemoine & Cie in 1927.[1]

Suite No. 3, Op. 54

Vierne wrote his third suite after his return from the 1927 United States tour, in July and August 1927, in Luchon. The individual pieces in this set were never formally premiered, but they were included in different recitals around 1927 and 1928. The dedicatees of these pieces include Rodman Wanamaker, the son of the founder of the department stores that welcomed the premiere of his first suite, and André Marchal, to whom Vierne sent a letter asking for his approval to dedicate his "Impromptu" to him. Marchal went on to premiere it in June 1928, on a program of the Société Nationale, and recorded it twenty years later at Saint-Eustache.[1]

I just finished my 24 Pièces de Fantaisie . . . I took the liberty of putting your name at the top of one of them [the Impromptu]. Do you accept the dedication? In doing this I wanted first to express my highest admiration of your great talent, then, to recognize by an abiding homage the extreme kindness with which you have always supported my music and myself whenever you could. Above all, I am sensitive to loyalty.

— Louis Vierne, letter of September 9, 1927 to André Marchal

This suite also includes "Carillon de Westminster", arguably the best-known work from the set. which was premiered on November 29, 1927, in Notre Dame. It received a more formal premiered eight days later in a recital in Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. The Carillon is famous for featuring the "Westminster Quarters", the sound of the Big Ben bells. The suite was published by Henri Lemoine & Cie in 1927.[1]

Suite No. 4, Op. 55

As in the case of the third suite, the fourth suite was also composed in Luchon during July and August 1927. There is little information about its premiere. It was published by Henri Lemoine & Cie in 1927.[1]

Structure

The complete collection of pieces is divided into four suites with six pieces each. It is scored for solo organ.[2]

Pieces de fantaisie
Suite No. Piece No. Title Key Tempo marking Dedication
Suite No. 1, Op. 51 I Prélude C major Moderato to my friend A. Convers
II Andantino A minor Adagio to my student the Count of Saint-Martin
III Caprice D minor Allegretto to my student Henri Nibelle
IV Intermezzo F major Allegro ma non troppo vivo to my student Ludovic Panel
V Requiem æternam G minor Lento ma non troppo - Poco più lento to the memory of my brother Édouard Vierne
VI Marche nuptiale B-flat major Allegro maestoso e marcato to my student Mademoiselle Louise Neymarck
Suite No. 2, Op. 53 I Lamento C minor Adagio quasi larghetto to my friend Monsieur Bingham, organist in New York (U.S.A.)
II Sicilienne E minor Allegretto moderato to my friend Monsieur Zeuch, organist in Boston (U.S.A.)
III Hymne au soleil G major Maestoso to my student Madame Ruth M. Conniston, organist in New York
IV Feux follets B minor Vivace to my friend Charles Courbouin, organist of the Wanamaker Auditorium in Philadelphia (U.S.A.)
V Clair de lune D-flat major Adagio molto espressivo to my friend Ernest Skinner, organ maker in Boston (U.S.A.)
VI Toccata B-flat minor Allegro risoluto to my friend, Dr. Alexandre Russell, professor at Princeton University (U.S.A.)
Suite No. 3, Op. 54 I Dédicace A-flat major Andantino espressivo to Monsieur Rodman Wanamaker
II Impromptu F minor Vivace - Molto cantabile to André Marchal, organist of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris
III Étoile du soir G-sharp minor Moderato non troppo lento to my student Mademoiselle Yolande de Noailles
IV Fantômes C-sharp minor Grave - Allegro più mosso - Grave to my student Pierre Auvray
V Sur le Rhin E-flat minor Molto maestoso - Poco più vivo - Tempo I to my friend Paul de Maleingreau, organ professor at the Conservatoire Royal in Brussels
VI Carillon de Westminster D major Andante con moto to my friend Henry Willis, organ maker in London
Suite No. 4, Op. 55 I Aubade E-flat major Allegretto to my friend Monsieur R. [H.] Matthias Turton, organist and chorus master in Montréal (Canada)
II Résignation F-sharp major Adagio molto sostenuto to my student Henri Gagnebin, director of the Conservatoire de Genève
III Cathédrales A major Largo molto sostenuto to my student Edward Shippen Barnes, organist to Philadelphia (U.S.A.)
IV Naïades B major Allegro non troppo vivo to my student Madame Charles Louis-Dreyfus
V Gargouilles et Chimères F-sharp minor Poco lento - Allegretto con moto - Poco lento - Allegretto marcato - Poco lento - Allegretto con moto to my student Georges Ibos, organist of Saint Honoré d'Eylau in Paris
VI Les Cloches de Hinckley E major Andante con moto, quasi allegro - Allegro molto marcato to my friend J. W. Iberson Esq., organist in Sheffield

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Smith, Rollin (1999). Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-57647-004-6.
  2. ^ "24 Pièces de fantaisie, Opp.51, 53-55 (Vierne, Louis) - IMSLP". imslp.org. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
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