Thierry Escaich, an acclaimed French organist and composer whose concerts at the Mariinsky have sold out, has shared his thoughts about his programme, working as a resident organist and how important it is for a composer to hear his works performed by someone else on the threshold of the III Organ Festival.
– Where do you perform most frequently? In churches or in concert halls? Do the programmes vary much?
– Programmes for a concert hall and programmes for a church are not very different. The organ music is the same; in a church or in a concert hall you can perform arrangements of symphony music for organ. At the same time, the people at a concert hall listen more sensitively, they have a better sense of the sheet music – albeit even in terms of rhythm. That’s why, as a composer, I look for such understanding.
– Many churches in Paris preserve the memory of the organists who served there for a long time – the Église de la Sainte-Trinité and Messiaen, Sainte Clotilde and Franck and Saint Sulpice and Widor and Dupré. How did you become the resident organist at St-Étienne-du-Mont? Was it your own choice?
– In France, according to tradition an organist is assigned to a specific church. Olivier Messiaen was the resident organist of the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, and my predecessor Maurice Duruflé was at St-Étienne-du-Mont. Moreover, for both it was a case of survival. You can’t earn a lot there (the church in France isn’t very rich, unlike Germany or the Anglo-Saxon nations), you choose it largely because you love the instrument and its sound palette. Moreover, when you play in a church you are constantly interacting with believers, including through your improvisations. Just imagine how many congregants of the Église de la Sainte-Trinité observed the evolution of Olivier Messiaen’s style – from pre-war works (such as L’Ascension) to Livre d’orgue and the opera Saint François d’Assise! All of these works were “tried out” in real time at Sunday mass, moreover without the congregants knowing...
– What are the demands of such a job as yours?
– Resident organists normally only play at services on Saturdays and Sundays. Moreover, if time allows (it never does with me!) they perform at funerals and weddings during the week. But in recent years at the major churches in Paris there are normally several resident organists. In such cases the musicians can allocate the services so that at the weekend it is also possible to host concerts and other events.
– What do you think of other organists performing your works? Do they ask you for any advice or recommendations?
It is very important for a composer to be able to listen to, consult with and encourage people who are interested in his or her music. A great deal of effort was focussed on this by Henri Dutilleux, who often appeared at the Mariinsky Theatre under the baton of Valery Gergiev, as did many of his colleagues. I am trying to follow in their footsteps, although my duties as a performer, composer and teacher leave almost no time for that. Nevertheless, organists, chamber musicians and orchestras are coming to me with increasing frequency. A composer has to be not just a “creator” but a mentor as well.
– What was the most unexpected theme you have been asked to improvise? What do you propose to your students?
– You can improvise on any theme, the main thing is to capture the emotion that the theme evokes and then plan its development using your skill, hearing and imagination. The starting point can be a musical theme, a poem or a painting... Once I was asked to improvise on the lighting of contemporary stained-glass windows in churches... Another time I improvised with a mime artist who was also improvising... I think this is an area of the arts that should be developed in Russia, particularly for young performers. I’ve run several master-classes in Russia and I have come to understand how close this spontaneous creativity is to the Russian psyche, working with emotions in real time and understanding the total dedication that lies behind improvisation. Improvisation should not be an exclusive monopoly of the French organ school!
– How do you relate to Poulenc’s concerto? Is it a secular work in your opinion? Poulenc himself wrote that it was “on the verge of his religious music”.
– Poulenc’s concerto is a very unusual work! It was written at a time when the avant-garde had already established its own rules, and yet it is full of bewitching charm and Ravel-like harmonies. However, one can also observe gloomy streaks in it that would later be fully developed in the opera Dialogues des Carmélites. Suddenly one can hear echoes of Bach, and here or there one senses a dark shadow... The idea of death and religious issues are undoubtedly present here. It is a work that asks more questions than it provides answers.
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