✥ BOËLLMANN - Suite Gothique (Marie-Claire ALAIN) ✥ 

Marie-Claire Alain [1926-2013] was a pinnacle of organ performance and pedagogy of the 20th Century. She is sorely missed.

The Toccata of this Suite Gothique is in my opinion the greatest piece ever written for organ. Its sheer power, its darkness, its evocative capability. I still don't understand why it has never been used in any movie (or am I wrong?). There is no need to comment on Marie-Claire Alain or on the Cavaillé-Colle organ...

What a genius . RIP Madame Alain .

One of the greatest organists of the 20th Century! My teacher studied with her. I can see my teacher when I listen to and watch her performance.

It's wonderful to see so many people here who really appreciate fine organ music and find instruments. Makes me happy.

It is a shame Boellman died at such an early age. What he might have brought forth after this piece could have been truly amazing.

Marie Claire.... might God bless you forever! Thanks for being here....

I first heard this at the age of 8 and was mesmerised - one of the most mysteriously exciting pieces every composed - and played to perfection here!

MCA was a great performer , a great musician , and through her recordings I gained a huge love for organ music . Merci

Happy 159th birthday to Maestro Léon Boëllmann today! I just discovered Madame Marie-Claire today! What sweet serendipity! This organ is one of the best I've ever heard and Madame? Well! She was magnificent! I stumbled upon Maestro Léon Boëllmann's birthday today while speaking about the Prière à Notre-Dame. Nice that both Maestro and Maestra reached out to me from beyond the veil. Thank you, God, for such magnificent musicians and the grandeur of beauty that You share with us!

Having an organ work played on the very instrument it was composed for makes a huge difference.

A beautiful performance.

merveilleux j'ai me beaucoup cette oeuvre l'ayant joue pour un concours ainsi que beaucoup de autres morceaux de jehan ALain

Those low notes on the foot pedals 😍

It is a great piece by Boellmann. Anytime I listen to it I almost cry, or already cry...

Enlightening performance of the Priere by Marie Claire. Her tempo is wonderful.

The walls of the church must have trembled as she played this....marvellous.....and honour to her brother,the great JEHAN ALAIN......

Une merveille absolue, cette interprétation de Leon Boellmann !

Superb performance of a remarkable piece on this wonderful organ by one the all-time great organists.

Goosebumps...

Oh yeah, the Priere at Notre Dame has wonderful tempo. Love it.

a savoir que St Supplice est un des plus, us gros orgues de France totalement romantique, Marie Claire Alain qui a était professeur de mon père pendant 5 ans ( Pierre cambourian organiste titulaires des grands de St Vincent de Paul Paris) elle prends un tempo tout à fait résonna le et fait très bien sortir l orgue. Mon père se souvient encore de ces moments où il l écoutait ( à savoir il était rentré dans sa classe a 18 ans) hommage à Marie Claire Alain morte il y a peu

What a powerful work of music.

I still remember how I first learned about this amazing piece. It was a couple years ago, and I went to a Halloween organ concert. I remember reading the program and seeing "Suite Gothique - Toccata" near the end of the list of songs, and thinking the title sounded so badass. I couldn't wait for that song to play, even though I had never heard of it before! And I was right to be excited, because when it got to the Toccata, the song blew me away from the very beginning! Besides Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, this was the only song played at that concert that I still remember.

FINALLY - an artist that does not fall in love with each chord so it becomes labored. Great job. Love it totally - a truly enjoyable rendition. MCA nailed it.

Humbled when first enjoyed this heavenly instrument. Second hearing, could have sworn there were angels high up in the nave. On visits, heard Boellmann, Dupre, Mendelssohn, Charpentiere, Bach, Saint-Saens, Liszt (of all masters!), Reger.

This brings back so many memories - the Toccata was one of my ABRSM grade 8 pieces.

The 'Notre Dame' is just divine.

Merci pour cette mise en ligne avec l'organiste Marie-Claire Alain; je frémis toujours à l'écoute de la 4eme partie La Toccata!

I finally stumbled across this organ piece that my mother used to play as a solo. I never knew the name but hoped for many years that one day I would run across it. I especially remember the meditative third movement that starts at 5:24. Of course, it never sounded like this on the little church organ she played on at the Memorial United Methodist Church in Beverly, MA. Thanks for uploading it!

Bring tears to my eyes of yesterday when the organ was KING! All the great ones and their instruments are now silent for the most part.

Congratulations to the learned gentlemen at Gloggle and Ewechewb who decided to insert an ad for farming equipment before the first movement was finished. You squalid curpins.

I love her interpretation of this classic but the Priere always speaks to me.

Excellent,maestro!!!!

Quelle puissante délicatesse dans le jeu.Musique éternelle si il en fût

i agree completely, a good version is hard to find, but this one i like a lot.

This piece of music I love the most. It seems to me to be able to feel like beeing in heaven, it seems to me, when listening to the first part of this piece.

This is my favorite pipe organ, I've always wanted to hear this piece on the Cavaille-Coll Grand Organ of St. Sulpice. And I just have, the performance was nothing short of incredibly spontaneous, and transcendental! Love the Trompette Forte Pression, and Contra-Bombarde stops on this organ so so much!

People who listen to classical music these days are going to kill it with all of their banter about the correct tempo and technique...

Marie Claire Alain? ...SUPERBE!

MAGNIFIQUE !!!👏👏👏

Wondrous. Miracle.

Amazing power of this organ, plus, of course, the superb performance of Madame Alain!

La Majesté du Christ reviendra à Notre-Dame en 2024 avec cette suite gothique.

❤️Wonderful!!!

best interpretation ever

I'm familiar with this lady's name from her duetting with trumpeter Maurice Andre. This is the first time I've heard her solo. Smashing piece btw.

Merveilleux....

its music like this that allowed me to forgive the corrupt judges that did their hit job against me. the wheels of justice can turn slowly, but they are inexorable. praise god

Hier wird absolute Perfektion für den Genießer geboten. In Sachen Kirchenorgel das Maß aller Dinge, 100 von 100 Punkten. Ich besitze eine sehr teure High End Anlage. Als Demo für "spiel mal Orgel" würde ich dies hier wählen, da ich mir nach dem ersten Hören spontan die CD bestellt habe. Absoluter Referenz Status!!!

Cette musique est juste épique ! c'est un véritable roman de chevalerie pour moi !

Se nota que el rey en ese lugar es el órgano,un hermoso gigante lleno de amor , Fiiiiii faiiii fooo fommmmm precioso e impresionante sonido ,gracias.

Super !!!!!!!!, Super !!!!!!!!!!!

What a powerful peace!!

I used this piece as a wedding march when I got married 52 years ago. (Choral).

Great magnificent masterpiece, requiring at first, well prepaired instrument.

Pretty!! I like that toccata!!

Splendid. MR

Thanks for the great recording!

How wonderfully magnicent!

Superbe! What an organ and organist. French organs and Marie-Claire Alain and Olivier Latry: there is naught else.

Bellissimo!

Such a beautiful tempo!

This is probably one of the only pieces I've found on this organ that includes the 32' Bombarde, It has that trademark Cavaille-Coll power (2nd only to the one at St Ouen)

Be still my heart!!

I would like to give more than one like *.*

Best organ and best organist for this!

The Toccata blows me away.

Those Davids stars at the top in the circular windows...

Fantastic!!

The tempo of any organ piece has to be determined, at least in part, by the acoustics of the building in which a given instrument is located. Most European churches and concert halls have significantly longer reverberation times than do their counterparts here in the U.S. This is why so many American organists play the Toccata significantly faster than most European organists. On the other hand, I remember having a recording of this same Toccata played by Xavier Darasse that was very fast indeed, yet, somehow, sounded very clear and exciting. Maybe the voicing of the organ (which was a Cavaille-Coll, IIRC) had something to do with it. The proper combination of voicing and acoustics can make a HUGE difference in the final result, turning an otherwise mediocre performance into the thrill of a lifetime!

昔々、家内とアラン女史の演奏会。プログラムに、この曲がありました。懐かしい限りです。

Magnificent!!

Rest in peace Marie-Claire Alain, and your brother.

The beginning song was amazing!

I love shit like this

Paris orgue de Saint Sulpice...un grand orgue

Wow!

GEWELDIG

suite meravigliosa

I'm currently rehearsing the menuet gothique as a qualification to some conservatories. I like Alain's version of the full suite, not too fast but just perfect. (Sorry, if my typing has mistakes, not native).

Most modern organists play this way too fast, especially the menuet and toccata, This it the right tempo!

Yes, the same family.

The minuet played here is like calming OST for Games

🕊️🙏🕊️🙏🕊️🙏🕊️♥️🔥♥️🕊️🙏🕊️🙏🕊️🙏🕊️

Ear candy. Epic.

The great priestress of high organ music

Who on God's green Earth is thumbing this down?

✥ BOËLLMANN - Suite Gothique (Marie-Claire ALAIN) ✥ МУЗЫКА ВСЕЛЕННОЙ...

Majesty, expression & faultless technique, we are yet to hear any of the recent crop of organists equal Marie-Clair Alain.

😍😍😍

As you stroll through the meadows of the present, you can pick bouquets of crazy and improbable flowers, come back with sumptuous extracts from this sensitive and flayed musician and recognize that you sometimes save time ignoring so much of these redundant & futile contemporary new-age music for gain in strength & serenity¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Damn it! People should not be allowed to play music like this. You can you concentrate on work when sounds like this emmenate from the speakers and pictures of this organ are presented. That's not bad enough, for hours after the sounds echo through your mind. You are parallized (sp) thinking of what it would be like to stand int he building and hear it live. This is simply not fair. In fact it is a conspiracy fo the French Tourist bureau to get people to go to this place to hear it played live. I can't get any work done,. I have to stop my work and sit spellbound.

I like it slower.

👍👍👍

The illustrated church is not St Sulpice; and looks distinctly Iberian (perhaps Palma Cathedral?). Or, perhaps Girona, Spain?

I like the tocatta tempo...whats the rush? Let the music speak and have its spine tingling effect. Heard St. S. C-C organ last summer and met Danial Roth. What a sweet heart! Not a fan of the ending of the Toccata. The chord progression sound like the end of a soap opera or movie. I guess 1950's composers picked that up. "tune in tomorrow...is it really over for John and Mary? what do you all think?

Riposa in pace paolo

Is the Organist really the sister of JEHAN ALAIN????

Great Music - but Commercial breaks in this Suite?