Charles-Marie Widor performs his Toccata at the Cavaillé-Coll organ of Saint-Sulpice 

Having Play'd St. Sulpice 1in 1992 ( with daniel Roth present) I could feel the presence of "The Master" and his "slower" tempo ( acoustics) instinctively as i play'd. The "Room" will tell you ....how to play the great French Masters and their equivalents. B Hardy ( Australia)

Lovely to hear Widor playing Widor. Slower than most recent performances

This is so much more enjoyable than the super-duper-vivace at which some attempt it.

Incredible that its a 1932 recording !!!

A quote from Widor, from Vierne's autobiography: "Grandeur is the organ’s essential characteristic. ‘This is because, of all musical instruments, the organ alone can sustain sound indefinitely and with the same intensity. The organ can be picturesque only rarely and, even then, care must be taken not to expect it to imitate orchestral and pianistic effects. That would be an inartistic parody. Although Bach has left some miraculously descriptive works, it must be noted that pieces in this style are in a very small minority compared with those in very slow or moderate tempos. Moreover, independent of all other considerations-basic and quite important-the very nature of the organ’s sound and the absence of a percussive attack are contrary to the concept of great velocity. The organ is almost always played too fast. Young people easily yield to the desire to dazzle the audience by this means. Beware! It is a false virtuosity appropriate to the circus-not the tribune.”

Never fails to impress! Thank you for posting.

His innitial directions were ALL staccato, both hands. This tempo never changed but later he tried the left hand phrasing as played here. I studied this piece with one of Widor's students years ago, before Widor tried the "new" phrasing. I love the tempo here but I prefer his first instructions on total staccato. Great to have this recording!

This is such a joy to listen to and dwell on the music itself in such wonderful accoustics.

C'est très solennel avec les basses et surtout le tempo lent voulu par l'auteur.

Even though its at the more popular up tempo, the rendition by Daniel Chorzempa at St Sernin has the best articulation and clarity I've ever heard, even to the point where I could hear notes I didn't even know were there. Its worth a listen.

St Sulpice, like all the Cavaillé-Coll, is tuned on diapason A 435 Hz at 15 °C. Here we have an A 438.5 Hz. If realy this toccata was recorded in october 1932 , not in summer, the diapason is too much high . So eiher the date of the recording is false, or this record goes too fast, even if most people think that Widor already plays slowly ...