Biography
During his lifetime Alexandre Guilmant gained recognition as a virtuoso performer while pursuing careers as a French composer, organist and educator. His teaching at the Paris Conservatory proved especially influential, and his compositions remain an essential resource for organists both in training and in professional practice. Born in 1837 in Meudon, France, he began playing the organ in childhood. Initial lessons came from his father, Jean-Baptiste Guilmant, organist at St. Nicolas cathedral in Boulogne; later he studied harmony with Gustav Carulli. Around 1849 he started substituting for his father at St. Nicolas, and in 1853 he became organist at St. Joseph des Carmes. Over the following seven years his Messe Solennelle received its premiere at St. Nicolas, he began teaching solfege at the Ecole Communale de Musique, and he joined the Société Philharmonique as a violist. In 1860 he left Paris for two years of study in Brussels under the Belgian master organist Nicolas Lemmens, who had himself been a pupil of Adolf Friedrich Hesse, a student of Johann Christian Kittel and thus linked to J. S. Bach. After returning to Paris, Guilmant quickly rose to prominence as an organist. He was chosen to inaugurate the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll organ at St. Sulpice in 1862 and the instrument at Notre Dame in 1868. Three years later he was named organist at La Trinité, a position he held for thirty years. During that time he produced several multi-volume collections of organ music, among them Pieces for Organ in Different Styles, The Practical Organist and The Liturgical Organist. His interest in early repertoire also led him to edit numerous volumes of organ works by European composers active before 1750, including Grigny, Couperin and Clerambault. In 1878 he was appointed organist in residence at the Palais du Trocadero and began presenting recitals throughout Europe, Russia and the United States. He maintained an active schedule of composing, performing and touring until the 1890s, when his educational commitments intensified. Together with Vincent d’Indy and Charles Bordes he founded the Schola Cantorum in 1894, a school whose methods reflected the pedagogical ideas of César Franck. Two years afterward Guilmant succeeded Charles-Marie Widor as organ professor at the Paris Conservatory, allowing Widor to concentrate on composition. Among his distinguished students were Joseph Bonnet, Nadia Boulanger and Marcel Dupré. Guilmant continued to teach, compose and perform until his death in Meudon in 1911.