Pierre Cochereau Art Of Pierre Cochereau CD Boxset

The first records of organs atNotre-Dame de Parisdate to 1198, with small portativesplaced in the choir. Records exist from 1357 of a stationary organ suspended in a small gallery at the eastern end of the nave but by the end of the century it was in such poor condition that a new organ was erected on the narrow tribune above the doors at the west end of the nave.

Pierre Cochereau, it can be said, restored Notre-Dame to its rightful place as the undisputed 'grand fromage' of French church music following years in the doldrums after the death of Louis Viernein 1937. His penchant for gothic gesture –evocative and always a perfect fit for Notre-Dame's instrument and acoustic –and his reconciling of the French romantic organ sound with the pillars of Bach's organ repertory distinguished him as'a phenomenon without equal in the history of the contemporary organ' ashis teacher Marcel Dupréwas to remark.

It is doubtless as an improvisor that Cochereau'smusical legacy is most important where he takes the ephemeral tradition of the French organ school to its apogee. This collection spans the breadth of Cochereau'svast repertoire and includes two discs of improvisations.