Jean Guillou

Organist, pianist, improviser, and composer, Jean Guillou left his mark on twentieth-century French musical life. Born in Angers, France on April 18, 1930, he showed a precocious musical talent, becoming organist at Saint-Serge church in his native town at the age of twelve. Beginning in 1953, he trained at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris, where his teachers included Marcel Dupré (organ), Maurice Duruflé (harmony), and Olivier Messiaen (composition), before going on to teach organ and composition in Lisbon and Berlin. Already well known for his organ and piano recitals, Jean Guillou also devoted himself to composition when, in 1963, he became titular organist at Saint-Eustache church in Paris, a post he held until 2014. Among his works performed and recorded worldwide are the ten-part Colloque series (1956 to 2015), five concertos for organ and orchestra, the Judith-Symphonie (1970) and the Symphonie initiatique (1969), as well as numerous compositions for organ and orchestra, chamber music, improvisations, and vocal music. After an interruption in his activities at Saint-Eustache church between 1977 and 1989 for the construction of a new organ, the incumbent was named organist emeritus in 2014, and performed on Sundays until 2015. His repertoire included Baroque works by J. S. Bach, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, and Widor, as well as transcriptions by Liszt, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky. An eminent specialist in the instrument and computer technology, he advised on and helped design and restore numerous organs, including the hand-shaped organ at Alpe d'Huez (1978), as well as those in Brussels (1981), Zurich Tonhalle (1984), Naples Conservatory (1987), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (2004), Rome (2008), and León Cathedral, Spain (2013). Jean Guillou also gave master classes and courses in interpretation and improvisation in Zurich. He also focused on writing, including collections of poems, essays, and musical works including L'orgue, souvenir et avenir (1978). In 1976, a medal was produced in his likeness by the Monnaie de Paris. Named Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2010 and honored by the Royal College of Organists in 2018, Jean Guillou died in Paris on January 26, 2019, at the age of 88.

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