Symphony for Organ No. 5
| Symphonie V | |
|---|---|
| Organ symphony by Charles-Marie Widor | |
The Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Trocadéro Palace, where the composer premiered his work | |
| Key | F minor |
| Opus | 42/1 |
| Composed | 1878–1879 |
| Performed | 19 October 1878: Paris |
| Movements | 5 |
The Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42, No. 1, is an organ symphony composed by Charles-Marie Widor between 1878 and 1879,[1] whilst he was the organist at Saint-Sulpice in Paris.[2] It was first performed in public on 19 October 1879, when it was played by the composer at the city's Trocadéro Palace.[3][4] Following its initial publication, Widor made changes to the work in four subsequent editions.[2] The full symphony lasts for about 35 minutes, and was recorded by Widor in April 1932.[5] The final movement, a toccata, is one of the most commonly-known and frequently recorded organ pieces,[6][7] having come to widespread attention when it replaced Mendelssohn's Wedding March at the marriage of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960.[8][9]
Structure
The piece consists of five movements:
- Allegro vivace
- Allegro cantabile
- Andantino quasi allegretto
- Adagio
- Toccata
Toccata
The fifth movement, a toccata in F major, is often referred to as just Widor's Toccata because it is his most famous piece. It lasts around six minutes. Its fame in part comes from its frequent use as recessional music at festive Christmas, Easter, and wedding ceremonies.[10]
The melody of Widor's Toccata is based upon an arrangement of rapid staccato arpeggios which form phrases, initially in F, moving in fifths through to C major, G major, etc. Each phrase consists of one bar. The melody is complemented by syncopated chords, forming an accented rhythm against the perpetual arpeggio motif. The phrases are contextualised by a descending bass line, often beginning with the 7th tone of each phrase key. For example, where the phrase consists of an arpeggio in C major, the bass line begins with a B♭. The arpeggios eventually modulate through all twelve keys, until Widor brings the symphony to a close with fortississimo block chords in the final three bars.
Many organists play it at a very fast tempo whereas Widor preferred a more controlled articulation to be involved. He recorded the piece, at St. Sulpice in his eighty-ninth year; the tempo used for the Toccata is quite slow.
Following Widor's example, other composers adopted this style of toccata as a popular genre in French Romantic organ music, including notable examples from Eugène Gigout, Léon Boëllmann, Louis Vierne, Henri Mulet, and Marcel Dupré.
Usage at royal weddings
Denmark
- Princess Margrethe and Henri de Laborde de Monpezat on 10 June 1967 at the Holmen Church[11]
- Prince Joachim and Alexandra Christina Manley on 18 November 1995 at Frederiksborg Castle Church[12]
- Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson on 14 May 2004 at Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen[12]
Britain
- Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones on 6 May 1960 at Westminster Abbey[9]
- The Duke of Kent and Katharine Worsley on 8 June 1961 at York Minster[13]
- Princess Alexandra of Kent and Angus Ogilvy on 24 April 1963 at Westminster Abbey[14]
- The Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips on 14 November 1973 at Westminster Abbey[15]
- The Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones on 19 June 1999 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
- Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey[16]
Norway
- Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn on 24 May 2002 at Nidaros Cathedral[17]
Notable recordings
Video
- Fifth movement performed by Frederick Hohman at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Newark, New Jersey)
- Fifth movement performed by Kalevi Kiviniemi at the Saint-Ouen Abbey, Rouen
Audio
- Fifth movement performed by the composer at the Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris (link to YouTube video).
- Conclusion of the First Movement played by Marcel Dupré on the Alexandra Palace organ, 7 March 1930 (direct link to MP3 file).
- Fifth movement produced for the RollerCoaster Tycoon video game series by British video game musician Allister Brimble and performed by Peter James Adcock[18] (link to YouTube video).
References
- ^ Near (2011), pp. 114–5.
- ^ a b Smith, Rollin, ed. (2002). Toccatas, Carillons and Scherzos for Organ: 27 Works for Church or Concert Performance. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. p. v. ISBN 0486424316 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Smith, Rollin (1995). "The Organ of the Trocadéro and Its Players". In Archibold, Lawrence & Peterson, William J. (eds.). French Organ Music: From the Revolution to Franck and Widor. Eastman Studies in Music. Vol. 5. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. pp. 275–308. ISBN 1878822551. ISSN 1071-9989 – via Internet Archive. (See page 300).
- ^ Near, John R. (September 2022). "Widor's Toccata: Brilliant Gravitas". The American Organist. Vol. 56, no. 9. pp. 34–45. ISSN 0003-0260.
- ^ Thompson, Andrew (1987). The Life and Times of Charles-Marie Widor, 1844–1937. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 0193164175 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Smith, Rollin (1999). Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral. The Complete Organ. Vol. 3. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. p. 57. ISBN 1576470040 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Near (2011), p. xvii.
- ^ Range, Matthias (2019). "Mendelssohn's Wedding March at weddings". The Musical Times. 160 (1947): 97–112. ISSN 0027-4666. JSTOR 26873992.
- ^ a b Stove, R. J. (November 2024). "Wondrous Machines: Old Recordings of Organ Music". Quadrant. Vol. 68, no. 11. Sydney. pp. 64–67. ISSN 0033-5002.
- ^ Classic FM - Charles-Marie Widor: Organ Symphony No.5 in F minor. Accessed 26 December 2013
- ^ Musik skal der til
- ^ a b Vielsen
- ^ Jackson, Francis (2013). Music for a Long While. York: York Publishing Service. pp. 222–3, 232. ISBN 9780957672208.
- ^ Warwick (1980), p. 112.
- ^ Warwick (1980), p. 134.
- ^ O’Donnell, James (29 April 2011). "Music for the Royal Wedding". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
- ^ The wedding of Princess Märtha Louise
- ^ RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Triple Thrill Pack Manual. Atari. 2004. p. 64.
Sources
- Near, John R. (2011). Widor: A Life Beyond the Toccata. Eastman Studies in Music. Vol. 83. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. ISBN 978-1580463690.
- Warwick, Christopher (1980). Two Centuries of Royal Weddings. London: Arthur Baker Limited. ISBN 0213167395 – via Internet Archive.