Day four France
 
Day 4 — Friday   Today, Daniel Roth arrived by train from Paris to record his new disc at St. Ouen. Stephen Tharp did not finish his disc last night and got up early today to record Lumiere from the Meditations on the Holy Spirit, but the organ was giving us some trouble. The organ builder repaired the faulty trackers, but as a result, Stephen missed his plane and now has to stay another night. Daniel Roth practiced at St. Goddard on the Cavaille-Coll there since repairs were being made to the organ at St. Ouen. Good thing there is more than one great Cavaille-Coll organ in Rouen!   I spent the day walking around Rouen. I found Rue Vert Buisson where the Dupré family lived although I could not find their house. It is a small, narrow side street with walled-off private homes including some houses that directly border the edge of the street. Right in the middle of the street, the central tower of Notre Dame de Rouen is clearly seen. It is a ten-minute walk to St. Ouen from there. I imagined what it must have been like for Albert Dupré to walk home from St. Ouen and how it must have been for Marcel Dupré to grow up there. You can hear this town in his music. Right behind St. Ouen is Saint Amand, where Marcel Dupré had his first church job. I plan to go there tomorrow.   On a medieval street next to the Cathedral, I bought some gifts for friends in a porcelain shop and continued to enjoy the atmosphere of Dupré’s old stomping ground. I walked down small streets from centuries ago behind one of Rouen's three large churches, St. Maclon. Directly behind the church is Autre St. Maclon, an odd courtyard used as a plague cemetery during the Black Death in 1348. It has some remarkable carvings of skulls and other macabre images. The building there presently houses the Regional Fine Arts School. This town is a French version of a Charles Dickens scene! I would highly recommend a visit.   I had dinner on my own and arrived at St. Ouen around 9:30 PM in time to hear Daniel Roth record Messiaen: Apparition de l’Eglise Eternelle.  He handled the organ like a champion. It was amazing hearing that piece played in that enormous church with this very symphonic organ — there is no church in the states with acoustics like this. Mr. Roth also recorded Cathedrales by Vierne that showed off the great crescendo possible on this organ. Stephen then went back up to the loft and recorded his last piece, Lumiere from the Meditations on the Holy Spirit. I have never seen such a difficult piece of music. It was in a fast two and looked liked a Chopin Etude for the organ. I have to admit I missed turning the pedal flues on and off more than once. Stephen was thrilled when the recording was finally complete!   Stephen, Chris Frommen and I are staying at the hotel Le Cardinal, so we drove back together. We had fun with all of the one-way streets! We drank some warm Leffe beer in Chris’s room and had a great time. Tomorrow I take everyone to lunch.   Bon Soir from Rouen!
Recording St. Ouen & St. Sulpice
Friday May 5, 2006