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French organist and composer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Léonce Marie-Joseph, Comte de Saint-Martin-de-Paylha (31 October 1886 - 10 June 1954), shortened to and more well known by Léonce de Saint-Martin, was a French organist and composer.
 | This article contains translated text and the factual accuracy of the translation should be checked by someone fluent in French and English. (August 2022) |
He was born in Albi (Tarn). As the successor of Louis Vierne in 1937, he was organist at Notre-Dame de Paris until his death in 1954.
Saint-Martin was heavily attacked for his appointment to Notre Dame by the Cathedral chapter, since it was done without competition. Saint-Martin was also mainly self-taught, and did not enter the conservatory, and thus was deemed to be an amateur organist. These accusations were easily seen to be false by eye-witnesses, such as Pierre Cochereau, who took Saint-Martin's place as titular organist after the latter's death. An example of his fine skill can be seen in his organ compositions, filled with emotional and spiritual writing. Saint-Martin was also a pious man, as he stated "but whatever the Good Lord wills is fine by me" concerning his death. His virtuosity can be seen by the fact that he played Marcel Dupré's op. 7 to the satisfaction of Dupré's wife, Jeanne Pascouau, at a time when Charles-Marie Widor stated that these pieces were unplayable.
He later died in Paris.
On the 10th anniversary of his death, the association "Les Amis de Léonce de Saint-Martin" was created on February, 27th of 1963. The association organise a special event every 10 years since his death, which has included artists such as Pierre Cochereau, Jehan Revert, Michel Chapuis and Pierre Pincemaille.
He was a distant relative of philosopher Louis Claude de Saint-Martin.
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