Gaston Gilbert Litaize (11 August 1909 – 5 August 1991) was a French organist and composer. Considered one of the 20th century masters of the French organ,"International Organ Competition Duruflé – Litaize he toured, recorded, worked at churches, and taught students in and around Paris. Blind from infancy, he studied and taught for most of his life at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (National Institute for the Blind).

Life Litaize was born in Ménil-sur-Belvitte, Vosges, in northeast France. An illness caused him to lose his sight just after birth. He entered the Institute for the Blind at a young age, studying with Charles Magin, who encouraged him to move to Paris and study with Magin and Adolphe Marty at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles from 1926 to 1931. Concurrently, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris in October 1927, studying with Marcel Dupré and Henri Büsser, as well as privately with Louis Vierne. Over the course of six years, he won first prizes in organ, improvisation, fugue, and composition, as well as the Prix Rossini for his cantata Fra Angelico. In 1938 he finished second to Henri Dutilleux in the Prix de Rome, said to be the first time that a blind person was accepted in the competition;Chase, Gilbert. "Musical Notes from Abroad", The Musical Times 76, June 1935, p. 557. subsequently he asked Dutilleux many times to compose for the organ, but nothing came of it.Sholl, Robert and Olivier Latry. "Á l'ombre de Notre-Dame", The Musical Times 137, August 1996, p. 36.

He began working as organist at Saint-Cloud in 1934, and after leaving the Paris Conservatoire in 1939 he returned to the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles to teach harmony. In 1944 he began a thirty-year directorship of religious radio programs, where he oversaw five weekly broadcasts. He took up a position in 1946 at Saint-François-Xavier, Paris, where he remained the organist until his death. In 1975 he retired from the radio and began teaching organ at the conservatory in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, where he "gained numerous disciples". He died in 1991 in Bruyères, Vosges.

As a performer, Litaize toured France, western Europe, the United States, and Canada. His first American tour was in the autumn of 1957. His recording of the by François Couperin on the organ at Saint-MerriDucretet Thomson DTL 93039. Mellers, Wilfrid. "French Classics on the Gramophone", Music & Letters 38, January 1957, p. 68. earned highly positive reviews, called "admirably recorded" in The Musical TimesHussey, Dyneley. "The Musician's Gramophone", The Musical Times 96, June 1955, p. 310. and a "fine, sensitive performance" in Music & Letters. Unusually, he elected not to use notes inégales in the performance, although he was very interested in researching "old" music. His improvisations were called "shattering displays" and compared favorably to Dupré, Jeanne Demessieux, Pierre Cochereau, and Anton Heiller.Dalton, James. "Organ playing", The Musical Times 111, July 1970, p. 713.

Litaize was highly influential on generations of French organists. He inspired Olivier Latry to choose his career: At 16 I won piano first prize ... and I thought I might continue piano studies at the Paris Conservatoire. ... However, I decided to play the organ, choosing Gaston Litaize at the CNR de St-Maur-des-Fossés as my teacher as I had heard him give a very exciting recital at the Cathedral of Boulogne-sur-Mer. It was this that confirmed my desire to play the organ.

He also taught organ to several notable organists, including Antoine Bouchard, Theo Brandmüller, Olivier Latry, Françoise Levechin-Gangloff, Kenneth Gilbert, Jean-Pierre Leguay, and René Saorgin.

Works Norbert Dufourcq summarized Litaize's compositional style: "Litaize inclines ... to restlessness and gloom, but his idiom is virile and glowing. He is a fine melodist and skilful polyphonist."Dufourcq, Norbert. Revue Musicale, March 1939, translated by M.-D. Calvocoressi in "Music in the Foreign Press", The Musical Times 80, July 1939, p. 511. A review of Litaize's Douze pièces in The Musical Times was generally negative, however, finding the music dry and calling Litaize a "virtuoso writing for virtuosos"."New Music", The Musical Times 80, August 1939, pp. 602–603. Archibald Farmer wrote that the were "clever, interesting, often good, and always modishly French".Farmer, Archibald. "New Organ Music", The Musical Times 95, August 1954, p. 430.

Litaize was involved with experimental music; soon after the inception of musique concrète he was asked to write a piece for African xylophone, four bells, three zanzas, and two whirligigs, which Pierre Schaeffer fragmented and reformed into in 1948–49.Palombini, Carlos. "Machine Songs V: Pierre Schaeffer: From Research into Noises to Experimental Music", Computer Music Journal 17, Autumn 1993, p. 15.

List of compositions Organ

Douze pièces (1931–1937) Grand-Messe pour tous les temps (1948) Noël basque (1949) Cinq pièces liturgiques (1951) Passacaille sur le nom de Flor Peeters (1953) Vingt-quatre préludes liturgiques for organ without pedal (1953–1955) Fugue sur l'Introït Da pacem (1954) Thème varié sur le nom de Victor Gonzales (1957) Messe basse pour tous les temps (1959) Messe de la toussaint (1964) Prélude et danse fuguée (1964) Epiphanie (1984) Reges Tharsis – Méditation sur l'offertoire de l'Epiphanie (1984) Deux trios (1984): Divertissement à trois Pièce en trio Arches – Fantaisie (1987) Suite en forme de messe (1988) Offerte vobis pacem (1991) Diapason – Fantaisie sur le nom de Jehan Alain

Organ with instrument(s)

Passacaille for organ and orchestra (1947) Cortège for brass and organ (1951) Pentecôte – Triptyque for two organs (1984): Vigile Nocturne Séquence Diptyque for oboe and organ: Andantino Scherzo Triptyque for French horn and organ Sonate à deux for organ, four hands (1991)

Other works Récitatif et thème varié for clarinet and piano (1947) Missa solemnior for mixed vocal quartet and organ (1954) Missa Virgo gloriosa for soprano, tenor, bass, and organ (1959) Magnificat for mixed vocal sextet and organ (1967)

References