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Charles-Marie Widor – Toccata from Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F Major

St Germain-des-Prés is named for the famous abbey which has stood near the walls of Paris since the 13th century. But this morning, in time for mass on All Saint’s Day, and on the suggestion of my friend William, our destination was the quartier’s other well-known church. The Église Saint-Sulpice is nearly as big as Nôtre-Dame, and almost as famous: it even features prominently in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, for those who care.

It was nice to celebrate mass on November 1st (although the choir was frankly decrepit and the lack of an order of service made it occasionally difficult for us Protestant-raised anglophones to join in the sung responses in Latin and French).

However our real motivation for visiting St Sulpice was to hear the organ. William is an organist in his other life, so visiting St Sulpice is something of an obligation while he’s living in Paris.

Originally built in 1781, the great organ at St Sulpice is the only intact surviving example of the work of French master organ-builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.  The organist at St Sulpice from 1870 to 1933 was Charles-Marie Widor, who composed one of the most pieces in the organ repertoire, the Toccata from his Symphony for Organ No.5

After the service, the postludes were an opportunity to hear the instrument in full flight – a Toccata sur Placare Christe servulis by Dupré, Franck’s Choral 1 en mi majeur and Gigout’s Toccata (one of William’s party pieces apparently).

On our way towards the exit, we absently joined a short queue of people who we thought were waiting to climb the church towers. In fact, quite by chance it was the line to visit the organ loft: a fact we discovered by asking the guy in front of us, a rather dapper looking gentleman who apologised for his bad French and turned out to be the organist at Turin Cathedral !

Up the spiral staircase we emerged among the pipes and blowers of one of the most famous organs in the world. It’s at least three storeys high and possibly has its own postcode. In the middle of it all was the saint des saints… the 5-manual organ console where Widor actually composed his Toccata.

Holding court between services was the titular organist, Daniel Roth who before coming to St Sulpice in 1985 was organist at Nôtre-Dame for 12 years. Long tenure is a tradition at St Sulpice. Since 1619, there have only been 12 named organists. Widor himself occupied the seat for 64 years!

William managed to have a chat with Daniel Roth for a few minutes, where apparently they got to geek out about speaking stops and bourdons and jeux de fond.  In among the pipes there was a little lounge containing photos and autographs of organists who have played at St Sulpice, including Albert Schweitzer, (who as well as being an organist managed to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. As you do.)

After our morning’s organ pilgrimage, we emerged into the rain and headed for lunch with William’s fiancée – a superb meal at Le Pré aux Clercs on rue Jacob. We found out later that this bistrot was Ernest Hemingway’s favourite. In St Germain-des-Près it seems you are only ever one wine glass (or an organ stop) away from history…

Olivier Messiaen – Apparition de l’Eglise Eternelle (excerpt)
Performed by Dame Gillian Weir
From Olivier Messiaen:The Organ Works – Volume 1: Priory [Buy]

The best gag in Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs happens in the opening scene of the film – a ridulously long, long, long slow tracking shot of a spaceship passing through the cosmos.  The spaceship seems to go on forever. The soundtrack quotes Jaws. It was my favourite scene when I was 9 years old, and I still think it’s pretty funny.

Of course, the music of Olivier Messiaen probably shouldn’t be compared to a Mel Brooks gag – in fact, a more inapposite twinning of “sublime” and “ridiculous” would be difficult to find.

But the opening minutes of Messiaen’s 1932 composition Apparition de l’Eglise Eternelle might cause a similar reaction in an audience to the spaceship scene from Spaceballs – long, long chords, slowly twisting and mutating through time, layering tone upon tone – the sound is so full-on, you might even laugh.

George Tames/NYT

Messiaen has been getting some more airplay in 2008, the centenary of his birth. Here in Oxford, his organ works have been turning up in the music lists of various colleges and chapels. To say the least, it makes a change from Bach, Wesley and Charles Stanford.

Messiaen’s sacred music is challenging, and draws heavily on a Roman Catholic cosmology that sometimes leaves me bewildered. But it is uncompromisingly modern, and rewards attentive listening.

Often devoid of the usual anchors of tempo and key, Messiaen compositions are ‘total music’ – sound that refers only to itself. The overall effect is alien and yet majestic – perhaps conveying the sense of mystery that Messiaen held at the centre of his faith.

Messiaen’s Organ, Eglise de la Sainte Trinité, Paris

American filmmaker Paul Festa has just released a film called Apparition of the Eternal Church, which is making its way around the festival circuit at the moment. It records the reactions of 31 people listening to the 10-minute Messiaen work. I haven’t seen the film, but it looks interesting!

Whether one subscribes to Messiaen’s religious views or not, his music is worth seeking out. I’m slowly working my way the 5-CD Complete Organ Works series performed by Dame Gillian Weir. It’s exhausting listening at times, but never once do you doubt that Olivier Messiaen was a genius with a most extraordinary musical gift.