Appreciation …

… Jeanne Demessieux: A Great Organist’s Centenary. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

… just as even the most illustrious violinists frequently acknowledge awe of Jascha Heifetz—and the most illustrious pianists acknowledge awe of Vladimir Horowitz—so among organists of either sex one other name, not yet referred to, would be placed near the top of any list devoted to twentieth-century practitioners. That name belongs to Jeanne Demessieux, the centenary of whose birth (Montpellier, France, February 13, 1921) fell this year, and who has just been honored by an eight-CD boxed set.

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