MAGIN: Lauda Jerusalem Dominum, played on the composer's pipe organ

Charles Magin (1881-1968) was a French organist and teacher. Blind from the age of 8, he began his musical studies at the Institute for the Blind in Nancy. In 1898 he was awarded a year in Paris, where he studied with Widor and Vierne. Upon his return to Nancy, at the age of 18, he was appointed professor or piano, organ, and harmony at the Institute, where he taught for 58 years. In 1902 he was appointed organist of the new Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Nancy, where he accompanied the Mass on a harmonium for some years, while the choir organ and the Great Organ were being built. He also taught organ and harmonium at the seminary in Nancy. A prodigious talent but a modest man, he was well-known and well-regarded, and left a significant body of compositions, including several works for harmonium. This “Lauda Jerusalem Dominum—Marche Procesionnale” was published in 1947, possibly an outpouring of thanks by the composer for the end of the war. The music is printed on two staves, and is well-suited to the harmonium. The current organist of Magin’s church, M. Frederic Mayeur, gave us a tour of the Basilica; alas none of the three (!) harmoniums there is working. With console assistance from M. Mayeur, I was honored to play the mostly-restored C. Didier-van Caster pipe organ in the tribune, upon which Magin composed this piece. Recorded 1 October 2018.