TRITANT: Prière & Sortie-Fanfare, on Kotykiewicz harmonium

Gustave Tritant (1837-1907) was a lesser-known French organist and composer, active in the second half of the 19th century (“méconnu” en français). Born in Mesneux, just south-west of Reims, he was a student in Reims, and evidently played the organ(s) at Reims Cathedral, and at the Basilica Saint-Remi in the same city. There followed several stints as organist or maître-de-chapelle at the cathedral in Châlons; Saint-Eustache, Saint-Augustin, and Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou in Paris; and in Pamiers in southern France. But it seems that most of his career was spent in Rethel, a commune north-east of Reims, where he was an organist, and a college professor. Besides some piano music, and choral music (both sacred and secular), his magnum opus was a 13-volume collection of church music for organ or harmonium, entitled “L’Office Pratique de l’Organiste,” published by Enoch in Paris over ten years, 1879-1889. This Prière (pour jouer entre les vêpres et le salut) and Sortie-Fanfare come from Volume 5, “Office du Soir,” now available on IMSLP. For the Prayer, I contrast the “Jeu Doux” on the second manual with the (5) Voix Celeste on the lower manual. For the Fanfare, I use the Grand Jeu on the lower manual (four ranks played together, activated by a stop in the treble key cheek), coupling to the middle manual (with the (6) rank added, Clairon/Fifre) for the final bit. The instrument heard here is a magnificent three-manual Kotykiewicz harmonium and pipe organ combination. The lower two manuals operate a 10-rank harmonium, whereas the upper manual and the pedalboard each command four ranks of pipes. It was built in Vienna in 1901 for a doctor’s residence; after the family left the country in 1938, the organ passed through a few families, then found a home in the English-Speaking United Methodist Church of Vienna in the 1960s. Here it is used regularly, and we had a chance to meet their organist Jerry Barton, who let us record on 1 October 2019. Performed by Michael Hendron.