(Dom) Paul Benoit

Synopsis

French organist, composer, and Benedictine monk

• 1893 born in Nancy, France. He studied piano with his mother and took organ lessons from Mademoiselle Hess, the daughter of the organist of Notre Dame Cathedral in Nancy.
• 1918 joined the Benedictine Abbey at Clervaux in Luxembourg.
• 1926 after taking his vows and being ordained to the priesthood, he became known as Dom Paul Benoit, "Dom" being the traditional title given to Benedictines after their vows.
• 1926 studied the organ with Albert Leblanc, the former organist of Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg. He then studied with Augustin Pierson, organist at St. Louis Cathedral in Versailles. He studied the music of Bach and of Louis Vierne.
• 1931 took over as organist of the Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll organ (3 manuals, 20 stops) at the abbey. He also began composing seriously. However, he composed only for God, and never performed a public concert. When he died, he left behind a great body of work for the organ, much of which has not yet been published.
• 1979 died in Clervaux

For details, see the Wikipedia article on Paul Benoit [1].

List of Organ Works

For a list of many of Benoit's compositions for organ, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Benoit_(composer)

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Background and General Perspectives on Performing These Organ Works

According to Wikipedia,

"In an autobiography, [Benoit] said that he drew inspiration from J.S. Bach (counterpoint), Louis Vierne (chromaticism), Claude Debussy (free rhythmic structure) and Maurice Ravel (chromaticism). His main source of inspiration was Gregorian chant, who he heard daily in the monastic liturgy. Benoit's compositional style can be described as melodic-pentatonic. He skillfully uses ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths, and the melody is often set against sustained chords."

Registration and Organs

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See the footnote in the "Notes" section at the bottom of the page

Fingering and Pedaling

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Articulation and Phrasing

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Ornamentation

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Tempo and Meter

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Scores and Editions

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Recordings

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Free Online

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Other Resources

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Notes

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