Premiѐre Symphonie in D Major

by Louis Vierne

Premiѐre Symphonie in D Major

1	Prélude (Op. 14)
2	Fugue (Op. 14)
3	Pastorale (Op 14)
4	Allegro vivace (Op. 14)
5	Andante (Op. 14)
6	Final (Op. 14)

Background

• Written in 1895
• Published in 1895 and 1898 (1899)
• Six movements
• Widor played some of the movements for Vierne's wedding at Saint-Sulpice, April 22, 1899
• Vierne did not like the Fugue or the Finale, but noted that audiences liked the Finale, so he played it
• Vierne only liked the first movement and the Allegro vivace movement

Vierne program annotations of four movements:

PASTORALE

"The Pastorale consists of an exposition in B-flat major in the form of a dialogue between Oboe and flute in which two themes are developed. A middle section in G minor also develops two themes up to the return of the first subject, which is repeated without variation."

ALLEGRO VIVACE

"The allegro vivace is a scherzo in 2/4 time in A minor with a canon in the middle divided into two sections but which do not repeat as in classic scherzos."

ANDANTE

"The Andante is in the form of a highly developed "Song without Words." After the opening in F major on célestes comes a passage that serves as an introduction to the development of a fragment of the theme, first in D-flat major, and then in E-flat major. The re-entry of the exposition is made over the first four notes at form its base. The melody in the tenor register, is played on the upper part of the pedalboard. The movement concludes by a repetition of the commencement, beginning from the second part of the exposition."

FINAL

"The Final is brilliantly laid out in first-movement sonata form beginning with a theme in D major in the bass. A second subject enters in canon between treble and bass in the dominant. A development of the two subjects follows, after which, a return to the first subject with a new accompanimental figure, and, to wind up with, a restatement of the second subject in the same key as the first, with a rhythmical figure taken from the opening of the movement to lend emphasis.

"[The Final] is in allegro with two themes moving first in eighth notes and then in eight-note triplets that only stop a moment at the exposition of the second theme in canon as the octave. After the development, the triplets come into play and stop as well, at the return of the second theme to make way for a bass figuration derived from the later. The piece concludes with the beginning of the first theme accompanied by the original figuration. This leads to a sustained trill, preparing a bass line that brings the peroration to a close."

Registration and Organs

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Fingering and Pedaling

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Articulation and Phrasing

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Notes

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