French Organ Improvisation Tradition

Overview

Researcher: Jason Tang

In this research project, I examine the development of French organ improvisation pedagogy and its influence on 20th-century and contemporary compositional practices. The project combines historical enquiry with analytical and practical perspectives drawn from my own performance experience.

I focus on the formation of the French improvisation tradition, particularly the pedagogical foundations established by Marcel Dupré and Charles Tournemire. Central to this study is an examination of their influential treatises, Cours Complet d’Improvisation à l’Orgue and Précis d’exécution, de registration et d’Improvisation à l’Orgue, which shaped generations of organists and improvisers. The project investigates how improvisers construct their work both harmonically and formally, and how these approaches function within liturgical and concert contexts. Repertoires closely associated with improvisation form part of the research, including Dupré’s Vêpres du Commun des Fêtes de la Sainte Vierge, Tournemire’s L’Orgue Mystique, Florentz’s Debout sur le soleil, and Olivier Latry’s Salve Regina.

The project culminates in a public recital combining improvisation-related repertoire with my own improvisations, supported by a written dissertation and interviews with leading practitioners.

Image: Organ gallery at St Sulpice, Paris, July 2024, by Jason Tang