TRITANT: Offertoire de St. Rémi скачать в хорошем качестве

TRITANT: Offertoire de St. Rémi

Gustave Tritant (1837-1907) was a French organist and composer, active in the second half of the 19th century. 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-Rémi 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 “Offertoire de St. Rémi” appeared in Volume 8 (12 Offertoires solennels), now available on IMSLP. St. Rémi (Remigius) was a 5th-century French bishop of Reims, where he baptized Clovis I, King of the Franks and so many other believers on Christmas Day 496 that Rémi is credited with the Christianization of the Franks. The music begins and ends in E-flat major, with an extended central section in G major. I am following Tritant's general registrations (Grand Chœur, Voix Celeste, Fonds), thus the several stop changes. The instrument is a French harmonium, built in Paris by the Mustel firm in 1887, their No. 470, and # 4321 in the Reed Organ Society database. Performed by Michael Hendron; recorded 3 October 2025, within the octave of Rémi's 1 October feast day.