LDV153.7

53 ANDRÉ ISOIR When you say you didn’t learn any theory, surely you must have studied harmony and counterpoint? No, very little. I took it for a year at the École César Franck: I got as far as dominant sevenths . . . Later on, I was forced to look into the question seriously again when I entered the competitive examination for the post of professor of organ and harmony and counterpoint at the Angers Conservatoire. For several months, I studied harmony until it was coming out of my ears. The hardest thing was writing without the help of the keyboard. When you think of people like Bach who, without using the keyboard, were a hundred per cent sure of what they were writing, you feel very small indeed . . . Did the loneliness of the organist’s existence ever get you down? Absolutely not. It suited me perfectly. There are certain special places: I’m thinking notably of Strasbourg Cathedral, where the organ is located very high up and the organist can really appreciate that solitude. But even when you’re very far from your listeners, you can still sense very clearly whether they’re paying attention or not. It’s blatantly obvious in the case of audiences for ‘trumpet and organ’ recitals, where the solo organ pieces are there to give the trumpet player a rest: the audience is much less attentive then, and you can feel that.