LDV302

ANDRÉ ISOIR 37 ANDRÉ ISOIR (1935-2016) Views from the organ gallery André Isoir, born at Saint-Dizier, studiedmusic at the École César Franck, where his teachers included Édouard Souberbielle for the organ and Germaine Mounier for the piano. He then entered Rolande Falcinelli’s class at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, where in 1960 he was awarded the premier prix for organ and improvisation by unanimous decision of the jury. He subsequently won a number of international competitions, first St Albans in the UK, where he obtained first prize in 1965, then Haarlem (Holland) where he won three years in a row (1966-67-68), thus obtaining the ‘Challenge Prize’. He is still today the only Frenchman to have achieved this distinction since the competition was founded in 1951. He made some sixty recordings, which gained him eight grands prix du Disque between 1972 and 1991, as well as the Prix du Président de la République for his anthology of French organ music ‘Le Livre d’Or de l’Orgue Français’. André Isoir’s musical culture was complemented by an in-depth knowledge of instrument building; in his opinion this contributed to a more stylish approach to the various repertoires, in terms of both technique and registration. He was organist emeritus of the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, Chevalier des Arts et Lettres and Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite. André Isoir died on 20 July 2016.