Wayne Fisher, Organist

Music of Wayne Fisher on SoundCloud

Louis Vierne: Symphony No. 5, Scherzo (third movement)

Louis Vierne (1870-1937) was a student of César Franck's, a colleague of Widor's and Guilmant's, and a teacher of Joseph Bonnet, Henri Mulet, Marcel Dupré, and Nadia Boulanger. He was the titular organist at Notre Dame in Paris from 1900 to 1937. Sounds grand, but his life was not an easy one. His six symphonies for the organ, nevertheless, are pillars of the organ repertoire. The Fifth is the broadest in scale. The Scherzo, the third of five movements, is playful and concise, yet highly chromatic.

The Vierne Scherzo from Symphony No. 5 was on a recital that Wayne Fisher played at St. Thomas Church in New York City on June 8, 1975. The organ is Aeolian-Skinner Op. 205-A, also identified in the Pipe Organ Database (Organ Historical Society) as Gilbert F. Adams (1969). Its sound was made famous by Marcel Dupré in his recordings of music of Widor and Franck and of his own music.

Wayne Fisher taught organ for many years at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati, and served as chairman of the organ department.