When Alexandre Guilmant came to Paris from his home among the fisher-folk at Boulogne-sur-Mer, the status of organ-music and organ-playing was altogether different from the character and high standing of both at the time of his death in March last. In 1871 Guilmant took up his residence in the French capital. His remarkable playing at the inauguration of the organs at St. Sulpice and Notre Dame won instant recognition, and caused his appointment at La Trinité, where he remained thirty years without interruption. It was a difficult matter to bring about a radical change at once, and sipel the influence created by his predecessors. This all had to come gradually and in due course of time, coupled with patience and hard work.

Guilmant was an indefatigable worker. Nothing daunted him for an instant. His love for work remained to the end, even during his summer holidays, when most artists welcome a chance to breathe the fresh air and be absent from their desk and organ bench. As a lad Guilmant developed this admirable quality, and rode over all obstacles, including the opposition of his parents that he should adopt a musical career. His early studies were supervised by his father, Jean-Baptiste Guilmant, who played the organ in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Boulogne for nearly fifty years. He studied harmony with Carulli, and journeyed to Brussels for work with Lemmens, who quickly recognized the unusual talent of his gifted pupil.

Guilmant began the study of improvisation at the age of seven, and worked for twenty years before he had developed it to the perfection his audiences of later years were led to expect from him. Great as were his performances upon the organ, he will undoubtedly be remembered for his marvelous improvisations. The ease and facility with which he would develop the simplest theme, and end with a double fugue, will perhaps never be equaled. What was still more, he made his improvisations interesting, although they were always scholarly and in strict form. It is to be regretted that they could not have been recorded, and thus preserved for future generations to whom it will remain as a matter of history. In his extempore playing he stood alone. Neither his father nor Lemmens could begin to compete with him in the wonderful art which everywhere held audiences spellbound. The spontaneity and earnestness with which he accomplished this task were without equal. His improvisations were always well thought out, the character of the theme never lost sight of, and the whole perfectly rounded and finished.

Guilmant was disciple of Bach. He said, "My admiration for Bach is unbounded. I consider that Bach is music. Everything else in music has come from him; and if all music excepting Bach's were destroyed, music would still be preserved. I find the heart of Bach in the chorales which he wrote for the organ. These combine in a wonderful degree musical science with the deepest feeling, and are grand objects of study."

Critical estimates of Guilmant's organ-playing must always include reference to one great feature, the magnificent underlying pulsation, the steady rhythmic beat, which was always evident. His clear and logical phrasing was particularly noticeable in the works of Bach. No mechanical difficulties were apparent in his playing of the great master's fugues, or indeed in his interpretation of the most difficult of modern technical works. He played with quiet ease, absolute surety, and with exquisite refinement. He always considered the organ to be a noble instrument, and believed firmly that, except in rare cases, original compositions should be played upon it. He did not favor orchestral transcriptions. Although he arranged several works, he considered them to be especially adaped to the instrument. He would quote Berlioz's "The Organ is Pope, the Orchestra, Emperor," and add, "Each is supreme in its own way."

Guilmant was a prolific composer; he wrote rapidly. During one of his American tours an organ-piece was written en route from New York to Philadelphia and completed before arrival. The fugue in D major was written in a single evening and the "Second Meditation" one morning before breakfast. His organ-sonatas number eight, and the first and eighth are arranged for organ and orchestra. His organ-pieces number up in the hundreds and are places in various collections - "Organ Pieces," "The Practical Organist," "The Liturgical Organist," "Eighteen Organ Pieces," etc. He wrote threee Masses; "Quam Dilecta" (Psalm 84); "Christus Vincit"; "Balthazar"; a symphony, "Ariane," for orchestra, soli, chorus, and organ; "Come Unto Me"; many motets and choruses. He arranged several of the works of Handel and the old masters in the "Trocadéro Series," and edited an "Historical Organ Book" containing examples from all school of organ-playing. Much time was devoted to editing "Les Archives des Maitres d'Orgue," and thus preserving music of past centuries which would otherwise have been lost to the world. His father, who lived to the age of ninety-seven, would spend days during the latter part of his life copying these compositions from the books in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris and then present them to his son. These, with other rare works, are included in "Les Archives," which contain the compositions of Jean Titelouze, André Raison, Roberday, Du Mage, Louis Marchand, Clerambault, Daquin, Gigault, DeGrigny, and F. Couperin. A set of "Noëls" have been edited and arranged; also the "Classical Organ School," containing examples of the works of W.F. Bach, Martini, Buxtehude, Krebs, etc. A long list for the piano, the harmonium, for various instruments, in addition to nine for organ and orchestra, should be mentioned.

Guilmant has been one of the most forceful inspiring influences to awaken dignity of musical sentiment in France. For years he was president of the Schola Cantorum, a school founded in Paris by the late Charles Bordes, choirmaster of St. Gervais, and located in the Rue St. Jacques. He devoted one day each week to the school, a labor of love, giving instruction in ecclesiastical music. In 1896 he received the appointment as professor of organ at the Conservatoire Nationale in Paris, and taught there regularly two days each week. His organ-classes were the most successfull that have ever been held in this famous institution, and at the time of his seventieth birthday, when he spoke of retiring, the matter would not even be considered, and he continued up to the time of his death.

Guilmant always exercised the greatest care in the make-up of his programs, and his attention to the minutest detail aided materially in the success of his recital work. He was the principal influence in France in preserving the traditions of both organ-playing and the true style of writing for the instrument. Bach was almost unknown in France previous to his advent in Paris and his presistence in playing the works of the Cantor of Leipzig, in producing his Cantatas, and in creating a taste for his compositions, was one of his greatest achievements. For many years he would play the entire organ-works of Bach for the Count de Chambrun, and assist at the performances of the Cantatas and choral works. In his own writings he frequently employed the liturgical chants of the church, and wrote much that still remains unpublished. His "Liturgical Organist," in twelve volumes, contains a wealth of material for the church service, and was written while at La Trinité and used there. His eight sonatas will remain as giants in organ-literature for all time to come. The eighteen books of organ-pieces in various style embrace some of the best examples of his writings. His compositions are distinctly musical. Every part sings. He possessed the God-given gift of melody, and lavished it freely in his writings. The influence of Wagner in his later compositions was apparent. He was a frequent visitor at Bayreuth, where he gave two recitals. For years he would take the greatest delight in playing selections from "Tristan," "Parsifal," and the "Ring" to the friends who were entertained at his villa in Meudon. This all had its bearing on his writings, and kept him abreast of the times. A charm and individuality prevades all his compositions. Originality or thought and idea, coupled with spontaneous beauty, and, added to this, the correct and scholarly structure of all he did, attracts and satisfies the critical faculty of every educated musician.

The best proof of the excellence of Guilmant's music is in the remarkable influence and popularity it has attained amongst all classes - the liberal-minded, educated musician and critic, as well as the ordinary listener. Guilmant insisted on the strict legato - the bel canto of the singer, and now almost a lost art in the rush of the present day. Nothing was done with undue haste or without preparation, the same care and attention to detail being followed in everything he undertook. Shortly before his death he said, "If I can leave behind me a correct style and method of organ-playing, it is all I ask for." The influence exercised over his pupils, and in imparting to them the principles for which he lived, showed the character and nature of this, the most lovable of men.

The estimate of his three visits to America will never be fully known. The great advance made here can easily be traced to the date of his first tour, when he was summoned to play the great organ at the World's Fair in Chicago. The succeeding visits did much to confirm this, and now in no country of the world is organ-music more apreciated than here. Guilmant's influence on the destiny of organ-music extended to many lands, and he was eagerly sought for, and traveled extensively. Whatever place he will fill in the history of his beloved France, it is safe to say that in no country will his name and the influence of his art live longer than in the United States of America.

William C. Carl