Publisher's Synopsis
Widor's Toccata is one of the most popular pieces in the organ repertoire, yet the man himself and the bulk of his music have remained in unmerited obscurity. His long life of 93 years was unjustly overshadowed by Saint-Saens and Franck at the beginning, and by Debussy and the Impressionists at the end. In retrospect, however, a clearer picture emerges of his immense contribution not only to French music but to its wider civilization, as an organist, composer, conductor, teacher, writer, and, in his final years, a cultural ambassador for France.;Andrew Thomson's comprehensive biography is the first of its kind in any language and is an eminently readable account of Widor's full and fascinating life amid the intellectual and political ferment of the Third Republic, spent in the company of a galaxy of musicians, authors, artists, society ladies, politicians, Popes and Kings.
