Toccata, from Organ Sonata No. 5

Program Note:

Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) was born into a family of organists and organ builders and was thus perfectly positioned to benefit from generations of experience with the instrument. He also had the good fortune to have fantastic teachers and, at age 24, to be made assistant to Saint-Saëns at La Madeleine in Paris. Two years later Widor was given a temporary post at St. Sulpice in 1870—which he held for the next 63 years! This did not hinder him from maintaining a busy international schedule of appearances. Indeed, Widor himself dedicated the original organ installed at Geneva’s Victoria Hall, site of the present recording, in 1894.

Widor is best remembered today for his ten Organ Symphonies that define the French Romantic organ school’s grand ambitions. The Organ Symphony No. 5 was composed in 1879, though he continued to revise portions of it for many years. Rarely is the five-movement work heard in its entirety. Instead, we associate Widor’s name with the glittering finale from this symphony, a toccata that rivals any work in the genre. The origins of the toccata, from the Italian word toccare or “touch,” extend back into the late 1500s. Madrigal composers such as Merulo and Pasquini had used the term for highly figurated keyboard works. It referenced the physicality of the music: sampling numerous textures all the way from lyric, legato passages to virtuosic, rapid figuration across the full keyboard.

Widor’s Toccata stays true to the genre. Beneath the stunning surface lies a simple structure: a pattern of arpeggios in the treble, above a harmonic foundation that modulates gradually around the circle of fifth-related keys (F, C, G, D, etc.). Additional interest is maintained by punctuated left-hand chords and resonant pedal notes. F major functions as an anchor to the whole experience, frequently reappearing at internal cadence points to articulate arrival points in the tonal journey. Lasting just over six minutes, it is a favored work for ceremonial occasions. In particular, Widor’s Toccata is a popular choice as recessional music for weddings, church services, and—of course—it makes a spectacular encore to any virtuoso organ recital.

(c) Jason Stell