Gigout, Eugéne

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Gigout, Eugéne

Gigout, Eugéne, esteemed French organist, pedagogue, and composer; b. Nancy, March 23, 1844; d. Paris, Dec. 9, 1925. He began his studies in the maitrise of Nancy Cathedral. At age 11, he entered the Ecole Niedermeyer in Paris and studied with Saint-Saens and Loret. He then served on its faculty (1863-85; 1900-05); in 1885 he founded his own organ school. From 1911 he was a prof. of organ and improvisation at the Paris Cons. He also was active as a church organist in Paris and made successful tours of Europe as a recitalist. In 1895 he became a Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur. Gigout composed hundreds of organ pieces, both sacred and secular, as well as piano music, sacred organ pieces, and songs.

Bibliography

G. Faure, Hommage a E. G. (Paris, 1923).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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