Gaston Bélier
{{Short description|French organist and composer}}
Gaston Bélier (1863 – 1938) was a French organist and composer.
Career
A student of Eugène Gigout at the Conservatoire de Paris, he was titular organist at the Saint-Maclou of Pontoise Cathedral from 1892 to his death in 1938, and substitute organist at the {{ill|église Saint-Ferdinand-des-Ternes|fr}} in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130310004618/http://www.rscm.u-net.com/pdfs/parisorganists2009.pdf Parisian organists] From 1927 he was involved in the renovation and extension of the organ of La Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement.Antoine Kriéger: [http://www.musimem.com/madeleine-orgue.htm L'orgue Cavaillé-Coll de la Madeleine], online version on www.musimem.com In 1930 he participated in {{ill|Victor Gonzalez (organ builder)|lt=Victor Gonzalez|fr|Victor Gonzalez}}'s reconstruction of the organ of the Carmelite monastery of St. Joseph of Pontoise.
Composition
Like his colleagues Albert Renaud and Marcel Lanquetuit, Bélier is mostly known today for his Toccata pour grand orgue in D minor published by M. Senart in Paris in 1912. He also composed a Elevation for Organ, available on IMSLP.
Discography
Philippe Bardon[http://philippebardon.fr/ Philippe Bardon's official website] (on the organ of Saint-Maclou): Un récital d'orgue à Pontoise (EMA 9509), with works by J. S. Bach, Nicolas de Grigny, Michel Corrette, W. A. Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn, César Franck, Gaston Bélier, Jehan Alain and Olivier Messiaen.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA6ANJkiKbQ YouTube] Marko Hakanpää plays Bélier's Toccata at the Grönlunds organ (III/52, 2002) of the Saint-Michel church at Turku, Finland (audio only).
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CLlmUiUulk YouTube] Diane Bish plays Bélier's Toccata at the Rieger organ (III/58, 1992) of the St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- [http://www.france-orgue.fr/disque/index.php?zpg=dsq.fra.rch&oeu=B%E9lier France Orgue] G. Bélier's discography by Alain Carteyrade.
- {{IMSLP|id=Bélier, Gaston|cname=Gaston Bélier}} La Toccata pour orgue en ré mineur. (revised version, 17 March 2012.)
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|classical music|France}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belier, Gaston}}
Category:Place of birth missing
Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Category:French classical organists
Category:19th-century French organists
Category:20th-century French organists
Category:20th-century French male musicians