Offertoire (1911)

Henri Mulet (1878–1967) — Offertoire (1911) for organ

French composer and organist Henri Mulet (1878–1967) studied with Guilmant and Widor at the Paris Conservatory and served as organist at St. Pierre de Montrouge, St. Eustache, Ste Marie des Batignolles, St. Roch, and St. Philippe du Roule, all in Paris. In 1937 he moved to Provence and became cathedral organist in Draguignan (Var) until 1958, after which he was an inmate until his death at the convent of Petites Soeurs des Pauvres. For the last 30 years of his life, he preferred a secluded lifestyle, where he could remain silent for days on end. By the time of his death, he had been completely forgotten, and not one French newspaper printed his obituary. Today he is remembered for a small body of organ works, most famously “Carillon-Sortie” and “Tu es Petra” from “Esquisses byzantines.”

In 1911, near the end of his composing career, Mulet published four pieces for harmonium. In 2009, Stephen Best decided that in some regards these works would be more effective as organ pieces (especially given Mulet’s lifelong distaste for the harmonium), and he edited these works for organ, publishing them as a collection entitled “The Final Four.”

Published by Evensong Music, Media, and Graphics (http://www.evensongmusic.net/muletfree.html)