Livre d'Orgue - 4 - Louange de l'oiseau

Dom Clément Jacob, (b. 13 January 1906 in Bordeaux d. 26 February 1977 in Abbaye En-Calcat, Dourgne, Tarn) was a French composer and organist. Jacob studied at the Paris Conservatory with Charles Koechlin and André Gedalge He was an admirer of Darius Milhaud and Erik Satie, and a member of the École d'Arcueil, a group of young composers sponsored by Satie after his rupture with his previous group of protégés, Les Six. Other members of this short-lived group included Henri Cliquet-Pleyel, Henri Sauguet and Roger Désormière. In 1929, Jacob converted from Judaism to Catholicism (influenced by Jacques Maritain) and became a Benedictine monk. He would go on to study organ with Maurice Duruflé, as well as Gregorian chant. Jacob also published two books, L'art et la grâce (1939) and Souvenirs a deux voix (1969). In addition to the Livre d’orgue, he also published a suite and some assorted pieces in the series “Orgue et Liturgie”. In addition, he wrote a number of piano sonatas with a decidedly impressionistic/post romantic flair.

This particular piece reminds me a lot of Messiaen, with the birdcalls!

Once I'm done uploading, I'll put these in a playlist, eventually I'll add some other works by Dom Jacob. Note: I uploaded the final "mouvement" quite awhile back, so it is in the playlist or you can find it here: http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/406