Communion sur un Noël

Jean-Louis Charles Huré (17 September 1877 – 27 January 1930) was a French composer and organist. Though educated at a monastery in Angers, as a musician, he was mostly self-taught.

Born in Gien, Loiret, Huré studied anthropology, composition, improvisation and medieval music at the École Saint-Maurille in Angers and served as organist at the cathedral in the city. In 1895 he moved to Paris, where he was advised by Charles-Marie Widor and Charles Koechlin to study at the Conservatory.

From 1910 he taught at the École Normale Supérieure, and in 1911 he helped found the Paris Mozart Society; he was also a member of the short-lived Association des Compositeurs Bretons during 1912–14. He worked as organist at the churches of Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux, Saint-Martin-des-Champs and Saint-Séverin between 1911 and 1914. From 1924 he was appointed successor to Lucien Grandjany at Sacré-Cœur and from 1926 as the successor to Eugene Gigout at Saint-Augustin. Between 1924 and 1926 he edited and published a monthly journal called L'Orgue et les Organistes. Huré died in Paris.

Pour la Communion d ’une Messe de Minuit à Noël dates from 1913. The work is dedicated À Joseph Bonnet, the great French organist.

It is atmospheric and quite impressionistic, and appealing. I found this entirely by accident, when I was looking to complete my task of uploading each day from Christmas Eve through the Epiphany.

What caught my eye was that one of the editions on IMSLP was done by Robert Leech Bedell (1909-1974). Like me, he was born in Jersey City.

He was quite well-know for a time, and published his own series of editions called, "Le Grand Orgue," published in Brooklyn, NY. He has been criticized for not really "editing," but merely translating, reprinting, and putting his name on the scores.

With this upload, I've attached two versions of the score, several photos of Huré, Bedell, Bonnet, the Cathedral of Angers, and a beautiful vintage photo of St. Augustin in Paris.