Quatre Pièces pour violon et orgue - #1 - Verset

Joseph Reveyron was born on September 2, 1917 in Lyon. He sudied the organ, harmony and counterpoint unde Eduoard Commette (1883-1967). In 1954, he became Commmete's assistant at the Primatiale Saint-Jean in Lyon. Following the death of his teacher, Reveyron assumed the tite of "titulare", which he kept intil 1998, after whch it changed to "titulare honaraire". He wrote 5 oratorios and several masses, along with orchestral, chamber and solo piano works. He also wrote quite a few works for organ, most of which are hardly ever performed.

He wrote these Quatre Pièces for Violin and organ between 1955 and 1989, this first piece "Verset" was completed in 1955. Reveyron describes them as follows:

"These pieces feature two very different instruments - the violin and the organ. However, while both of them contain great emotional potential, they do notbelng to the same category. The violin evokes human feelings, whereas the organ guides the listener into realms that are largely spiritual and religious in nature. Combined these two instruments offer the composer manifold possibilites. Their different natures mean that they ccan converse with one another, go theor separate ways, or blend together in harmony.

A verset is a short reading or passage - a brief extract from the Bible. Despite its brevity, it can evoke a number of comments as well as and extended meditation. The aim of this piece is to demonstrate the advantage of this type of text".