Nocturne

Gaston Marie Dethier (1875-1958) was born in Liège into a musical family that included his father Emile, an organist, and brother Edouard, a violinist. At a very early age he was appointed organist of two churches in Liège.

He came to the United States in 1894 and eventually became an American citizen. He was the organist of the Church of St. Francis Xavier from 1894 until 1907, at which time the position was filled by Pietro Yon.

Dethier taught at Juilliard from 1907-1945, where there is to this day a scholarship awarded in his name. He also composed much organ music which is highly idomatic to the organ, but evocative of his era and is played only infrequently today. His "Variations on Adeste fideles" has remained popular, largely through the efforts of Virgil Fox who recorded it and used to play it frequently around Christmas.

Dethier is best remembered for his long tenure on the organ faculty of Juilliard, and its predecessor institution, the Institute of Musical Art, where Carl McKinley and Powell Weaver were among his better-remembered students.

"Nocturne" was published by J. Fischer & Bro. in 1904. It is dedicated: "To my Wife."

This is a very pretty piece, but it's awfully fussy in terms of execution and registration. It sounds like it was conceived as a "violin/viola solo" with accompaniment. I tried to recreate this in mood, although not in actual registrations.

It's clear that this is written for an American organ, and the Salisbury Willis, grand and glorious that it is, doesn't really have the "right" sounds for this. Consequently, the registrational scheme had to be quite different from the actually indicated stops.

The score is attached below, as well as photos of Gaston M. Dethier and the the Church of St. Frances Xavier in New York City. Also attached is a photo of Dethier's successor, Pietro Yon, at the console of the old Casavant in the church.