Cathedral of Saint Paul
239 Selby Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Sponsored by the Cathedral Heritage Foundation
Freewill donations. No reservations necessary.
Livestream available on cathedralheritagefoundation.org
and on cathedralsaintpaul.org
Livestream also available on our Facebook Page.
DETAILS
• Le Chemin de la Croix blends poetry and organ performance to create a musical meditation on the 14 stations of the cross.
• First performed in 1932 as a “multi-media experiment” by Marcel Dupré improvising on the organ, accompanying French actress Lucie Madeleine Renaud reciting Paul Claudel’s poetry by the same name. The performance became an instant success and has been performed around the world for nearly a century.
• Check out our CHF YouTube series, “Listening Notes with Stephen Hamilton.”
THE PLAYERS
THE ORGANIST
STEPHEN HAMILTON, Ph.D., has been prominent on the American organ scene as well as internationally for over forty years and regularly reviewed by the New York Times. This will be Dr. Hamilton’s first performance on the Historic Pipe Organs of the Cathedral of Saint Paul. A mainstay of Hamilton’s repertoire is his sought after & movingly vivid interpretation of Dupré’s Le Chemin de la Croix which he has performed internationally.
THE NARRATOR
Michael Barone is an American organist, and the host and senior executive producer of Pipedreams, produced and distributed by American Public Media. He is recognized nationally for his outstanding contributions to the world of organ music. Pipedreams began in 1982 and remains the only nationally distributed weekly radio program exploring the art of the pipe organ. In November 2002 he was selected for induction into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
THE COMPOSER
Marcel Dupré (1886-1971) was born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, and Dupré was a child prodigy. Aside from a few fine works for aspiring organists (such as the 79 Chorales op. 28) most of Dupré’s music for the organ ranges from moderately to extremely difficult, and some of it makes almost impossible technical demands on the performer.
THE ORIGINAL NARRATOR
Lucie Madeleine Renaud (1900-1994) was a French actress best remembered for her work in the theatre, she also appeared in several films directed by Jean Grémillon including Remorques and Lumière d’été.
THE INSTRUMENTS
The Cathedral of Saint Paul has two pipe organs, an E.M. Skinner Organ, and Æolian-Skinner Organ, both of which underwent a complete restoration and expansion between 2010-2013 by Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc. The two organs now have a combined 94 ranks of pipes for a total of 5,848 pipes ranging in size of over 32′ in length, to as small as a ballpoint pen.
The Cathedral Heritage Foundation is an independent volunteer 501 (c)3 community organization. Since its founding in 2007, the CHF’s stated mission has been “to preserve the Cathedral as an historic monument and a community treasure,” as well as to support the Cathedral as a venue for the arts and education.
The Cathedral welcomes visitors to join guided tours of the Cathedral, Tuesday through Friday at 1pm. Visitors may also take a private walking tour or a virtual tour at cathedralsaintpaul.org/visit-us.
Contact info:
Carolyn Will
[email protected]
612-414-9661
Susan Ritt
[email protected]
651-335-1834
