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Play, download and edit the free video Suite Franaise: II. Nazard by Jean Langlais, played by Greg Vick.

French composer and organist Jean Langlais (1907-1991) was a pupil of Dupré, Dukas, and Tournemire. Langlais succeeded Tournemire in 1945 as organist at Ste. Clotilde in Paris, the home to a major organ by the French company Cavaillé-Coll. The instrument was dedicated in 1859 by César Franck.

Suite Française was composed in 1948 during Langlais’ fascination with the “neo-classical” period. The work is structured as one would expect to see in a French classical suite for organ, a collection of shorter pieces with varying characteristics often named after the stop or combination of stops used on the organ to produce the desired sound or color for the piece. The movement’s title, Nazard, refers to the organ stop used in combination with an 8’ flute to produce the solo voice. According to organ historian William Leslie Sumner, “the word nasard (nazard) is derived from nasal, the quality of tone which the stop was supposed to suggest.”

To hear Greg Vick and Brent te Velde play other pieces on the St. Stephen's organ, visit ststephensRVA.org/organ for a list and links to other videos.

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