Sunday 29 June 2008, at 8.00 pm

Daniel Roth

Daniel Roth, widely acclaimed as one of the leading French organ virtuosos, has held several prestigious positions as both performer and teacher. At the age of twenty he made his debut at the organ of the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre-Paris, as assistant of his teacher, Madame Rolande Falcinelli. He later succeded her as titular organist, a post which he held until 1985 when he was appointed titular organist at St-Sulpice, the famous Paris church where is predecessors were Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald. A former student at the Paris Conservatory, Daniel Roth's teachers have included Marie-Claire Alain and Maurice Durufé. He has won several competitions, among them the Grand Prix de Chartres 1971, interpretation and improvisation.

Having held teaching positions at the Conservatories of Marseille, Strasbourg and the Saarbrücken Musikhochschule, he is currently Professor of organ at the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt am Main where he is successor to Edgar Krapp and Helmut Walcha from 1995 to 2007. Daniel Roth has been also Artist-in-Residence at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and chairman of the organ department at Catholic University in Washington DC.

He is regularly invited to play concerts as a soloist and with famous orchestras; he teaches masterclasses and participates on juries for organ competitions throughout the world. On 11 November 2005 he played the dedication of the new Karl Schuke (Berlin) Organ of the Grand Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall in Luxembourg, for the construction of which he was artistic advisor.
A composer as well as performer, Daniel Roth has several works for organ, for flute and organ, and for choir and organ. The City of Ludwigshafen in Germany commissioned from him Licht im Dunkel for orchestra; it was first premièred there in May 2005, and was performed again in April 2006 in the church of St Etienne du Mont (Paris) conducted by his son François-Xavier Roth. The work is published by Schott. For his compositions he received the Florent Schmitt prize awarded by the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Institut de France).

Daniel Roth is also well known for his brillant improvisations which are regularly included in his concerts programs. He has many highly-acclaimed recordings to his credit covering pieces from the seventeenth century to the present time. He is Chavalier de la Légion d’Honneur, Officier des Arts et Lettres, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (London). In 2006 he received the European Prize of European sacred music from the Schwäbisch Gmünd Festival (Germany).

Alexandre Pierre François Boëly (1785 - 1858)
Fantasy & fugue in B flat major
Quartet in G minor
Allegro in F minor

César Franck (1822 - 1890)
Symphony in D minor, transcribed for the organ
- ii. Allegretto

Charles Marie Widor (1844 - 1937)
Symphony no. 6 in G minor, op. 42 no. 2
- iii. Intermezzo

Charles Tournemire (1870 - 1939)
Fresque symphonique sacrée, op. 76

Jehan Alain (1911-1940)
Diexième fantaisie

Daniel Roth (b. 1942)
Fantaisie fuguée sur Regina Cæli

Rolande Falcinelli (1920 - 2006)
Esquisses symphoniques, op. 45
- vii. Allegro giocoso
- x. Allegro ritmico

Improvisation