Victor Togni

Last updated
Victor Togni
Born15 March 1935
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanganyika
Died29 March 1965(1965-03-29) (aged 30)
Gananoque, Canada
Occupation(s)Organist, improviser, teacher, composer, conductor
Website victortogni.com

Victor Togni (15 March 1935 - 29 March 1965) was a Swiss Canadian organist, improviser, composer, and teacher. His compositions received positive reception. He won first prize at the American Guild of Organists' Improvisation Competition on June 26, 1964.

Contents

Career

Togni was a church organist in several positions. In Italy, he served at San Gregorio Magno al Celio, Rome, and as the assistant to Fernando Germani, who was the organist of Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. In Switzerland, he served at the Cathedral of Saint Lawrence, Lugano. He was the organist and choirmaster of St. Basil's Church and St. Michael's College, Toronto, at St. Michael's Cathedral Choir School as professor of organ and improvisation, as well as at St. Michael's Cathedral as organist. [1]

In North America, he performed in concerts at St. Mary's Cathedral in Calgary, Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Edmonton, and Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, as well as the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia and the Cathedral of St. Paul in Minnesota. The concerts that he performed in Europe include the Cäcilienkirche in Regensburg, Germany. [2] Togni performed at the Festival Internazionale di Musica Organistica di Magadino in Switzerland in 1963, where he played alongside Marcel Dupré and Gaston Litaize. [3] The Calgary Herald wrote in 1964 that Togni was "an internationally-known organist". [4] Before he died, Togni was scheduled to play at the Royal Canadian College of Organists' 1965 National Convention, and again at the same Magadino Festival in 1966. He was also slated for concerts at Haarlem, Rome, Paris, and throughout Germany. [2]

The Windsor Star wrote in 1963 that Togni is a "world-renowned virtuoso" and that he "will improvise at length on a submitted theme - a rare and remarkable talent" at the University of Windsor. [5] Precomposed and Extemporized: Rediscovering the Life and Improvisatory Work of Canadian Organist Victor Togni (1935 - 1965), a 2019 publication, assesses the role of improvisation in Togni's life, including unpublished recordings of Togni improvising. [2] These improvisations largely date from the final years of Togni's life from 1963 to 1965, and include recordings of Togni's winning improvisation at the 1964 Improvisation Competition of the American Guild of Organists' National Convention at First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, as well as several improvised works on the historic former Warren and Son organ of St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto, the Aeolian-Skinner organ of the Cathedral of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Festival Internazionale di musica organistica di Magadino. [2]

Personal life and death

Togni was born in 1935 in what was later named Tanganyika in East Africa to Swiss parents. [4]

In France, he studied with Rolande Falcinelli at the École Normale de Musique, with Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire National de Musique, and privately with Jean Langlais and Marcel Dupré. In Switzerland, he studied at Einsiedeln Abbey as a teenager; years later, he returned to Switzerland to study with Jean-Jacques Grunenwald at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, where he won three first prizes in organ. In Italy, he studied with the Italian organist Fernando Germani at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. [1]

Togni was married in 1958 to Margaret. Their son Peter-Anthony Togni is also an organist. [1]

Togni won first prize at the American Guild of Organists' Improvisation Competition on June 26, 1964. He won by improvising a prelude and fugue on themes by the American composer Vincent Persichetti. The prize was sponsored by Casavant Frères. [1]

Togni was killed on March 29, 1965, in a car accident. [1] He had been travelling to record an organ concert in Montreal, Québec. [6]

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Langlais</span>

Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "Breton, de foi Catholique".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Scott Whiteley</span> English organist and composer

John Scott Whiteley is an English organist and composer. He has performed extensively around the world and since 1985 has undertaken an annual tour of the US. He has performed in most major UK cathedrals and concert halls, and was Assistant Organist and later Organist and Director of the Girls' Choir at York Minster between 1976 and 2010. He is currently Organist Emeritus of York Minster.

The International Organ Festival (IOF) is a biennial music festival and organ competition held in St Albans, England since 1963. Originally held annually, it was changed to every two years in 1965 due to the complexity of organising the increasingly ambitious programme. The festival is run mainly by volunteers.

David John Briggs is an English organist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Guillou</span> French composer, organist, and pianist (1930–2019)

Jean Victor Arthur Guillou was a French composer, organist, pianist, and pedagogue. Titular Organist at Saint Eustache in Paris, from 1963 to 2015, he was widely known as a composer of instrumental and vocal music focused on the organ, as an improviser, and as an adviser to organ builders. For several decades he held regular master classes in Zurich and in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolande Falcinelli</span> French woman organist, composer ad music educcator

Rolande Roberte Ginabat-Falcinelli was a French organist, pianist, composer, and music educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André Isoir</span> French organist and pedagogue (1935–2016)

André Jean-Marie Isoir was a French organist and pedagogue.

Lionel Rogg is a Swiss organist, composer and teacher of musical theory. He is best known for performing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose complete organ works he has recorded three times.

Louis Henry Nicolas Thiry was a French concert organist, composer and pedagogue. He was professor of organ at the Regional Conservatoire in Rouen and played in concerts internationally. His many recordings include the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen in 1972, which received several awards and led the composer to describe him as "an extraordinary organist". Thiry was blind.

Dong-Ill Shin won first prize in the national competition for piano sponsored by The Korea Times at the age of ten. When he was eleven he made his debut with the Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra playing Mozart's Concerto in d minor No. 20. Attracted by J.S. Bach's Music and the orchestra-like colors produced by the organ, he began his studies with Dr. Sun-woo Cho at the age of 14. Later at Yonsei University in Seoul he studied with Dr. Tong-soon Kwak and completed his Bachelor of Music degree in 1997. He then studied in France with Jean Boyer and received the Diplome Nationale Superieur de Musique from the Conservatoire Nationale Superieur de Musique de Lyon in Organ, Harmony, Fugue, Analysis, Improvisation & Basso-Continuo. His dissertation at the Conservatoire was on the study of Tabulatura Nava by Samuel Scheidt which focused on J.P. Sweelinck's influences. His studies continued with Olivier Latry and Michel Bouvard at the Conservatoire Nationale Superieur de Musique de Paris in the prestigious Cycle de Perfectionnement program, which is the highest program in the French National Conservatory system. He also undertook private studies with Mme. Marie-Claire Alain for Organ and Mme. Françoise Marmim for Harpsichord. During his years of study in France he won several scholarships including awards from the Darazzi Foundation, the Meyer Foundation and Mécèn de Société Générale. In 2004 he completed his Artist Diploma at The Boston Conservatory on a full scholarship studying with James David Christie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalevi Kiviniemi</span> Finnish organist

Kalevi Ilmari Kiviniemi is a Finnish concert organist. He has given over 2000 concerts, and his discography includes nearly 200 titles, many of them featuring significant and unique organs across the US, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany. Kiviniemi is also considered to be a distinguished improviser, especially in the tradition of a French line that runs from Charles Tournemire through to Pierre Cochereau.

Bálint Karosi is a Hungarian organist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Togni</span> Musical artist

Peter Anthony Togni is a freelance Canadian composer and broadcaster based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Togni's music is deeply felt, simply put, well-crafted and irradiated by a personal sense of the divine."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melville Cook</span> British musician

Alfred Melville Cook was a British organist, conductor, composer and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Pierre Leguay</span> French organist, composer and improviser (born 1939)

Jean-Pierre Leguay is a French organist, composer and improviser. He studied with André Marchal, Gaston Litaize, Rolande Falcinelli (organ), Simone Plé-Caussade (counterpoint), and Olivier Messiaen (composition), before serving as titular organist at Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris from 1961 to 1984. In 1985 he was named a titular organist at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, alongside Olivier Latry, Yves Devernay and Philippe Lefebvre. He held this position through the end of 2015, and is now titular organist emeritus.

Michel Léon Chapuis was a French classical organist and pedagogue. He was especially known as an interpreter of the French and the German Baroque masters and dedicated to historically informed performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Vexo</span> French organist

Johann Vexo is a French organist. He is the organist for both the choir organ at Notre Dame de Paris and the great organ of Nancy Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Pincemaille</span> French organist and pedagogue (1956–2018)

Pierre-Marie François Pincemaille was a French organist, improviser, and pedagogue. He was known for his organ improvisations, both in concert and on CD and for his recordings of Charles-Marie Widor's complete organ symphonies played on organs built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, as well as his recordings of the complete organ works of Maurice Duruflé and César Franck, and organ works of Pierre Cochereau and Louis Vierne in particular.

Maurice Clerc is a French classical organist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Haselböck</span> Austrian organist, composer, author and teacher (1928–2021)

Johann Haselböck was an Austrian organist, composer, author and academic teacher. He was organist at the Dominican Church, Vienna, for 65 years, and was professor of organ and improvisation at the Vienna Music Academy, where he later also served as head of the faculty of church music and as deputy rector. He gave organ concerts in Europe, North America, and the Near and Far East. Haselböck is regarded as a pioneer of Catholic church music in the German language after the Second Vatican Council.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Thévenot, Maxine (January 2008). "Victor Togni (1935-1965): From Tanganyika to Toronto". The American Organist.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Farahat, John Paul (2019). Precomposed and Extemporized: Rediscovering the Life and Improvisatory Work of Canadian Organist Victor Togni (1935 – 1965) (Doctor of Musical Arts thesis). University of Toronto.
  3. ↑ "Have played - Magadino International Organ Music Festival - Magadino". www.organ-festival.ch. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  4. 1 2 "St. Mary's Cathedral Plans 1st Organ Recital". Calgary Herald. Calgary, Alberta. 12 September 1964 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "UOW Music Club To Present Recital". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. 16 October 1963 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "CBC Man, Organist Die in Auto Crash". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. 30 March 1965 – via Newspapers.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.