What is Marcel Dupré?
[[Image:dupre.jpg|right|framed|Marcel Dupré]] '''Marcel Dupré''' (born [[Rouen]], [[Normandy]], 3 May 1886; died Meudon, near [[Paris]], 30 May 1971), was a leading French [[pipe organ|organist]], [[composer]], and [[teacher]]. ==Biography== Marcel Dupré was born to a musical family in [[Rouen]] ([[Normandy]], [[France]]). His father Albert Dupré was organist at the [[gothic]] [[abbey]] of St Ouen in Rouen. The young Marcel was a [[child prodigy]]. He entered the [[Paris Conservatoire]] in 1904, where he studied the [[piano]] and [[Organ (music)|organ]]. He studied organ with [[Alexandre Guilmant]] and [[Louis Vierne]], and [[Charles-Marie Widor]]. His studies with Widor also included composition. In 1914, Dupré won the Grand [[Prix de Rome]] for his [[cantata]], ''Psyché''. Twelve years later, he became professor of organ at the [[Paris Conservatoire]], serving until 1954. Among his best-known work were more than 2,000 organ [[recital]]s in [[Europe]], the [[United States]], [[Canada]] and [[Australia]]. In 1920, he played in a series of concerts at the Paris Conservatoire in which he played the complete organ works of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] from [[performing music from memory|memory]]. In 1934, he succeeded Widor as organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, serving until his death. From 1947 to 1954, he was director of the American Conservatory, which was in the [[Château de Fontainebleau]] near Paris. In 1954, Dupré succeeded [[Claude Delvincourt]] (who had been killed in a car crash) as director of the Paris Conservatoire, serving until 1956. He died at the age of 85. ==His playing== Dupré's organ [[recital]]s often included his own work, as well as those of other composers, especially Bach. In the tradition of Widor and Vierne, his compositions included long works in several [[movement (music)|movements]] which he called “symphonies”. When he played in church services he would start by playing composed music which was suitable for the time of year. Then he would improvise, playing complicated [[fu