Pierre Segond

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pierre Segond (1982) while visiting the organ of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Freiburg with his class at the Geneva Conservatory
The main organ in St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva , where Pierre Segond worked as titular organist from 1942 to 1994
The Geneva Conservatory :
Pierre Segond worked here as a music teacher for 45 years

Pierre Segond ( 8. February 1913 in Geneva ; † 2. May 2000 ) was a Swiss organist , pianist and music teacher who over 50 years as organist at the Geneva St. Pierre Cathedral and 45 years as a professor at the Geneva Conservatory worked and had a lasting influence on the musical life of the region during this time.

Life

Pierre Segond was born in February 1913 as the son of pastor Albert-Auguste-Henri Segond (1877–1963) and his wife Augusta Lasserre (1974–1948) in Geneva, where he grew up with four siblings. He is a great-grandson of the theologian Louis Segond .

From 1932 to 1934 he took lessons from Henri Gagnebin , William Montillet and Alexandre Mottu at the Geneva Conservatory , where he obtained degrees in the subjects of organ and piano . He then studied at the Conservatory in Paris with Jean Roger-Ducasse and Marcel Dupré , graduating in 1938 with a first prize.

After winning the organ competition at St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva, Segond was appointed titular organist of Geneva Cathedral in 1942 at the age of 29, succeeding Otto Barblan . He held this office for 52 years until he handed it over to his former student Thilo Muster in 1994 . After there were hardly any organ concerts in the cathedral under his predecessor Barblan, Segond initiated the new Société des Concerts Spirituels concert series between 1942 and 1964 , to which he invited well-known organists. However, the 1907 organ in Geneva Cathedral was in poor condition and Segond was able to convince the church authorities to have a new instrument built. After the inauguration of the new organ by the organ building company Metzler & Sons in 1965, the concerts took place under the title Les Concerts de la Cathédrale and Les Concerts de St. Pierre .

As a classical organist, Segond gave numerous concerts in Switzerland and other European countries. He mainly played organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach and other old masters, but also compositions by César Franck , works by his friend and fellow student Jehan Alain and his other contemporaries Jean Langlais , Gaston Litaize and Olivier Messiaen . “Because I was Swiss,” he said, “I was seen as a link. In Germany I liked playing French music and in France I interpreted the great Germans. " Segond also composed smaller pieces for organ and piano himself. The International Organ Competition as part of the Early Music Festival in Bruges , he was a member of the 1976 jury .

From 1940 to 1985 Segond worked as a music teacher at the Geneva Conservatory. There he introduced the teaching methods of the Paris Conservatory. He was the teacher of several generations of organists, mainly from French-speaking Switzerland . His students include Guy Bovet , Lionel Rogg , Jean-François Vaucher , his two successors in the office of titular organist at St. Peter, Thilo Muster and François Delor , and the Japanese Kei Koito , who lives in Switzerland .

In addition to his work as an organist, Segond also held the office of municipal carilloneur at Geneva Cathedral for 50 years between 1944 and 1994 . After Roger Vuataz (1888–1988), Segond was only the second Carilloneur at St. Peter's Cathedral. Even at an advanced age, he climbed the 150 steps four times a year to dutifully sound the 18 bells of the carillon. Since 1933 the respective carillonneur has been obliged to play the carillon on the following days of commemoration and festivities on behalf of the city of Geneva (owner of the carillon and responsible for its maintenance):

Pierre Segond, like his predecessor, found his final resting place in the office of titular organist of the cathedral, Otto Barblan, in the Cimetière des Rois cemetery in Geneva .

Pierre Segond was a great-grandson of the theologian and Bible translator Louis Segond . He had been married to the organist and music teacher Andrée Clara Brousoz since 1940.

Honors

  • Two new bells of the Carillons were dedicated to Pierre Segond in 1986.
  • In 1987, the city of Geneva honored Pierre Segond with the Prix ​​Culture et Société de la Ville de Genève .
  • Since 2006, the city of Geneva has awarded the Prix ​​Pierre Segond, named after Segond, to an outstanding organ student at the Geneva Conservatory .

Publications

  • Pierre Segond: "Le carillon". La musique à Saint-Pierre. Fondation des Clefs de Saint-Pierre, Geneva 1984, pp. 252-257.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Antonio Baldassarre: Segond, Pierre. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Jean-Charles Boegli: Les Concerts de la Cathédrale - Les anciens organistes. In: concerts-cathedrale.ch. Retrieved October 22, 2017 (French).
  3. ↑ Jean-Daniel Candaux: Les concerts in Saint-Pierre , concerts-cathedrale.ch, accessed on 23 October 2017. (French)
  4. ^ A b Jean-Charles Boegli: Les Concerts de la Cathédrale - Les anciens organistes. In: concerts-cathedrale.ch. Retrieved October 22, 2017 (French).
  5. ^ A b Jean-Jacques Roth: L'école d'orgue genevoise perd l'artisan de son renouveau. Obituary, Le Temps , letemps.ch, May 3, 2000, accessed on October 23, 2017. (French)
  6. ^ A b Report of the Commission for Art and Culture of the City of Geneva on the application for the establishment of the Prix ​​Pierre Segond . In: ville-geneve.ch. April 27, 2006, accessed October 23, 2017 (French).
  7. ↑ a b Archives of the City of Geneva: Carillon de la Cathédral Saint-Pierre , Geneva 1999, (.pdf file, French)
  8. ^ Prix ​​Culture et Société de la Ville de Genève. In: ville-geneve.ch. June 21, 2017, accessed October 22, 2017 (French).
predecessor Office successor
Otto Barblan Titular organist at St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva
1942–1994 		Thilo pattern
personal data
SURNAME Segond, Pierre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Segone, Pierre; Segon, Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss organist, pianist and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva
DATE OF DEATH May 2, 2000
Place of death Geneva