Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era. As a composer he is known for his ten organ symphonies, especially the toccata of his fifth organ symphony, which is frequently played as recessional music at weddings and other celebrations. He was the longest-serving organist of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, a role he held for 63 years (January 1870 – 31 December 1933). He also was organ professor at the Paris Conservatory from 1890 to 1896 (following César Franck) and then he became professor of composition at the same institution, following Théodore Dubois. Widor was a prolific composer, writing music for organ, piano, voice and ensembles. Apart from his ten organ symphonies, he also wrote three symphonies for orchestra and organ, several songs for piano and voice, four operas and a ballet. He was one of the first composers to use the term "symphony" for some of his organ compositions, helped in this by the organs built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Lyon (city of France), Died March 12, 1937 (16th arrondissement of Paris (one of the 20 administrative districts of Paris, France) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1904 - 1939
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, arranger
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | B-1390 | 10-in. | 6/1/1904 | Tantum ergo | William F. Hooley | Male vocal solo, with organ | composer | |
| Victor | C-6200 | 12-in. | 5/18/1908 | Le marriage des roses | Emilio de Gogorza | Baritone vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
| Victor | C-12840 | 12-in. | 1/24/1913 | Serenade | Tollefsen Trio | Instrumental trio | composer | |
| Victor | B-21305 | 10-in. | 12/26/1917 | Sérenáde | Cherniavsky Trio | Instrumental trio | composer | |
| Victor | C-21305 | 12-in. | 12/26/1917 | Sérenáde | Cherniavsky Trio | Instrumental trio | composer | |
| Victor | B-32410 | 10-in. | 4/10/1925 | Ave Maria | Mrs. Hugh Ward | Female vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
| Victor | CS-04012 | 12-in. | 1/10/1937 | The Passion of our Lord according to St. Matthew : Finale | Charles M. Courboin | Organ solo | arranger | |
| Victor | CS-04013 | 12-in. | 1/10/1937 | The Passion of our Lord according to St. Matthew : Finale | Charles M. Courboin | Organ solo | arranger | |
| Columbia | 46162 | 10-in. | 10/27/1915 | Serenade | Columbia Instrumental Quartette | Instrumental quartet | composer | |
| Columbia | 46232 | 10-in. | 12/2/1915 | Serenade | Trio de Lutece | Instrumental trio | composer | |
| Columbia | 6898 | 12-in. | approximately 1916 | Sérénade | William Murdoch ; Albert Sammons ; W. H. Squire | Piano trio | composer | |
| Columbia | 76975 | 12-in. | 5/8/1923 | Sérénade | Arthur Catterall ; William Murdoch ; W. H. Squire | Piano trio | composer | |
| Brunswick | 3593-3594 | 10-in. | approximately January 1920 | Serenade | Elshuco Trio | Instrumental trio | composer | |
| Edison | 2811 | 10-in. | February 1914 | Sérénade | Gruppe Trio | Instrumental trio | composer | |
| Gramophone | BR186 | 10-in. | 3/3/1926 | Toccata in F | Reginald Goss-Custard | Organ solo | composer | |
| Gramophone | CR880 | 12-in. | 3/30/1927 | Symphony no. 4 : Andante cantabile | Guy Weitz | Organ solo | composer | |
| Gramophone | 2EA7398 | 12-in. | 3/17/1939 | Sérenáde | Clifford Greenwood ; London Palladium Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
| Columbia (U.K.) | WBX1318 | 12-in. | approximately 9/22/1933 | Toccata per organo | Banda dei Metropolitani di Roma | Band | composer | |
| Columbia (U.K.) | WFX217 | 12-in. | approximately July 1929 | Non credo | Jo Vincent | Female vocal solo, with organ | composer | |
| Columbia (U.K.) | WL1490 | 10-in. | 3/5/1929 | Vieille chanson du jeune temps | Élie Cohen ; Lucien Fugère | Baritone vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
| Columbia (U.K.) | WL1608 | 10-in. | 4/18/1929 | Scherzo de la 2e symphonie : La chasse | Édouard Commette | Organ solo | composer | |
| Columbia (U.K.) | WL1609 | 10-in. | 4/18/1929 | Toccata | Édouard Commette | Organ solo | composer | |
| Columbia (U.K.) | WL1610 | 10-in. | 4/18/1929 | Toccata | Édouard Commette | Organ solo | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Widor, Charles-Marie," accessed December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103608.
Widor, Charles-Marie. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103608.
"Widor, Charles-Marie." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Charles‐Marie Widor
Discogs: Charles-Marie Widor
Grove: Charles-Marie Widor
IMSLP: Charles-Marie Widor
RILM: Charles-Marie Widor
RISM: Charles-Marie Widor
IMDb: Charles-Marie Widor
Britannica: Charles-Marie Widor
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Widor, Charles-Marie, 1844-1937 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82056910
Wikidata: Charles‐Marie Widor - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q215161
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/29719688
MusicBrainz: Charles‐Marie Widor - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b1cf260d-0862-4e1b-91b8-7da537130261
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/91175 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/91175
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