Louis Vierne

Vierne, Louis(-Victor-Jules)
(b Poitiers, 8 Oct 1870; d Paris, 2 June 1937). French organist and composer.

Born blind with a congenital cataract condition, Vierne's sight was partially restored at the age of six and he was able to recognize people, see objects at a short distance and read large type at close range. At the age of six he began the study of solfège and piano. In 1880 the family moved to Paris from Lille (where they had lived because of his father's work as a journalist) and the following year the young Vierne was enrolled as a boarding student in the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles. There he pursued a plan of general studies that also included solfège, harmony, piano and violin. César Franck, who often served on juries at the school, advised him to study the organ and in the autumn of 1886 Vierne began lessons with Louis Lebel. From 1888 Vierne studied harmony privately with Franck and attended his organ class at the Paris Conservatoire. He entered the organ class as a full-time student either in October 1890 (as Vierne states in his memoirs) or in January 1891 (according to Widor's class notes). Franck died in November of that year and was succeeded by Widor. Within a year Vierne was serving as Widor's assistant at the Conservatoire, teaching the auditors, and from 1892 was Widor's substitute at St Sulpice. After four years in the organ class he won a first prize in July 1894.