Léonce de Saint-Martin

Léonce Marie-Joseph, Comte de Saint-Martin-de-Paylha (31 October 1886 – 10 June 1954) was a French organist and composer. He served as titular organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1937 until his death. Biography He was born in Albi, Tarn, into an aristocratic family. One of his distant relatives was Louis Claude de Saint-Martin. In 1937 he succeeded Louis Vierne as organist at Notre-Dame de Paris, having previously been Vierne’s assistant for 17 years. He held the post until his death in 1954. Saint-Martin was heavily attacked for his appointment to Notre Dame by the Cathedral chapter, since it was done without competition. Saint-Martin was also mainly self-taught, and did not enter the conservatory, and thus was deemed to be an amateur organist. These accusations were easily seen to be false by eye-witnesses, such as Pierre Cochereau, who took Saint-Martin’s place as titular organist after the latter’s death. An example of his fine skill can be seen in his organ compositions, filled with emotional and spiritual writing. Saint-Martin was also a pious man, as he stated “but whatever the Good Lord wills is fine by me” concerning his death. His virtuosity can be seen by the fact that