François-Xavier Darasse

# - Work in Progress -

Xavier Darasse in the 1970s

Conservatoire de Toulouse

Basilique Saint-Sernin, Toulouse *(organiste titulaire et émérite)*

Association des amis de l'orgue

**François-Xavier Darasse** *(born 3 September 1934, Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Occitanie - died 24 November 1992 ibid.)* was a French contemporary classical composer, musicologist, concert organist, pianist, technician, and pedagogue who was organ professor at the Conservatoire de Toulouse (also founder of its organ class, 1966-1985) and Conservatoire de Lyon (1985-1991) and director of the Conservatoire de Paris (1991-1992), in addition to being organiste titulaire of the grand organ of Saint-Sernin. Additionally, from 1962 to 1975, he was in charge of musical performances for ORTF and Radio France. From 1972 to 1976, he also was a regular guest at the *Académies d’été de Saint Maximin*.

Xavier Darasse, as he is more popularly known, was born into a family of musicians who lived in the city of Toulouse. At the age of 16, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris and won numerous prizes from Maurice-Gustave Duruflé, Rolande Ginabat-Falcinelli, Jean Rivier, and Olivier Messiæn.

Darasse carried a short but great career and was one of the most unique of the 20th-century organ contemporaryists, as he listened to the organ in a way unique from many of his other colleagues--he was also a friend of Iannis Xenakis and Antoine Tisné and numerous other contemporaryists; while also working on research regarding theory and organbuilding. A very humble and well-mannered man, he was also a legendary concert organist, with his rich repertoire spanning from the 16th to the 20th centuries, having had a career in which he toured Europe, the Americas, and Asia; and as an organologist he was able to create a revival and spread of awareness of Toulousain organs by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and the Puget family; this heavily contributed to the recognition of Toulouse as one of the most important cities of organs in the world.

In 1976, he lost his right arm in a car accident, though the arm was reattached afterwards (he was never able to fully relearn how to use it through redeveloping his motor skills, however). This caused Darasse to permanently stop working as an organist (though he was able to be an organist emeritus at Saint-Sernin) and focus on composition and teaching organ technique, where his students included Jean Boyer, Kimberly Marshall, Francis Vidil, Bernard Foccroulle, and Jan Willem Jansen, among others.

He was appointed Director of the Paris Conservatory and died of cancer in 1992. His legacy lives through the *Toulouse les Orgues* festival and association, which organise an organ competition and *prix d'orgue* bearing his name every three years (which he founded in 1981, renamed after his passing). In addition to this, a street in his hometown got its name changed to *Rue Xavier Darasse*, and a fountain (also in Toulouse) was rededicated in his memory in the year after his death.

Some of the most notable works from Darasse's great array of compositions consist of the renowned *Organum* series for organ, as well as a mass for 4 mixed voices, *L´Instant d´après* for 23 wind instruments, *Trio à cordes*, and an unfinished opera based on Oscar Wilde's novel *A Picture of Dorian Gray*. He was also known for composing chamber and vocal music.

## Biography

### Youth and conservatoire years

François Xavier Darasse, the only child of Marius Jean-Joseph Darasse (11 June 1906 - 22 August 1986) and Renée Marie-Félicie Laroyenne (18 June 1904 - ?/?/?), was born at 06:30 on 3 September 1934 in his parents' home in Toulouse, the capital of Occitanie. The child was a namesake of the Catholic missionary and saint Francis Xavier.[1]

Laroyenne (known as "Madame Darasse"), who was an organist who studied with Marcel Dupré, first instructed the young Xavier in piano and later in organ. The Darasses themselves were a musical family, and upon noticing the musical talents of their child, sent the teenage Darasse (who was 16 in 1950) to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he enrolled in:

* Maurice-Gustave Duruflé's harmony and counterpoint class
* Rolande Ginabat-Falcinelli's organ and improvisation class
* Jean Rivier's composition class
* Olivier Messiæn's class of harmonic and musical analysis.

In these classes he was able to secure numerous first prizes. He was also actively encouraged by his mother to take up organ as a career due to his great potential and determination. However, he briefly returned to Toulouse after graduating.