LEFEBURE-WELY: Les Cloches du Monastère, for piano & harmonium

Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély (1817-1869) served as titular organist in the Parisian churches of St. Roch, La Madeleine and St. Sulpice. A popular recitalist and prolific composer, he wrote music for reed organs throughout his career. In the early 1850s, he wrote “Les Cloches du Monastère” (The Monastery Bells) as a salon piece for piano solo; it was wildly popular and was one of his musical calling cards. Alfred Lebeau, another Parisian composer and harmoniumiste, arranged it as a duet for harmonium and piano in the 1870s. (Both versions are now available on IMSLP.) Performed here by Mark Bruce, playing an antique Steinway grand piano, and Michael Hendron, playing a 4-rank harmonium built by Bertheaux Frères, in the Belleville neighborhood of Paris. The harmonium was restored by my friend Jim Tyler. Recorded in concert at Bethany United Methodist Church in San Francisco, 14 July 2019.