Organ Symphony No.3

Historical context

Vierne wrote his Third Organ Symphony, in F-sharp minor, in 1911 - he began it on 18 March and finished it on 14 September - and dedicated it to his most brilliant pupil, Marcel Dupré, who gave the première at the Salle Gaveau in 1912. Cast in five tautly built movements, it is often reckoned the finest of his six symphonies.

The closing Final lays the rushing ostinato of the French toccata over a slow bass melody and drives it, through genuine counterpoint and a thundering augmented pedal line, to a blazing close. It remains, with the Carillon de Westminster, among the Vierne pieces most often chosen to end a recital.

Drawn from public reference sources (Wikipedia, standard organ-repertoire references).