Litaize, Gaston

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Litaize, Gaston

Litaize, Gaston, blind French organist, pedagogue, and composer; b. Ménil-sur-Belvitte, Vosges, Aug. 11, 1909; d. Says, Vosges, Aug. 5, 1991. Following initial training at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris (1926–31), he pursued his studies at the Paris Cons. with Dupré (organ), Caussade (fugue), Büsser (composition), and Emmanuel (music history), taking premiers prix for organ and improvisation (1931), fugue (1933), and composition (1937). In 1938 he won the Second Prix de Rome and the Prix Rossini with his musical legende Fra Diavolo. From 1946 he served as organist at St.-François-Xavier in Paris, and he also made tours as a recitalist in Europe and abroad. He was a prof. at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles. Among his works were various organ pieces and a number of vocal works, including a Missa solemnior (1954), a Missa Virgo gloriosa (1959), and a Messe solennelle en français (1966).

Bibliography

S. Duran, G. L.: 1909–1991: Un vosgien aux doigts de lumière (Metz, 1996).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire