In JEHAN ALAIN‘s (1911-1940)
compositional oeuvre, his organ works occupy a central position. Following his studies at the "Conservatoire National Supérieur" in Paris, where he received first prizes in harmony, fugue, counterpoint, organ and improvisation and where André Bloch, Georges Caussade, Jean Roger-Ducasse, Paul Dukas and Marcel
Dupré were among his teachers, he was appointed 1935 as organist at a Catholic church in the Paris region and also played organ regularly in the "Temple Israélite" in Paris. His fruitful compositional output, which includes more than 140 compositions for piano, orchestra, vocal and chamber music, but especially for organ, came to an abrupt end in 1940 when he died on the battlefield of World War II.
As organist of the "Temple Israélite" in the Rue Notre-Dame de Nazareth, the oldest surviving synagogue in Paris, Jehan Alain recorded 1938 an LP with an improvisation entitled L'Année Liturgique Israélite, an improvisation sketch by Jehan Alain's sister Marie-Claire - herself an internationally famous concert organist and organ teacher. It was completed based on the recording and was published 1996 by the Leduc music publishing house. The annual cycle of Jewish festivals is represented as follows: Passover, Shavuoth, Purim, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkoth, Hanukkah, Passover.
