Edouard Commette

Édouard Commette (Lyon, 12 April 1883–21 April 1967) was an organist from Lyon in France of international fame who served the Archdiocese of Lyon and was organist at Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière for over 50 years. Place Édouard Commette at the foot of the hill on which the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is built is named in his honour.[2] A student of Charles Widor and Victor Neuville,[3] his recordings were known worldwide,[4] and he was also known as a composer of accessible and tuneful organ music in his own right.

Born in Lyon in the center of the silk manufacturing district where his father was an exporter, Edouard studied piano at the lycée of Bourg-en-Bresse, after which he returned to Lyon and turned his attention to organ and harmony. A pupil of Charles Marie Widor, in 1900 he made his debut as organist in Lyon at the Church of the Good Shepherd (Église du Bon-Pasteur). Four years later he spent six months at the Church of Saint Polycarpe (Église Saint-Polycarpe), which owns one of the loveliest organs in the city.

He took up his post at Lyon Cathedral in 1904 and was a professor at the Conservatoire de Lyon. Called "the best French organist" by the well-known music critic fr:Émile Vuillermoz, Commette earned similar tributes from his students and listeners from all parts of the world and is responsible for some of the earliest organ recordings. "These – 78s, of course – were intended for a local market: their world-wide success amazed the modest M. Commette."

The organ of Lyon Cathedral was built by fr:Daublaine Callinet and was installed in 1841 at the end of the apse and had 15 stops. It was rebuilt in 1875 by Merklin-Schütze and given 30 stops, three keyboards of 54 notes and pedals for 27.