Saint-Martin, Léonce de (1932): Messe en Mi pour deux orgues, chœur, et cuivres, op. 13 — Sartorius

Composer: Léonce Marie-Joseph, Comte de Saint-Martin-de-Paylha (31 October 1886 - 10 June 1954)
Choir: Chœur de la Cathédrale de Versailles
Choirmaster: Abbé Amaury Sartorius
Grand Organist: Christian Ott (born 1968), organiste cotitulaire
Choir Organist: Marie-Christine Steinmetz (born 1952/1953)
Grand Organ: Louis-Alexandre & François-Henri Clicquot (1759-1761), Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1863); Cathédrale Saint Louis, Versailles
Choir Organ: John Abbey (1837), Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1880); Cathédrale Saint Louis, Versailles

00:00 - Introduction
00:12 - I. Kyrie (Mi mineur). Maestoso
03:21 - II. Gloria (Ré majeur). Très calme - Grandioso
08:01 - III. Sanctus (Sol majeur). Maestoso
10:32 - IV. Interlude de grand orgue pour l'Élévation (Sol majeur). Infiniment calme
13:32 - V. Benedictus (Sol majeur). Même mouvement
15:18 - VI. Agnus Dei (Mi majeur). Très calme

The brass are ad libitum (optional). In the full score, they are not included and are instead used as doublers.

Léonce de Saint-Martin wrote this Mass in E minor for two organs (a grand organ on the nave and a smaller in the quire), mixed choir (Soprani, Tenori, Alti, Bassi), and brass (three trumpets and three trombones) ad libitum from 1931 to 1932. It was published by the Procure générale de clergé - Musique sacrée the following year as the composer's opus 13 and is dedicated to his 'dear friend Abbé Merret, maître de chapelle of Notre Dame de Paris'. The piece, inspired by the Messe solenelle of his predecessor Louis Vierne (1870-1937), also lacks a Credo (which the latter does); effectively making it a Missa brevis.
The choir sing in either four parts, and on occasion a soloist performs.
Information about the composer is as follows:

Léonce Marie-Joseph, Comte de Saint-Martin-de-Paylha (born 31 October 1886, Albi, Tarn - died 10 June 1954, Paris, Île-de-France) was a French nobleman who is primarily known as a virtuoso church and concert organist and composer. He was the temporary organist of the Moucherel-Isnard-Puget organ of the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia in Albi from 1900 to 1937 and titular organist of the Notre-Dame-de-Paris cathedral from 1938 to 1954, succeeding his friend and teacher Louis Vierne.
The Saint-Martin family originated from the Ariège region of the Pyrenees and were of Spanish descent; the wealthy aristocratic family consisted of many generals and politicians who played an important role in French politics from the nineteenth century. The son of Jeanne Rouaïs (18??-1???), a pianist and housewife, and count Lucien Louis Henri de Saint-Martin-de-Paylha (1852-1???), he was one of three children. He had an early interest in music and began taking organ lessons at the age of nine and piano lessons under his mother at the age of four.
Saint-Martin was often criticised in his lifetime and rarely ever praised due to his sudden accession to the organ loft of Notre-Dame, his lack of experience and much more, despite being a virtuoso. Though he was a substitute for some time, Vierne's will dictated that a competition would be held to find his successor which was not held. The reluctant appointment of Saint-Martin by the cathedral caused widespread protests and outrage in the organ world even though he was considered by a few parties to be a great player.
He had very few friends in the organ world and was an "outcast" to the rest of Parisian society (these comments still persist today due to his obscurity). His best friend, Marcel Dupré, regularly supported him and kept his career alive while the rest of the scene scorned him. His legacy remains in many compositions which have emotional and virtuosic character and is unfortunately often underlooked, being overshadowed by his predecessor Vierne and his successor Pierre Cochereau.
As a virtuoso, he was impeccable and had been the second person to play Dupré's Trois préludes et fugues op. 7, contradicting Charles-Marie Widor's comment about them being "unplayable". It must be remarked that he was self-taught, though he did have a few private lessons with Louis Vierne, and did not enter any conservatories whatsoever.
A pious man, numerous themes which are very obviously influenced by his Roman Catholic faith appear in his works. An association called "Les Amis de Léonce de Saint-Martin" exists in his memory which was founded in 1963.
His title of "Count" was purely ceremonial and hereditary. He did not occupy any political positions nor govern any territories, even then he was not interested in law nor politics.

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