Thierry Escaich

Thierry Escaich studied at Conservatoire de Paris. Training under Rolande Falcinelli is recorded. Olivier Houette, Fabien Cali and Camille Pépin are recorded as having studied under Thierry Escaich. The recorded working language is French. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Employment is recorded with Conservatoire de Paris.

Born in Nogent-sur-Marne, Escaich studied organ, improvisation and composition at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), where he won eight First Prizes and where he has taught improvisation and composition since 1992. Together with Vincent Warnier, he was appointed organist of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church in Paris in 1996 (succeeding Maurice Duruflé). He tours internationally as a performing artist and composer. His passion for the cinema has led him to improvise on the piano and the organ; he composed music for Frank Borzage's silent film Seventh Heaven, commissioned by the Louvre in 1999. He has written more than one hundred works, and was awarded the Prix des Lycéens (2002), the Grand Prix de la Musique symphonique from the SACEM in 2004, and on three occasions, in 2003, 2006 and 2011, the French Victoires de la Musique Composer of the Year award. Although he composes for the organ (solo pieces, chamber music, two concertos, La Barque solaire [The Sun Boat] for organ and orchestra), Escaich is open to all genres, forms and instruments (piano, saxophone...). He wrote a ballet for the New York City Ballet, The Lost Dancer, which was world-premiered in New York City in May 2010 under the title Why am I not where you are (choreography by Benjamin Millepied, scenic designs by Santiago Calatrava). After being composer in residence with the Orchestre national de Lille, the Orchestre de Bretagne and the Orchestre National de Lyon, he took up his position as associated composer with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris in September 2011. His music is performed by orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra or the Orchestre de Paris, by choirs such as Radio France Choir, the BBC Singers, Sequenza 9.3 and by musicians such as Christoph Eschenbach, Lothar Zagrosek, Jun Märkl, Claire-Marie Le Guay, Paul Meyer, Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Olivier Latry, Iveta Apkalna, David Grimal, Nora Gubisch, John Mark Ainsley, the Trio Dali, the Trio Wanderer and the Quatuor Voce. In 2024, he was appointed one of the head organists at Notre-Dame de Paris upon its reopening.

• Symphony No. 1 (« Kyrie d'une messe imaginaire ») (1992) • Chaconne for large orchestra (2000) • Intrada (2003) • Vertiges de la croix, symphonic poem (2004) • Baroque Song, for small orchestra (2007) • Symphonic Suite from the opera Claude (2014) • Concerto for Orchestra (Symphony No. 2) (2015)

• Émergence (1988) • Erinnerung (2009) • Symphonic Prelude (2012)

• Le Chant des ténèbres (1992) for soprano saxophone and strings • Le Chant des ténèbres (1992) for soprano saxophone and 12 saxophones • Organ Concerto No. 1, for organ and symphony orchestra (1995) • Fantaisia concertante for piano and orchestra (1995) • Elegy for trumpet and instrumental ensemble (1996) • Résurgences, Concerto for trumpet and orchestra (2002) • Miroir d'ombres (Mirror of Shadows), Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (2006) • Organ Concerto No. 2, for organ, string orchestra and two percussionists (2006) • La Barque solaire, symphonic poem for orchestra and principal organ (2008) • Le Chant des ténèbres, version for clarinet and strings (2008) • Violin Concerto (2009) • Fantastic Scherzo for two pianos and orchestra (2011) • Clarinet Concerto (2012) • Cello Concerto (2014) • Concerto for violin, oboe and orchestra (2014) • Organ Concerto No. 3 ("Quatre Visages du temps"), for organ and orchestra (2017) • Le Nuit des Chants, Concerto for viola and orchestra (2018) • Etudes symphoniques, Concerto for piano and orchestra (2023)

• Trois Esquisses (1990) • Cinq Versets sur le « Victimæ paschali » (1991) • Quatrième Esquisse (« Le Cri des abîmes ») (1993) • Récit (1995) • Deux Évocations (1996) • Poèmes (2002) • Agnus Dei (2003) • Évocation III (2008)

• Les Litanies de l'ombre (1990) – piano • Lutte (1994) – saxophone • Jeux de doubles (2001) – piano • Nun komm (2001) – violin • Aria (2002) – piano • Cantus I (2005) – cello • Deux Études baroques (2009) – piano

• Trois Intermezzi (1990) for flute, clarinet and saxophone • Comme l'écho d'une fantaisie (1992) for 2 cornetts and organ (without pedal) • Introït à l'Office des ténèbres (1992) for flute and blue harp (or piano) • Psalmodie à l'Office des ténèbres (1992) for flute, blue harp and percussion • Scènes d'enfants au crépuscule (1993) for flute, cello and piano • Trio américain (« Suppliques ») (1994) pour clarinet, alto and piano • Trois Instants fugitifs (1994) for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon • Variations gothiques (1996) for flute and string trio • Nocturne (1997) for cello and piano • Tanz-Fantasie (1997) for trumpet and piano • Ground I (avant 1998) for accordion and euphonium • Chorus (1998) for clarinet, string quartet and piano • La Ronde (2000) for string quartet and piano • Tanz-Fantasie (2000) for trumpet and organ • Choral's Dream (2001) for piano and organ • Scènes de bal (2001) for string quartet • Spring's Dance (2001) for 2 pianos and percussion • Le Bal (2003) for 4 saxophones • Lettres mêlées (2003) for violin, cello and piano • Après l'aurore (2005) for string quartet • Una storia (2005) for violin, alto, cello, clarinet, percussions and piano • Mechanic Song (2006) for wind quintet and piano • Ground II (2007) for organ and percussions • Ground III (2008) for 4 cellos • Phantasia antiqua (2009) for 2 saxophones and piano

• Antiennes oubliées (1989) for violin, cello, flute, saxophone in E b, trumpet, trombone and percussion • Rhapsodie (1989) for clarinet, bassoon, cornet, trombone, violin, double bass and percussion. • Magic Circus (2004) for wind octet • Fanfare (2006) for brass ensemble

• Ad ultimas laudes (1993) • Les Lamentations (du prophète Jérémie) (1998) • Alléluias (2001) • Dixit Dominus (2002) • Sanctus (2007) • Vocis cælestis (2009)

• Grande Messe solennelle (1994) • Trois Motets (1998) • Le Dernier Évangile (1999) • D'une douleur muette (2001) • Terra desolata (2001) • In memoriam (2002) • Visions nocturnes (2004) for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, string quartet and piano • Exultet (2005) • Feu vert (2005) • Valse désarticulée (2008) for soprano and saxophone • Les Nuits hallucinées (2008) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra • Madre (2010) for soprano and piano • Alléluias pro omni tempore (2010) • Guernesey (2010), for tenor and piano (poems by Victor Hugo) • Te Deum pour Notre-Dame (2025) for children's choir, two mixed choirs and orchestra

• The Lost Dancer (2010), ballet • Claude (2012/2013), libretto written by Robert Badinter • Point-d'Orgue (2021), libretto written by Olivier Py

• "Elle disait..." (2008) • "Maintenant, j'ai grandi" (2008)

• Seventh Heaven (1999), music for the silent movies by Frank Borzage for clarinet, violin, alto, cello, piano and percussions

• Choral varié (en hommage à Jean-Sébastien Bach) (1984) for junior orchestra • Suite en forme de choral varié (1990) for junior orchestra • Tango virtuoso (1991) for 4 saxophones • Énigme (1992) for double bass and piano • Huit Pièces (1993) for saxophone and piano • Amélie's Dream (1997) for saxophone en mi b and piano • Variations-Études (2002) for piano • Tango virtuoso (2005) for 4 clarinets • Sax Trip (2006) for alto saxophone and junior string orchestra • Étude-Passacaille (2009) for piano