Théodore Dubois (1837 – 1924) won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1861. He succeeded Saint-Saëns as organist of La Madeleine in Paris. He taught at the Paris Conservatoire from 1971 and became director from 1896 to 1905. His music output includes ballet, oratorios and three symphonies. He wrote numerous pieces for organ and harmonium. The Prelude in C Minor is the first of his set of Sept Pièces published in 1898.
The work is rather solemn and in ternary form with delicate episodes on the Swell. The final page is a contrast in C Major.
The organ I am playing upon was built by the American organ builder, MP Möller in 1929. Möller was the most prolific organ building firm numbering over 11,00o organs between the 19th and 20th centuries. This pipework of this instrument is entirely enclosed except for the Pedal Bourdon rank. The 5 ranks Swell is duplexed from the Great, the latter having an Open Diapason and Octave stops in addition to the other 5 ranks. There is a full complement of couplers at unison and sub-octave. There is an abundance of 8’ tone with the string stops being particularly distinctive.
