updated 7 September 2017
© Marie Rolland

Thierry Escaich

French composer, organist, and improvisor born 8 May 1965 in Nogent-sur-Marne.

Thierry Escaich was born in France in 1965 and began practicing improvisation as a child. He began studying music at the Conservatoire de Rosny-sous-Bois and then at the Conservatoire de Montreuil before enrolling in the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP). From 1983 to 1990, he received highest honors in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, organ, improvisation, analysis, composition, and orchestration.

He has taught music theory and improvisation at the CNSMDP since 1992. In 1997, he was appointed as the official organist of the Church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont in Paris, the successor to Maurice Duruflé. He also performs internationally as a professional organist.

He frequently accompanies silent films, which are a passion of his, on the piano or organ. In 1999, the Louvre commissioned him to compose an accompanying score for the Frank Borzage film L’Heure suprême.

From his earliest compositions, such as Antiennes oubliées for small ensemble (1989) or Esquisses for organ (1990), which won the André Jolivet Composition Prize, Escaich’s music draws its inspiration from centuries of sacred music and in particular from Gregorian plainsong: Cinq versets sur le « Victimae Paschali » for organ (1991), Première Symphonie, « Kyrie d’une messe imaginaire » (1992).

Today, his catalogue includes some hundred works. Escaich has written extensively for his own instrument, including solo pieces and for ensemble and orchestra, including two organ concertos, (the first from 1995 and the second from 2006), in addition to La Barque solaire (2008) and Études-Chorals (2010). He also composes for a variety of other formations and genres, from works for solo instruments to chamber and symphonic pieces, from the intimate Choral’s Dream (2003) for organ and piano, or his brief Scènes de bal (2001) for string quartet, to vast compositions such as his Première Symphonie (1992), Le Dernier Évangile, an oratorio for double choir, organ, and orchestra (1999), Chaconne (2000) and Vertiges de la croix (2004) for orchestra, or Les Nuits hallucinées for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (2008).

Escaich has served as composer-in-residence to the Orchestre National de Lille and the Orchestre de Bretagne, as well as the Orchestre National de Lyon (2007). His Concerto for violon, dedicated to David Grimal, premiered in 2009; The Lost Dancer, written for the New York City Ballet, premiered in May 2010; Questions de vie…, a choir composition commissioned by Radio France, premiered in March 2011. His first opera, Claude, with a libretto by Robert Badinter, based on the Victor Hugo short story Claude Gueux and directed by Olivier Py, premiered at the Opéra de Lyon in March 2013. His Concerto for orchestra premiered in a performance by the Orchestre de Paris in 2015 for the inaugural concert of the Philharmonie de Paris. Cris, an oratorio with a libretto based on the eponymous novel by Laurent Gaudé, premiered in 2016 as part of commemorative events for the centenary of the Battle of Verdun in a performance by Pierre Val, Les Cris de Paris, the Trio K/D/M and the Nomos ensemble, conducted by Geoffroy Jourdain.

Escaich has received many awards and honors, including the 2002 Grand Prix des Lycéens and four Victoire de la musique classique Awards in the composers’ category (2003, 2006, 2011, and 2017). In 2013, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France.


© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2017

Sources

  • Universal Edition ;
  • Éditions Billaudot ;
  • Claire Delamarche.

By Inès Taillandier-Guittard

Reminiscences

Thierry Escaich does not claim to belong to a particular school or aesthetic, whether contemporary or older. On the contrary, his works are imbued with references to a wide range of musical genres and styles, from Renaissance polyphony to French chanson, plainchant, Middle Eastern music, and jazz, as well as to great figures from the classical repertoire, including Claude Debussy, Béla Bartók, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and William Byrd. These are less aesthetic affiliations than an inexhaustible reservoir of themes, languages, forms, writings — in a phrase, musical universes — that he evokes, associates, confronts, fuses, and transforms.1 Escaich refuses to resort to the simple act of quotation. Referring to the various motifs that pepper the score of Le dernier Évangile, he explains:

If they appear in the course of the oratorio as a function of the symbolic force they contain, they are from the outset integrated into my own thematic material, my own language, and in no way take on the aspect of quotations.2

For example, the descending chromatic bass — a well-known Baroque figure he employs repeatedly — becomes an element of his own compositional language.

Moreover, many of these quotations are imaginary. Although Gregorian antiphons abound in Escaich’s vocal and instrumental works, such as the sequence “victimae paschali laudes” in the Five Verses on the “Victimae paschali” or the last of the Trois instants fugitifs, some of the plainchant-like melodies are clearly pastiche. Examples are in the Fantaisie concertante, the second Évocation, the Scènes d’enfants au crépuscule, the Antiennes oubliées, and the first of his Trois motets. Moreover, the authentic historical themes he uses are almost always systematically distorted. One such instance is in the second movement of his Organ Concerto No. 1. Listeners may recognize the melodic profile of the Sanctus from the Requiem, but Escaich changes the original melody’s intervals.

While thematic borrowing is one of the main vectors of the process of reminiscence that Escaich uses, the use of ancient instruments and techniques represent another. Terra desolata, for example, is written for four solo singers and a Baroque ensemble. Ground V, Claude, and Jeux de doubles reveal prominent traces of pre-tonal modality. Baroque ornamental motifs appear in the Second Organ Concerto, the first Évocation, Ground VI, and Mecanic Song.

Moreover, while Escaich often uses music of the past to inspire his work, he is also interested in other kinds of music, including popular (for example, La Ronde) and non-European. What he borrows from these other traditions is their rhythmic freedom, scales, and ornamentation. The coexistence of these a priori irreconcilable worlds is also reflected in his use of unconventional instruments or unusual combinations of instruments, such as accordion (an instrument Escaich himself plays), euphonium in Ground I, and cello and tap dancing in Sopra la Folia.

Escaich’s continuous transformation of pre-existing materials, languages, and themes also applies to his own works: it is not uncommon for several versions of his pieces to exist, not only as transcriptions, but also as re-compositions. For example, Le Bal for saxophone quartet, premiered in 2003, is a reconfiguration of his Scènes de bal (2001) for string quartet. He also took certain thematic elements of Dixit Dominus from his Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah and Ad ultimas laudes. He derived Erinnerung (for string orchestra) from his string quartet Après l’aurore. And in his Claude, one can recognize the ostinato from the fourth movement of his Scènes de bal.

For Escaich, composition is ultimately a process of reappropriating a form of otherness, whether a distant object — a vestige of the past — or a foreign one, giving rise to a musical object that is both hybrid and unified. The image of stained glass, which Escaich invokes several times in his notes,3 perfectly conveys this dialectic between heterogeneity and homogeneity.

Forms and meanings

It should now be clear that what lies at the heart of Escaich’s compositional practice is the metamorphosis, development, dissolution, and elaboration of invented and borrowed themes.

It is no coincidence, then, that Escaich pursues the Beethovenian idea of organic form.4 Many of his works feature two or more antagonistic themes. These can allude to either different musical universes (e.g., the traditional children’s song “À la claire fontaine” and the Dies irae in Scènes d’enfants au crepuscule), or to antithetical qualities (legato vs. staccato, long vs. short values, strings vs. woodwinds). The first movement of Lettres mêlées illustrates this process. The first theme, “Implacable,” is made up of a series of notes, B, R, A, H, M, S (B-flat, D, A, B-natural, F, E), stated in staccato octaves on the piano with forte dynamics. As its dominance gradually weakens, fragments of a legato second theme, characterized by dotted rhythms and Brahmsian pianistic writing, burst in like a memory, suddenly disrupting the linearity of the present time.

The tension between contradictory musical elements and, often, their superimposition or gradual fusion, are two of Escaich’s favorite formal motivations. The elements themselves are never fixed in a definitive form; subject to perpetual evolution, they appear under multiple and changing aspects. It is therefore easy to see why one of the forms Escaich favors is the theme and variations (similar to the chaconne during the Baroque period), with either a ground (an unyielding bass with variations) or a double [an ornamented form of the melody over an unchanged harmony], both of which entail a process of rewriting. However, Escaich does not necessarily give the theme in extenso and in its “original” form at the beginning of a piece. There is, in fact, typically neither an original nor a finished form in his work. Phrases are progressively constructed or deconstructed, from motif to phrase and phrase to motif. Examples of this process include the first of the Trois instants fugitifs, the first movement of the Organ Concerto No. 1, the Variations-Études, and the first Évocation. This way of forging and dissolving themes, of subjecting them to slow transformations, likely stems from the improvisation techniques Escaich uses as an organist. One cannot separate his improvisational practices from his composition; these two facets of musical creation seem to be mutually nourishing for him, not least because both share the aforementioned commonalities. There is a clear relationship between Escaich’s improvisation and composition, between the organist’s craft and that of the composer.

From another angle, the term “character” that Escaich uses — in connection with Miroir d’ombres, Magic Circus, Les Litanies de l’ombre, First Symphony, Nocturne, Vertiges de la croix, and many others — perfectly captures the life his themes take on as they struggle, enter into relationships and associate with other elements, evolve, become, and die. To speak of a “character” in this context is also to confer dramatic and symbolic significance on his music, in both vocal and dramatic works. The opera, Claude, is a notable example, but so are a number of his instrumental works, which frequently have evocative titles or make references to paintings. Vertiges de la croix reflects Escaich’s contemplation of Peter Paul Rubens’s famous The Descent from the Cross, while Organ Concerto No. 3 has the subtitle “Quatre visages du temps,” which seems to be inspired by the work of the French composer Henri Dutilleux. Moreover, Escaich’s tight collaboration with contemporary writers and his settings of poems from the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries confirm his affinity for narrative and poetic forms. Examples of such collaboration include Robert Badinter in Claude, Alain Suied for the Trois motets, Nathalie Nabert in Le dernier Évangile, Laurent Gaudé in Cris, and Henri Michaux in Les Nuits hallucinées. A Escaich’s appreciation for cinema, having composed and improvised music for silent films, also confirms his interest in narrative. Indeed, it is surprising that Escaich has only written one opera. His practice of vocal writing, the associations he makes between images, texts, and music, and his understanding of musical meaning, would seem to have destined him to venture more comprehensively into music drama.

With the exception of the variation forms already mentioned, fixed forms derived from the Classical or Baroque periods are relatively rare in Escaich’s music, where process prevails over structure and teleological dynamism over stasis. His avoidance of older forms does not mean that he eschews repetition. On both small and large scales, repetition, though not systematic, is one of the most salient traits in his work. Elements at the beginning of a piece frequently reappear at the end — whether of a movement, a multi-part work, or an individual piece — giving the impression of a return of a distinctive kind. Such is the case with La Barque solaire, Ground IV, the Organ Concerto No. 3, and many other pieces.

Another essential formal characteristic of Escaich’s music is that most of his works are organized around slow progressions leading to moments of expressive intensity. Register, nuance, articulation, and rich harmonic density all contribute to these climaxes. The “Rondel” from Les Nuits hallucinées, based on a poem by Tristan Corbière, is punctuated by crescendos ending in violent explosions of sound, usually taken over by the orchestra. Although the placement of these “genies” does not exactly reflect the text (since the climaxes do not occur at the expected moments), the overall structure is clearly modeled on it. Having reached its climax, the tension in the piece gradually subsides until a final fortissimo burst momentarily shatters the almost restored calm. Similarly, in Exultet, Ad ultimas laudes, and In Memoriam, the high register of the sopranos combines with homorhythm and repeated chords to produce a dramatic sonic outburst. Last, in some of Escaich’s codas (especially in his concertos), the tempi, gestures, and unbridled virtuosity recall Maurice Ravel.

Counterpoints

“Counterpoints,” here, are any form of superimposition, whether of themes, chords, texts, languages, styles, languages, or choirs. Escaich’s work is essentially and fundamentally contrapuntal, which is not at all surprising for a musician whose organ-playing and compositional practices are inextricably linked. Certain modes of his composing are reminiscent of medieval or Renaissance polyphony. Though not mentioned in his notes, the polytextual and sometimes polylingual character of some of his choral works — Exultet, Le dernier Évangile, Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, Ad ultimas laudes, Trois Motets, and Grande messe solennelle — evoke motets from the Ars Nova period of the fourteenth century. Like the tenor voice in medieval polyphony, a long-value melody on which a composer builds a contrapuntal edifice, Escaich’s harmonic pedal points unify his heterogeneous material. Furthermore, his use of multiple choirs is indebted to Venetian polyphony and its antiphonal cori spezzati (split choir) style, as well as to the imposing architecture of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (for example, in the Sanctus and Le dernier Évangile). In short, from perfect homogeneity to the most perfect independence, Escaich exploits every aspect and nuance of counterpoint. Thus, in the Gloria of the Grande messe solennelle (among other examples), homophonic textures alternate with sections of polyrhythm and polytextuality. There are also multiple configurations of polyphony in the fourth movement of Scènes de bal, with the four instruments at some points dissociating into several distinct voices (sometimes with fugato effects), while at others coming together in monolithic blocks. Unsurprisingly, the canon occupies an important place in Escaich’s work, whether vocal or instrumental. His canons are rarely strict, however, allowing a sharp degree of contrast in their tempi and registers. The First Symphony, “Kyrie d’une messe imaginaire,” is emblematic in this regard. Although the first antiphon is an immense canon, its formal character is concealed, with each voice distinguished by different timbres, rhythms, registers, and speeds of enunciation.

The counterpoint in Escaich’s work also influences its harmony. Outside the clearly tonal or modal passages, he favors the use of “numberable” [sic] chords, albeit non-functional ones. His typical practice is to add extra notes to a chord (e.g., at the beginning of Miroir d’ombres, a G-flat ornaments an E-flat major chord), or to combine chords with tonal associations but with a chromatic relationship, such as a semitone apart. These chords are then superimposed on their own appoggiaturas (C-sharp minor and C major, for example) — a process reminiscent of Ravel’s harmonic sensibility. These chords impart color rather than tonal function, with Escaich favoring the dissonance of tritones, sevenths, and semitones. Other harmonic peculiarities include strictly parallel two-part imitative writing (frequently in thirds) and parallel chords, as well as the gradual formation of aggregates, for example in the acclamation in Le dernier Évangile and the very end of Lettres mêlées.

If these distinctive features define, at least in part, Escaich’s voice, it should also be stressed that he does not adhere to a fixed scale system. Although the so-called “Bartók scale” (the fourth mode of an ascending melodic minor scale, otherwise referred to as a Lydian dominant scale) makes an occasional appearance (e.g., in the first movement of Baroque Song), its incursions are only fleeting. Similarly, although Escaich often uses Olivier Messiaen’s second mode of limited transposition,5 he breaks its normal alternation of tones and semitones with irregularities, such as in Sax Trip and “Dans la nuit,” the first movement of Nuits hallucinées). These anomalies once again reflect his reluctance to adhere to static forms. For him, each musical element is bound to depart from its initial state or to confront its antithesis, which explains the coexistence of modality, tonality, and atonality in his work.

Dance, Rhythm, Repetition, Obsession

According to Escaich,

I like the body to participate when I play music, imagining the involvement of other people’s bodies. If my music is energetic, it is because I have an almost primal need for music to be an expression of the body. I myself need to be in movement to conceive it. I don’t see music as something you listen to only in concert, with your arms folded.6

In Bernard Bloch and Hélène Pierrakos’s documentary film about him, he says more succinctly: “My world is a rhythmic world.”7

This centrality of rhythm is confirmed his Escaich’s use of irregular metrics reminiscent of Bartók (with added-value rhythms and syncopations), references to dance (tango, swing, and waltzes), alternations of long and short beats (as was popular in French Baroque music), frequent use of percussion and percussive writing, and, above all, fascination with ostinatos. As relentless repetitions of a melodic-rhythmic motif, ostinatos are a driving force that he uses in a wide variety of contexts and genres. They are just as prevalent in his instrumental music (including the Violin Concerto, the double concerto Miroir d’ombres, the second Évocation, the Quatrième Esquisse for organ, and the Lettres mêlées) as in his vocal works (Le dernier Évangile, the Grande messe solennelle, and Claude). A notable example is Ad ultimas laudes, in which the ostinato pedal suggests an incantation or bewitching litany. For Escaich, then, repetition is not just a formal tool; perhaps above all, it is the sign of an obsessive relationship to certain themes or rhythms, which run through his work like musical signatures. One is the often-used intervallic profile of a descending semitone, followed by a large descending interval and return to the initial note, as found in Ad ultimas laudes, Le dernier Évangile, Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, Les nuits hallucinées, the second of his Trois motets, Scènes de bal, and Claude. Another is two short values followed by silence, as appears frequently in Baroque Song, Nocturne, Chorus, the First Symphony, and many other pieces.

From this point of view, much of Escaich’s music is intimately motivated by the dual imperatives of dance and seduction. His fascination with dance is clear in his strong-willed repetitions of idiosyncratic rhythmic and melodic figures. Although this perpetual spinning invites movement, it is experienced and internalized rather than external and visible. (Significantly, he has written only one ballet: The Lost Dancer.) The role of seduction, in contrast, lies in the incantatory dimension of many of his themes, as well as in the special relationship he maintains with figures that fascinate him, transforming his music into an emotional and sensitive experience that aims to captivate the listener physically.

*

Escaich continues to be driven to create complex yet coherent musical objects using superimposed and overlapped heterogeneous and traditional materials. Over the years, the stylistic and formal characteristics of his work have remained remarkably stable. His aesthetic choices are underpinned by the search for a form of euphony, immediately perceptible energy and expression, and evocatively meaningful sounds.

Translated from the French by Melvin Backstrom

1. This approach could be seen as postmodern, however complex and controversial its definition. Cf. Jacques AMBLARD, “Postmodernismes,” in Théories de la composition musicale au xxe siècle, volume 2 (eds Nicolas Donin and Laurent Feneyrou), Lyon, Symétrie, “Symétrie Recherche,” 2013, p. 1387-1424. ↩
2. Thierry ESCAICH, Le dernier Évangile, Ensemble orchestral de Paris, Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris, dir. John Nelson, CD Hortus, 2006, no. 024, p. 5. ↩
3. Thierry ESCAICH, catalogue page, http://www.escaich.org/pages/catalogue/ (link verified September 2017). ↩
4. Cf. Hélène Pierrakos, in Thierry ESCAICH, Exultet: Œuvres pour ensemble vocal, Thierry Escaich, organ, Ensemble vocal Sequenza 9.3, dir. Catherine Simonpietri, CD Accord/Universal, 2006, no. 476 9074, p. 12. ↩
5. Though claiming no particular compositional heritage, Escaich confesses to admiring Olivier Messiaen: ibid., p. 14. ↩
6. Ibid., p. 12. ↩
7. Thierry Escaich, in Bernard BLOCH and Hélène PIERRAKOS, Thierry Escaich (Productions l’œil sauvage, 2007), Paris, Bibliothèque publique d’information, 2013. ↩

© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2017

Catalog sources and details

Site de Thierry Escaich.

Catalog source(s)

Site de Thierry Escaich.

Discographie sélective

Compositions
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Baroque Song ; Concerto pour clarinette ; Erinnerung ; Suite Symphonique “Claude” dans « Œuvres orchestrales », Paul Meyer, clarinette ; Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon ; Alexandre Bloch, direction, 1 Cd Sony Classical, 2017, 88985430192.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Le Bal ; Mecanic Song ; Le Chant des ténèbres ; Ground IV ; Tanz-Fantasie ; Antiennes oubliées ; Magic Circus dans « Magic Circus, musique de chambre avec vents », , Eric Aubier (trompette), Nicolas Prost (saxophone), Thierry Escaich (orgue), Ensemble Initium, Quatuor Vendôme, Ensemble de saxophones de Paris, Quatuor Axone, 1 Cd Indésens, 2014, INDE 060.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Trois Motets ; Évocations I et II ; Cinq Versets sur le « Victimæ Paschali » ; Trois Esquisses ; Esquisse IV, « Le Cri des abîmes » ; Tanz-Fantasie ; Prélude et postlude improvisés à l’orgue, Thierry Escaich (orgue), Éric Aubier (trompette), Ensemble vocal Soli-Tutti, CD Calliope, 2012, CAL 1205.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, « Œuvres orchestrales III », comprenant Les Nuits Hallucinées (I) ; La Barque solaire (II) ; Concerto pour violon et orchestre (III), Nora Gubisch : mezzo-soprano, Thierry Escaich : orgue, David Grimal : violon, Orchestre national de Lyon, Jun Märkl : direction (I et II), Christian Arming : direction (III), 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2010.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Ground II dans « Orgue et percussion », avec des œuvres de Philippe Hurel, Bruno Mantovani, Maurice Ravel et Stéphane Pelegri, Emmanuel Curt : percussions, Thierry Escaich : orgue, 1 Cd Indésens, 2010.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Trois Instants fugitifs, dans« Musique française pour instruments à vent », avec des œuvres de d’Henri Tomasi, Jacques Ibert et Jean Françaix, Quintette Aquilon, 1 Cd Premiers Horizons, 2009, n° 070 140.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Tanz-Fantasie ; Improvisations à l’orgue, dans « Tanz-Fantasie », avec des œuvres d’Ivan Jevtic, André Jolivet, Nicolas Bacri et Henri Tomasi, Éric Aubier : trompette, Thierry Escaich : orgue, 1 Cd Indésens, 2009, n° 00012.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Elle disait ; Maintenant j’ai grandi dans « Étranges Étrangers – Jean Guidoni chante Prévert », avec des œuvres de Claude Debussy, Bohuslav Martinů, Bela Bartók, Emmanuel Pahud : flûte, François Leleux : hautbois, Paul Meyer : clarinette, Trio Wanderer, 1 Cd Edito Musiques n° EHM-JG01 : MP003.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Scènes d’enfants au crépuscule ; Lettres mêlées  dans « Lettres mêlées », avec des œuvres de Claude Debussy, Bohuslav Martinů, Bela Bartók, Emmanuel Pahud : flûte, François Leleux : hautbois, Paul Meyer : clarinette, Trio Wanderer, 1 cd Accord/Universal, 2009, n° 480 1152.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Organ Spectacular, Improvisations en concert sur les orgues de Saint-Étienne-du-Mont à Paris, Saint-Ignace-de-Loyola à New York, Saint-Sernin de Toulouse, cathédrale d’Altenberg, Saint-Martin de Dudelange, etc.,  Thierry Escaich : orgue, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2008, n° 480 0874.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, « Œuvres orchestrales II », comprenant Miroir d’ombres (I) ; Vertiges de la Croix (II) ; Chaconne (III) ; Renaud Capuçon : violon, Gautier Capuçon : violoncelle, Orchestre national de Lille, Paul Polivnik (I), Michiyoshi Inoue (II), Jean-Claude Casadesus (III) : direction, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2007, n° 442 9056.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Trio américain (Suppliques), dans « Tenebræ » avec des œuvres de Philippe Hersant, Nicolas Bacri, Édith Canat de Chizy, Karol Beffa, Bruno Letort, Jean-Marc Fessard : clarinette, Arnaud Thorette : alto, Johann Farjot : piano, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2006, n° 442 8464.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Exultet, comprenant Trois Motets ; Les Lamentations de Jérémie ; Terra desolata ; Exultet ; Ad ultimas laudes ; Dixit Dominus ; In memoriam, Ensemble vocal Sequenza 9.3, Catherine Simonpietri : direction, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2006, n° 476 9074.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Trois Esquisses dans « Neuf Jeunes Organistes compositeurs par eux-mêmes », avec des œuvres de Jean-Baptiste Robin, Benoît Mernier, Laurent Carle, Christophe Marchand, Pierre Farago, Éric Lebrun, Valéry Aubertin, Jacques Pichard et Thierry Escaich, 1 Cd Hortus, 2005, n° 063.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Alleluia ; Grande Messe solennelle dans « Tu es Petrus », avec des œuvres de Pierre Calmelet, Maurice Duruflé, Simone Plé, Francis Poulenc et avec des improvisations à l’orgue, par Thierry Escaich : orgue, Le Madrigal de Paris, direction : Pierre Calmelet, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2003, n° 476 1282.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, « Chorus », comprenant Scènes de bal ; Les Litanies de l’ombre ; La Ronde ; Jeux de doubles ; Nocturne ; Chorus, quatuor Ludwig, Bertrand Chamayou, Claire-Marie Le Guay et Thierry Escaich : piano, Xavier Phillips : violoncelle, Florent Héau : clarinette, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2003, n° 476 1282.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Choral’s Dream dans « Confluence », avec des œuvres de Jean Langlais, Camille Saint-Saëns, César Franck, Jean Guillou, Marcel Dupré, Claire-Marie Le Guay : piano, Thierry Escaich : orgue, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2003, n° 476 0967.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Résurgences, concerto pour trompette et orchestre, dans « Résurgences », avec des œuvres de Maurice Ohana et Nicolas Bacri, Éric Aubier : trompette, Orchestre de Bretagne, direction : Jean-Jacques Kantorow, 1 Cd Pierre Vérany, 2003, n° 703021.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Introït et Psalmodie à l’Office des ténèbres, dans « Harpe bleue », avec des œuvres de Graciane Finzi, Alain Louvier, Vincent Paulet et Jean-Claude Wolf, Trio Controverse : flûte, harpe bleue et percussions, 1 Cd Triton, 2003, n° 331127.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, « Œuvres orchestrales I » : Concerto pour orgue n° 1 ; Première Symphonie (« Kyrie d’une messe imaginaire ») ; Fantaisie concertante pour piano et orchestre, Olivier Latry : orgue, Claire-Marie Le Guay : piano, Orchestre philharmonique de Liège, direction : Pascal Rophé, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2002, n° 472 2162.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, « Hommage à Duruflé », comprenant In memoriam, avec des œuvres de Charles Tournemire et Maurice Duruflé et des commentaires improvisés à l’orgue, Cambridge Voices : direction, Ian de Massini, Thierry Escaich : orgue, 1 Cd Calliope, 2002, n° 9939.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Le Dernier Évangile ; Trois Danses et Poème symphonique improvisés à l’orgue, Ensemble orchestral de Paris, Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris, Chœur Britten, Olivier Latry : orgue, John Nelson : direction, 1 Cd Hortus, 2002, n° 024.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, « Escaich joue Escaich » : Prélude improvisé ; Trois Motet ; Évocations I et II ; Cinq Versets sur le « Victimæ Paschali » ; Trois Esquisses ; Esquisse IV « Le Cri des abîmes » ; Tanz-Fantasie ; Postlude improvisé, Thierry Escaich : orgue, Éric Aubier : trompette, ensemble vocal Soli Tutti, 1 Cd Calliope, 2001, 9937.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Le Chant des ténèbres ; Scènes d’enfants au crépuscule ; Antiennes oubliées ; Trois Intermezzi ; Ad ultimas laudes, Claude Delangle : saxophone, Ensemble Erwartung, A Sei Voci, 1 Cd Chamade, 1996, n° 5638.
Improvisations
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Live Improvisations, avec la participation de José Ignacio Ansorena (txistu), 1 Cd Aeolus, 2010, AE10691.
  • Thierry ESCAICH, Organ spectacular, 1 Cd Accord/Universal, 2008, Accord 480 0874.
  • Thierry ESCAICH,Le Chemin de la Croix, textes de Paul Claudel, improvisations à l’orgue de Thierry Escaich, Georges Wilson : récitant, 1 Cd Calliope, 2003,  n° 9523.

Dvd et films

  • Thierry ESCAICH, Claude, opéra pour voix solistes, chœurs et orchestre, Livret de Robert Badinter d’après la nouvelle de Victor Hugo « Claude Gueux », Jean-Sébastien Bou (Claude), Jean-Philippe Lafont (le Directeur), Rodrigo Ferreira (Albin), Laurent Alvaro (l’Entrepreneur/le Surveillant général), Rémy Mathieu (le Premier Personnage/le Premier Surveillant), Philip Sheffield (le Second Personnage/le Second Surveillant), Loleh Pottier (la Petite Fille), Anaël Chevallier (la Voix en écho), Yannick Berne (Le Premier Détenu/Chœur), Paolo Stupenengo (le Deuxième Détenu/Chœur), Jean Vendassi (le Troisième Détenu/Chœur), David Sanchez Serra (l’Avocat), Didier Roussel (l’Avocat général), Brian Bruce (le Président), Orchestre, Chœurs et Maîtrise de l’Opéra de Lyon, Alan Woodbridge (chef de chœur), Jérémie Rhorer (direction), Olivier Py (mise en scène), Pierre-André Weitz (décors et costumes), Bertrand Killy (lumières), Laura Ruiz Tamayo (danseuse), Daniel Izzo (chorégraphie), DVD BelAir Classiques, 2015, BAC 118.
  • Bernard BLOCH-DELMAS et Hélène PIERRAKOS, Thierry Escaich au miroir de J. S. Bach, 1 vidéo les Productions l’œil sauvage, 2007 [numérisée et consultable à la Bibliothèque Publique d’Information].

Liens Internet

(liens vérifiés en septembre 2017).