The Sainte-Clotilde Tradition is based on the lineage transmitted in a teacher/student relationship from Franck to Tournemire to Langlais. Especially beginning with Charles Tournemire, these organist/composers, as well as many of their substitutes, had an intimate, spiritual understanding of the Gregorian chants used in the traditional Catholic liturgy. This was manifest in their deeply poetic and colorful interpretations, and in their use of Gregorian chants in their improvisations and compositions. This article is dedicated to Pierre Cogen, a French organist-composer in the Sainte-Clotilde Tradition.
