Marcel Dupré (May 3, 1886 – May 30, 1971), was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.
Marcel Dupré was born in Rouen (Normandy). Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. Dupré entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1904, where he studied with Charles-Marie Widor, Alexandre Guilmant, Louis Vierne, and Louis Diémer. In 1914, Dupré won the Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata, "Psyché". In 1936, he was appointed professor of organ performance and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire.
Dupré became famous for performing more than 2,000 organ recitals throughout Europe, the United States, and Australia, which included a recital series of 10 concerts of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1920 (Paris Conservatoire) and 1921 (Palais du Trocadéro), both performed entirely from memory. The sponsorship of an American transcontinental tour by the John Wanamaker department store interests rocketed his name into international prominence.
In 1934, Dupré succeeded Charles-Marie Widor as titular organist at St. Sulpice in Paris, a post he held until his death in 1971.
From 1947-1954, he was director of the American Conservatory, which occupies the Louis XV wing of the Château de Fontainebleau near Paris. In 1954, Dupré succeeded Claude Delvincourt as director of the Paris Conservatoire, where he remained until 1956. He died in 1971 in Meudon (near Paris).
As a composer, he produced a wide-ranging oeuvre of 65 opus numbers, and also taught two generations of well-known organists such as Jehan Alain and Marie-Claire Alain, Pierre Cochereau, Jeanne Demessieux, Rolande Falcinelli, Jean Guillou, Jean Langlais, and Olivier Messiaen, to name only a few. Aside from a few fine works for aspiring organists (such as the 79 Chorales op.
