Organ Recital: The Merlin Duo - Béatrice Piertot & Yannick Merlin (France)

Johannes Brahms  (1833-1897)
from Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 (1885)
   4.  Allegro energico e passionato (transc. Yannick Merlin)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
from String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10 (1893)
   2.  Assez vif et bien rythmé (transc. Merlin Duo)

Jean-Baptiste Robin (b. 1976)
A Look towards Agartha (dedicated to Duo Merlin) (2014)

Jean-Charles Gandrille (b. 1982)
After a reading of Reich (dedicated to Duo Merlin)


The  Merlin Duo is comprised of two of France’s most outstanding  organists, Yannick Merlin and Béatrice Piertot. Through the quality of their orchestral transcriptions and their art of registration, they showcase the organ in new and unique ways. Critics have remarked about the virtuosity, energy and lyricism that characterize their thrilling performances. Husband and wife, and titular organists in Paris, both are winners of international competitions and have international careers. Since launching their first CD, Orchestral Colors, they have recorded several more discs. Their latest achievement is a performance on YouTube, recorded in 2015 in Paris, entitled A Look Towards Agartha, by Jean-Baptiste Robin, a work dedicated to them and that was premiered at the Cathedral in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 2014. On October 15, 2017, they premiered a work dedicated to them by Jean-Charles Gandrille, After a reading of Reich. Gandrille is composing two new works for them: Variations on At Les and Looped Dances.

Béatrice Piertot is professor of organ and harpsichord at the Conservatory of Bourg-la-Reine/Sceaux and Viroflay (near Versailles), and co-titular organist at the parish church of St. Laurent in Paris. Prize winner of several international competitions, she is regularly invited to play at many prestigious festivals. She has studied with famous teachers, including Laurent Cabasso, Marie-Louise Langlais, Eric Lebrun, and Francoise Levéchin, and has attended masterclasses with Marie-Claire Alain, James-David Christie, Pierre Hantai, Francoise Lengellé, Olivier Latry and Daniel Roth. She has also studied harpsichord with Elisabeth Joyé, viola da gamba with Pedro Slobodianik and baroque dance with Cecilia Gracio-Moura. She is the author of a master’s thesis presented at the Sorbonne entitled The Treatises on Improvisation on the Organ in France from 1900 to 2002, and she is active in the field of  musicological research. From 2006 to 2010 she was the organ artistic advisor for the Festival of Saint-Riquier.

She is interested in contemporary music and has had worked with many current composers, including Jean-Louis Florentz, Naji Hakim, Eric Lebrun, Tackuya Nemoto, Bruno Mantovani, and Vincent Paulet. Several composers have dedicated their works to her, specifically Lebrun, Mathieu, Nemoto, Paulet and Werner. Her recording of the Prélude de l’Enfant Noir by Jean-Louis Florentz at St. Eustache in Paris appeared under his direction in the book-disc of Marie-Louise Langlais, Jean-Louis Florentz, l’œuvre d’orgue, témoignages croisés on the Symétrie label. In 2010 she recorded for Ctésibios for the periodical Orgues Nouvelles as well as for Bayard Musiques ( Vingt Mystères du Rosaire of Eric Lebrun, Jesus Found in the Temple with Andréa Garnier. She has also recorded the works of Jean-Jacques Werner and for Orgue en Alsace in duet with Yannick Merlin at the historic organ of Mollau (2012).

Yannick Merlin is the titular organist at Notre-Dame-Des-Champs Church in Paris and the substitute organist at the Cavaillé-Coll organ of Val-de-Grâce Church in Paris. A qualified “Professeur agrégé de musique,” he holds diplomas in musicology from Strasbourg and the Sorbonne. He has performed at the prestigious festivals of the Cathedral of Lucerne, the Temple church in London, the Philharmonie of Liège, the Oliwa Cathedral of Poland, Krakow, Royaumont, Saint Riquier, Sarlat Cathedral, and Le Havre Cathedral. In April, 2016 he performed a subscription concert at Notre Dame de Paris. As a musicologist, he is published in several journals, and in 2015, 2016 he was a lecturer for the Royaumont Foundation. He has been the Director of collections for Delatour France editions since 2005 and has performed with many different orchestra groups.

From 1995 to 2001, he was titular organist of the Merklin organ at the St-Antoine of Sélestat convent, and from 1998 to 2007 he was titular organist of the Merklin organ at the Temple-Neuf in Strasbourg.

Yannick Merlin began his organ studies in 1993 with Raymond Winterhalter, and afterwards studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg in the organ class of Marc Schaefer and the organ improvisation class of Christophe Mantoux while studying privately with André Stricker. From 1998 to 2001, he studied piano with Lara Erbès and 16th- and 17th-century organ literature with Martin Gester. In 2001, he was awarded a gold medal in organ from the Strasbourg Conservatory. From 2001 to 2003, he studied in the performance class of the Regional Conservatory of Paris with Marie-Louise Langlais and Françoise Levéchin. Among the great artists that Mr. Merlin has collaborated with are Louis Thiry, Jean Boyer, James-David Christie, and Marie-Claire Alain. He is also a prize winner of the international organ competitions of Lorraine, U.F.A.M., the city of Paris, and Angers.

His compact disc Alsatian Organs of the 19th and 20th Centuries (Boëllmann, Erb, Stern, Wackenthaler, etc.) was released in 2005 and received outstanding reviews. He has also made four additional recordings, including Orchestral Colors (organ transcriptions for four hands and four feet with Béatrice Piertot, Ctésibios, 2010). He participated at the recordings of the Vingt Mystères du Rosaire of Eric Lebrun (Bayard Musiques, 2010); Un musicien à l’œuvre (Works of J.-J. Werner, with the Maîtrise of Notre-Dame de Paris, (2010); and Scènes alsaciennes (on the historic Callinet organ restored by Mollau, 2011).

Mr. Merlin is also interested in contemporary music. He is a dedicated proponent of the  works of Jean-Jacques Werner, Daniel Roth, Vincent Paulet, Jean-Baptiste Robin, J.-C. Gandrille, Thierry Pallesco, Takuya Nemoto, Bruno Mathieu, Jean Legoupil, W. Sieber, H. Parra, Éric Lebrun, Gérard Hilpipre, Carson Cooman and Denis Chevallier. He also has performed works by Loïc Mallié and, in May 2010, with trumpeter François Frémeau he performed the Suite for Rameau, by Olivier Alain.