The Forgotten Organist - Léonce de Saint-Martin. A film by Anthony Hammond.

Léonce de Saint-Martin was Organiste Titulaire of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris from 1937 until 1954. He succeeded his teacher and former close friend Louis Vierne, having previously served as the cathedral’s official deputy organist. A scandal not of his own making surrounded his appointment, and his career never recovered. In this film Anthony Hammond looks into the fascinating history of the rise and fall of his relationship with Vierne, examines the circumstances of their falling out, and presents clear evidence that Saint-Martin was largely innocent of any of the things of which Vierne came to suspect him. Illustrated throughout by specially recorded performances of some of Saint-Martin’s superb, beautiful and woefully neglected music, the film presents a picture of a man whose life, tragically, became worthy of a Hollywood movie, and whose musical legacy is today long overdue for reappraisal.