The Madeleine where M. Saint-Saëns played the organ for twenty years
During the twenty years I played the organ at the Madeleine, I improvised constantly, giving my fancy the widest range. That was one of the joys of life.
But there was a tradition that I was a severe, austere musician. The public was led to believe that I played nothing but fugues. So current was this belief that a young woman about to be married begged me to play no fugues at her wedding!
Another young woman asked me to play funeral marches. She wanted to cry at her wedding, and as she had no natural inclination to do so, she counted on the organ to bring tears to her eyes.
But this case was unique. Ordinarily, they were afraid of my severity—although this severity was tempered.
One day one of the parish vicars undertook to instruct me on this point. He told me that the Madeleine audiences were composed in the main of wealthy people who attended the Opéra-Comique frequently, and formed musical tastes which ought to be respected.
“Monsieur l’abbé,” I replied, “when I hear from the pulpit the language of opéra-comique, I will play music appropriate to it, and not before!”