What they say about Bonnal...

"Ermend Bonnal: a poet in love with all kinds of beauty Providence and Nature had to offer him. A lyric poet who was first inspired by the Basque country, a philosopher meditating and praying, always concerned with renewing himself and with climbing still higher. He was supported by musical culture, a man of universal culture, which many would envy … This is the portrait of a strong and good man, concerned with others more than with himself. Such is the Frenchman whom all the difficulties of life did not fill with bitterness. Generosity, abundance, youth - aren't those qualities characteristic of this art ?"

Norbert Dufourcq (Professor at the Conservatoire of Paris),

Extract from a speech delivered to the Jeunesses Musicales de France.

"With Bonnal we reach higher spheres. Here is one of the most personal

musicians, a poet, touched by nature, a human being of profound and

moving subjectivity. Great and modest in his soul. His passage in the class

of Guilmant was that of a fine worker, also talented for improvisation

and performance. He left that class with a sensational first prize".

Louis Vierne, extract from "Souvenirs"

"It would be an understatement saying that you taught me music. Close to you, it's Art that I came to understand, which is beyond music.… And it's vitality, love of life in the most fervent, noble, the most beautiful, energetic and serene aspects life can offer. No one but the genius can open one's eyes to the light".

M. Faure, extract from a good-bye letter of a pupil, 15 march 1942.

"It's with great joy that I speak of that admirable musician, a man of noble character, animated by a flame, reflecting the magnificence of Bach, the mysticism of Franck, and who despised easy and disappointing success. In the middle of the sadness and mourning of my exile, it will have been a joyful consolation for me having known E. Bonnal, thus having filled a gap in my knowledge of French Music".

Loevinson, Austrian musician and refugee in France.

"He was one of the first to give to the contemporary organ all its rich harmony, a wide range of nuances, a variety of moving registers, that later on would prepare the way for Olivier Messiaen for instance".

Speech delivered by Henri Sauguet, nov 1975 - Sud-Ouest

1928: the beginning of piano lessons with E. Bonnal.

"Bonnal was a real classical teacher: much Bach,

Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Albeniz, with a

preference for works lesser known of those

composers. Being a great admirer of the perfection

of form, he invited the quartets Calvet and Pro

Arte within the context of the Amis de la Musique

(Friends of Music) … Here we listened to the quartets of

Schoenberg and P. Hindemith".

Conversation between Maurice Ohana

and Marie-Pierre Duboué