Charles-Marie Widor contributed significantly to French music as an organist, composer, conductor, teacher, and writer, yet he was unjustly overshadowed by contemporaries Saint-Saëns, Franck, and Debussy. This comprehensive biography describes his life amid the intellectual and political ferment of the Third Republic and his relations with a variety of musicians, authors, artists, politicians, popes, and kings. Coming at a time of increased interest in Widor's pioneering "symphonic" organ music, the book will also prove fascinating reading for all those interested in the social and political history of nineteenth- and early twentieth- century France.