1.Choral dorien

By the standards of the organ chorale genre, Alain's Choral Dorien is beefy; its four-minute duration and rich polyphony extend beyond the realm of a simple miniature. Alain built this piece on the dorian mode—but the dorian mode in the ancient Greek usage, which is thought to have been more like the medieval phrygian mode. Whatever one chooses to call it, this modal structure is only a foundation for the chorale; it moves quickly into a more chromatic harmonic language, making only vague references to specific scales and tonal centers. At a slow, processional tempo, the piece evolves from a cautiously rising four-note motif; melodically, the piece wanders up and down the scale from there, but it always returns to some form of the original motif. Dominated by long, ominous pedal notes, the chorale increases gradually in volume, though it never reaches a loud climax; instead, it falls away gently into silence.

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2.Choral phrygien

According to his sister Marie-Claire, young Jehan Alain loved to go with his family to the Abbey of Valloires and its lovely rococo chapel for the Office of Compline, sung at night by candlelight by women. This postlude was an effort to prolong the feeling he got from that service. Inspired by the free rhythm of the Gregorian chant he borrowed for this piece, Alain used irregular divisions within the bar lines, thus giving the music a sense of rhythmic liberty. Befitting its nocturnal setting, the postlude establishes a berceuse rhythm over which flit fragments of Gregorian chant that pass among the manuals and occasionally engage each other in conversation. The first melody heard is Miserere mei, Domine, which gives way to Te lucis ante terminum. Next, found lurking in the bass, is In manus tuas, which, after a few more phrases of Te lucis, ascends to the treble. More melodies file past: Salve nos, Domine and then Gloria Patri et Filio, the whole brief fantasy capped by a series of Amens.

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