Saint-Pierre-du-

Gros-cCillou

92, rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris

Ancienne église Chapelle >

A chapel built on the site of the present church was inaugurated in 1738. The first parish church was started in 1780 and was sold to be demolished during the revolution. The present church is built by Mr. Godde and was consecrated on May 1, 1830. During the second empire, the neighborhood underwent a great development and many changes. The first transformation of the Church dates from 1870 (construction of the new room of Catechisms now extinct), the second from 1881 (Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bonne Espérance). The exhibition of 1900 gave a new impetus to the district, many subscriptions were collected for the enlargement of the Church in 1913 (addition of an aisle and an apse). From 1967 to 1973, the church was extended by a big chapel and parish premises. In 1993 the Bell Tower was rebuilt and enlarged to house a carillon of four bells.

D6 A first instrument was built in the 1850s by Joseph Merklin. It was installed on the gallery at the back of the nave and had about twenty stops. This organ was sold in 1926 to the parish of Saint-James (Manche) for the Church of Saint-Jacques. It was destroyed in 2017 when the vault above it collapsed. 1924–1926 Construction of a new organ began under Charles Mutin and was completed by Auguste Convers. The instrument had 29 stops on three manuals (56 notes) and a pedalboard (30 notes), with pneumatic action. The Positif and Récit divisions were enclosed in the same swell box. The previous Merklin organ was sold in 1926 to the commune of Saint-James (50) for the Church of Saint-Jacques (the same instrument destroyed in 2017 by the collapse of the vault above it). 1931–1933 Several modifications were carried out by Victor Gonzalez: • Replacement of the Récit’s Diapason 8’ by a Cromorne 8’ and a Plein Jeu IV ranks • Removal of the three reed stops of the Positif, replaced by a Quintaton 16’, Nasard 2 2/3’, Doublette 2’, and Tierce 1 3/5’ • Addition of a Flûte 4’ to the Pedal • Exchanges of stops between the Positif and the Récit • General revoicing 1941–1944 Further changes were made by Victor Gonzalez, including: • Refitting of the stop control bellows • Addition of a IV-rank Plein Jeu to the Grand Orgue, a III-rank Cymbale to the Positif, and a Tierce 1 3/5’ to the Récit 1955 Victor Gonzalez modernised the transmission system and installed electric action for the Pedal division. A complete cleaning of the windchests and pipework was done, along with further exchanges between the mutation stops of the Récit and Positif. 1976–1978 The present organ, of neo-classical design, with a Rückpositiv and mechanical tracker action using ribbons, was built by Danion-Gonzalez in 1976, reusing part of the pipework from the earlier instrument. 2000 Restoration by Bernard Dargassies, including: • Revoicing of several stops • Enlargement of pipe scales • Lowering of the mixture breaks • Installation of a 16’, 8’, and 4’ reed chorus by Suret on the Grand Orgue • Installation of electro-pneumatic action and an electronic combination system 2018 Following restoration work in the church (2017–2018), the organ was fully cleaned and retuned by Bernard Dargassies.

Titular organist Renaud Vergnet Parish website Videos Renaud Vergnet en plus: Widor - Pastorale Symphonie II Photos Orgue et Eglise : Vincent Hildebrandt Console : Victor Weller