Saint Thomas d'Aquin

Place Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin, 75007 Paris

Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin was built in 1683 as a Dominicanical Chapel named Saint Dominique. It became a parochial church in 1791 as Saint-Thomas- d'Aquin. Its style is classical, inspired by Italian baroque, as are Saint Joseph des Carmes, Notre Dame des Victoires et Saint Roch. The façade dates to 1766.

B2 1769-1773 The organ case was built by François-Charles Butteaux in 1769 to house a Classical-French style instrument made by François- Henri Clicquot. 1795 The organ was transferred to the new church of Ste Geneviève, later called the Pantheon. Seven years later, it returned to Saint- Thomas-d'Aquin and was reinstalled by Pierre-François Dallery who modified the instrumental part and rebuilt the case, many of whose parts were lost. 1842 By the early 1840s, the instrument was in very poor condition. A major restoration was planned. But it was only a minimal restoration that was carried out by Louis-Paul Dallery. However, neither the Parish Council nor the organist were convinced by the restored instrument. 1856-1863 Cavaillé-Coll rebuilt the organ, removing the positive and almost all of Clicquot's stops, only the Grand Cornet, the Cromorne and the Nazard survived. The large case was set back one metre. 1912 Restoration of the organ by Joseph Merklin et Cie. 1971 The Alsatian organ builder Kurt Schwenkedel was commissioned to reconstruct the instrument in a Franco- Germanic neoclassical style, with a reproduction of the Positif. He returned to Clicquot's old stops and kept Cavaillé-Coll's Voix- Humaine. The large case was moved forward 1m on the tribune. Renewal of the instrumental part on 4 manuals and a pedalboard. Much of the old piping was re-used and re-voiced. The console returned to its original place. The new instrument was voiced by Laurent Steinmetz and Jean-Marie Tricoteaux. 1994-1997 Maintenance work was carried out by Maison Mulheisen on the note action of the organ built by Schwenkedel. The organ voicing was slightly retouched without betraying Schwenkedel's style. All the organ's foudations and Pleins-Jeux were equalized. The playing of Rauschpfeife III of the Solo keyboard posed difficulties of integration into the sound concept of the organ. The very large size of these pipes and the too acute plan of this stop did not correspond to the term Rauschpfeife. It was rebuilt, recomposed as serious as possible and voiced in the style of Schwenkedel and renamed to Fourniture III. In addition, a combiner was installed. This organ is a perfect example of Alsatian neo-classical construction, combining French classical construction with the Nordic style construction that was very much in vogue at the time.

1769 - François-Henri Clicquot (1) 1802 - Pierre-François Dallery (3a) 1842 - Louis-Paul Dallery (5) 1861 - Cavaillé-Coll (3) 1912 - Gutschenritter (6) 1971 - Schwenkedel (3) 1992 - Hédelin (6) 1994-97 - Muhleisen (5)

IV/49 - traction mécanique

composition

Organiste titulaire Jean-Marc Leblanc, Vincent Genvrin Organiste célèbre par le passé : Alexis Chauvet Concerts Occasionally Masses with organ Saturday 6:30 PM Sunday 9:30, 11:00 AM and 6:30 PM Video Daniel Roth (2012) Edouard Souberbielle (1974) All organs built before the revolution Photo case: Jeroen de Haan Other photos : Victor Weller

Photos : Victor Weller

An old gravure before the construction of the Positif

The organs of Paris

Saint Thomas

d'Aquin

Place Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin, 75007 Paris

B2 1769-1773 The organ case was built by François-Charles Butteaux in 1769 to house a Classical-French style instrument made by François-Henri Clicquot. 1795 The organ was transferred to the new church of Ste Geneviève, later called the Pantheon. Seven years later, it returned to Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin and was reinstalled by Pierre-François Dallery who modified the instrumental part and rebuilt the case, many of whose parts were lost. 1842 By the early 1840s, the instrument was in very poor condition. A major restoration was planned. But it was only a minimal restoration that was carried out by Louis-Paul Dallery. However, neither the Parish Council nor the organist were convinced by the restored instrument. 1856-1863 Cavaillé-Coll rebuilt the organ, removing the positive and almost all of Clicquot's stops, only the Grand Cornet, the Cromorne and the Nazard survived. The large case was set back one metre. 1912 Restoration of the organ by Joseph Merklin et Cie. 1971 The Alsatian organ builder Kurt Schwenkedel was commissioned to reconstruct the instrument in a Franco- Germanic neoclassical style, with a reproduction of the Positif. He returned to Clicquot's old stops and kept Cavaillé-Coll's Voix-Humaine. The large case was moved forward 1m on the tribune. Renewal of the instrumental part on 4 manuals and a pedalboard. Much of the old piping was re-used and re- voiced. The console returned to its original place. The new instrument was voiced by Laurent Steinmetz and Jean- Marie Tricoteaux. 1994-1997 Maintenance work was carried out by Maison Mulheisen on the note action of the organ built by Schwenkedel. The organ voicing was slightly retouched without betraying Schwenkedel's style. All the organ's foudations and Pleins- Jeux were equalized. The playing of Rauschpfeife III of the Solo keyboard posed difficulties of integration into the sound concept of the organ. The very large size of these pipes and the too acute plan of this stop did not correspond to the term Rauschpfeife. It was rebuilt, recomposed as serious as possible and voiced in the style of Schwenkedel and renamed to Fourniture III. In addition, a combiner was installed. This organ is a perfect example of Alsatian neo-classical construction, combining French classical construction with the Nordic style construction that was very much in vogue at the time.