Sainte-Madeleine

Place de la Sainte-Madeleine, 75008 Paris

Gallery organ Choir organ >

C3 The Great Organ was completed in 1846, but the plaque of the console reads: "Cavaillé-Coll Père et Fils, facteur d'orgues du Roi, 1845". At that time, Dominique and his son Aristide Cavaillé-Coll were still partners. The two builders had just completed the great organ of Saint-Denis, and the instrument of the Madeleine was one of the first instruments built in the capital. At that time, the organ had 4 keyboards and 46 stops. The entire piping was enclosed in a single case, removing the notion of the contrast between Positif and Grand-Orgue. Overhauls in 1858 and 1869. 1927 The instrument remained intact until 1927, when Mutin performed an overhaul, removed Bourdon 8 and Octavin from the Récit to place a Gambe and a Celeste. 1956-1957 Overhaul and extension by 6 stops by Ets Roethinger (work directed by R. Boisseau): • Installation on the Bombarde of a Fourniture IV ranks and a Cornet III ranks on the upper board of the 2nd Trumpet of Cavaillé-Coll. • Transformation of the 2nd Trompette harmonique into Bombarde 16, by shift. • Added a Prestant 4 and a new Cymbale III to the Swell . 1970-1971 Restoration by Danion-Gonzalez: • Removal of Barker machines (deposited at the Musée du Conservatoire). • Electrification of note drawing and stops (direct electric traction for G-O, Bomb. and Pos, electro-pneumatic for Pedal and Swell), • New console. with extension of manual keyboards to 56 notes. 32-note pedalboard. • New windchests for Pedal and Swell, • Change of Stoplist: • G-O: addition of Piccolo 1 and Cornet V ranks, • Swell: suppression of the Gambe and the Celeste of Mutin to place a Bourdon 8 and a Larigot 1 1/3 • Pedal: New Flute 4; • Voicing by J.-M. Cicchero. 1983 Repair of all the wind supply by Gonzalez. 1987/88* Works by Bernard Dargassies. As early as 1970, the traction of the PE and RE notes was electropneumatic. However, the GO, PO, and BO had direct electric traction. The sensitivity was very bad, so in 1986 it was replaced by electro-pneumatic machines. Restoration of stops transformed or added in 1970: RE Plein Jeu too thin, Octavin 2 replacing a Doublette 2, BO: Octavian flute 4 which had been cut in 1955, GO Piccolo 1 added in 1970 far too skinny, Cornet enlarged and moved. 2001-2002 Dargassies added the two stops en chamade that had been planned by Cavaillé-Coll: a 8′ Trompette en chamade, also usable at 16′ (starting from C2), and a 4′ Clairon en chamade, also usable at 8′ (starting from C2). 2008 At the Récit, there was only one windchest, and the pipes were packed and difficult to tune. In 2008, Dargassies split it in two and put a walkway between it. This organ has 46 stops out of the original 48, i.e. nearly 95% of the original sound material from 1846. The wind chests are by Cavaillé-Coll with the exception of those of the Pedal and the Swell, which are by Gonzalez. In this organ is the first set of Voix Céleste installed in the world. *many thanks to Mr Bernard Dargassies for this information.

Titular organist François-Henri Houbart Olivier Périn (titulaire adjoint) Organistes célèbres ayants illustré l’orgue par le passé : Fessy, Lefébure-Wély, Saint-Saëns, Dubois, Fauré, Dallier, Mignan, Jeanne Demessieux, Odile Pierre. Concerts One Sunday per month, 4 PM Parish website Videos François-Henri Houbart Hendrik Burkard Audio (Festivo) Jeanne Demessieux (Franck) Jeanne Demessieux Jeanne Demessieux François-Henri Houbart Photos Case & console: Jeroen de Haan Church: Vincent Hildebrandt Other Photos: Victor Weller & facebook