PF Baron

...and, by the way, to be 100 % clear, this has absolutely nothing to do with any kind of considerations about the quality of Mr Tickell's new organ in Worcester. I was only speaking about conservation of older instruments. Respectfully, PF Baron

Dear Mr Kemp, English humour not being in my chromosoms, I regret to have to admit that I did not particularly appreciate that you tried to ridicule what I just wrote above, without really factually, as far as conservation is concerned, answering the opinion I expressed. In some cases, there is place to put a new organ in without removing the old one (...and by leaving the old one in position, its dismantlig costs could even be saved, if its structure is safe enough not to cause safety hazards) This does not apply to any case, of course (e.g. in a french cathedrals and churches, of course, where organs are usually above the west end, so, there, we have to make up choices) Respectfully, PF Baron

And what about building a new organ beside the old one, if people do not like it ? So taht the old one, seen as a document, can still be consulted by other people. Best regards to all, PF Baron

Seen from my window : I am not ready to question Mr Roth's honesty.....! The organ itself has been very carefully and nicely restored (Renaud), sounds wonderful, and worked perfectly 5 or 6 years ago when I had the opportunity to approach it. There seemed to be no approximations there, only first class professionalism.

We might be prepared to accept a donation.....!

Please try this : http://catholique-belley-ars.cef.fr/spip.php?article141 The site has recently been "modernised", but we lost the disposition as well as the possibility to click the photos. There are one or two mistakes in the titles of the photos I will soon have a appointment with the webmaster to solve this. Kind regards PFB

I think that it is purely a question of fashion. When I was a young lad, in the seventies, romantic organs were here considered as "heavy" (too much 8', too much 16'), and almost everybody was happy to somehow "lighten" them. If we speak about Nolay, it was approx. in 1972, a long time ago, and that is what happened. Nobody would do that again, nowadays. The must, in France, was what was called the "nordic organ", referring to a vague idea of what an organ built along Schnitger characteristics would be. But people were fascinated by this north-german school, and sometimes mixed its influences with french ones. When people had the occasion to really rebuilt nice organs, this gave, e.g. Paris / St Severin (Kern and Hartmann, 1964) or Paris / ND des Blancs Manteaux (Kern, 1968, I think) But in the 70's, romantic or symphonic organs were of no value here, excepted ACCs, which "had to be improved" by mixtures and electical actions. So, there was no crime in transforming a Mutin or a Ghys. This would be different now, 35 years later, although Mutin organs are generally lacking of the originality and flame of the ACCs (although there are exceptions). Ghys is still different, and rather original in comparison You cannot blame somebody without considering his epoch.... and furthemore, when there are also glorious instruments from the same workshop !!!!!! With best regards

.......well enough, I hope............ !!!!!!!!

...eeeeasy.............! Philippe Hartmann is one of the key organ builders of the french XXst century. He also, with his former pupil Jean Deloye (now "Meilleur Ouvrier de France") as a partner, restored some very old organs, or rebuilt some other He is a living encyclopedy about organs, ans a lot of people went to his workshop to spend time with him, as e.g. Pascal Quoirin, but also Formentelli And almost everybody in the 70s, including nice english organ builders made some kind of "small jobs", including baroque stops in romantic organs.... And I think that we finally lost less romantic instruments in France during this period than in the UK....! Hartmann is also the guy who started Dole again, or, with Jean Deloye, wonderfully restored some old organs (e.g. Luxeuil, or Semur en Auxois), or even ACCs (e.g. Lisieux, Cathedral, a fanstastic organ indeed, at its best after retoration), or rebuilt some others I am personnaly in charge of playing the organ in Co-Cathedrale ND / Bourg-en-Bresse, reconstructed by Hartmann and Deloye in 1981, this organ was finally badly disposed with a slow pneumatic action after the last job by Michel Merklin et Kunh / Lyon, in 1927 The core of the 1981 job has been a complete re-sahpingt of the organ : restoration of the case, addition of a Positif de dos, new tracker action, new soundboards, new disposition, re-voicing, putting every old pipe to its best condiiton, and blending new stops with the existing ones. This organ includes some stops of 1682, approx 15 stops from Callinet 1835, some stops from Beaucourt, and from Didier Van Caster, plus some new stops. This 4-manual / 42 stop is absolutely fantastic, and finally incredibly versatile. The flutes are incredible, the reed chorus is really something, and finally the acoustic is incredible. It is even one of the nicest instruments I Know, having seen many organs and travelled a lot. I – Positif de Dos, 56 notes Bourdon 8 Montre 4 Doublette 2 Cymbale IV à V rangs Flûte à cheminées 4 Nasard 2 2/3 Tierce 1 3/5 Larigot 1 1/3 Cromorne 8 II – Grand Orgue, 56 Notes Montre 8 Flute harmonique 8 Prestant 4 Doublette 2 Fourniture VI Grand Cornet V Trompette 8 Clairon 4 III – Bombarde, 56 notes Bourdon 16 Bourdon 8 Flûte 4 Quarte 2 Sifflet 1 Bombarde 16 (bass full length) Trompette 8 (harmonic / F3) IV Recit expressif Flûte cônique 8 (conical from C1) Dulciane 8 (tuning slots) Unda Maris 8 (tuning slots) Flûte allemande 4 Principal 2 Fourniture IV (with tierce) Basson 16 Trompette 8 Voix humaine 8 Chalumeau 4 Pédale, 30 notes Flûte ouverte 32 Flûte 16 Flûte 8 Octave 4 Mixture V Bombarde 16 Trompette 8 Clairon 4 Accouplements I/II, III/II, IV/II, IV/III Tirasses I, II, III, IV Appels d’anches II, III, IV et Pédale Tremblant doux I Tremblant fort IV Before misjudging somebody, I think it is better to have a comprehensive knowledge of his work ! Best regards to you all, PF Baron

I have been there in 2000, and have been extremely kindly welcomed by Mr Wagner, from Sydney. I had the occasion to play, and to spend the whole afternoon with him, rehearsing and making registrations for his next concert. As he knew the organ quite well, I heard many solutions for each piece, and it was fascinating. This organ is fan-tas-tic, as well as its interaction with the hall. The 64' reed actually emits true musical tones, and its effect is incredible under the half tutti (with the tutti, it blurs a little bit) The organ gathers many european flavours : England, of course, but also Germany, the Netherlands, and even France for certain reeds.... This is obviously one of the nicest organs in the world, in the very top of the basket, and should as a minimum be put on the UNESCO list....! Its is also very nicely restored and maintained, and fantastically tuned, depite of the big number of unisons. I could write a whole book about it !

In fact, this organ is paid on public funds (and not by the church, or only for a small part), grouping the town of Evreux, the region, and the french state. Concerning what happened, the whole organ was ready for the opening concert, when a company in charge to install electrical devices (lights, I think) performed some drilling through the walls, generating a lot of abrasive dust ; everything had to be cleaned, including chasts and sliders. This also meant that everything had to be tuned again,n including the numerous ranks of Plein-Jeux. The companies involved in that problem as well as the french administration mitually agreed on certain parts of responsabilities, so as to raise money to have everything fixed? I do not know if everything has been done yet, but this souhld not be too long now. Best regards PFB

One one hand, I am absolutely delighted about the very nice photos kindly posted by Mr Lucas. But on the other hand, I am personally quite sad that they are only now for forensic and memorial purposes.... Happily, the Viole d'Orchestre will survive....! I would personally be very interested in pictures of the diaphone 32', as well as other 32 ft stops. Mr Lucas, would you be so kind as posting some of them ? Thanking you in advance, With best regards, PF Baron

The best would be to phone or write to the churches and ask for the possibility to contact the organist.

Although Jeanne d'Arc has been dead for long, we still have the channel between us, and the tunnel can be easily sunk... ! (That's obviously a joke) I will not make unpleasant comments finding Harisson's reeds dull and opaque, or Father Willis' fluework e.G. in Salisbury somehow brutal or Westminster Cathedral "far too loud" (compared to what could be their french equivalents),.... Those organs just do mean something for a country, and are beautiful in their own style. So does and is also Notre Dame de Paris Sorry for being insistant PFB

Dear english friends, I find this sery of posts deeply shocking. Although I know some (very nice) organs in your country, I did not visit the ones you are speaking about. I do not really want to behave as a moralist, but think that at a time when we can buy english organs from redundant churches on ebay or others, it would really be time to defend and promote your instruments, instead of writing such things, which just divide people instead of uniting them..... There are many english styles, all of them very rich, please just defend them instead of speaking about bins, crap, or others. In any country, you would find instruments moreless successfull. But perhaps those ones also have something to say. I do not want to be offensive anyway, and english is not my mother language, please excuse anything you would feel rude. Best regards PF Baron