Danion-gonzalez

[Guest Barry Oakley]

I was asked several days ago if the firm of Danion-Gonzalez was still in existence. My answer was that I did not know, and that Google only came up with organs they had either built from scratch or had restored/rebuilt up to around 1980. There is no indication of them having undertaken work beyond the 80's. Clearly they were (are?)an outfit of some repute, having been entrusted with major work on large instruments originally by Cavaille-Coll. Can anyone tell me if they are still on the go?

[Pierre Lauwers]

Mr Georges Danion passed recently, and there is a little society

continuing to do some work in Southern France.

The true follower, tough in his own style, of the society is Mr Bernard

Dargassies.

The most interesting period is Victor Gonzalez's himself, tough, who died

in 1956 during the construction of his last organ, the Soissons Cathedral organ.

There is a movement emerging in France towards the recognition of Victor Gonzalez work as highly worthwhile; the eclectic idea was a failure as a "do-it-all repertoire"

chimera, but the organs themselves are very interesting as the ideal medium for

Messiaen, Duruflé, Litaize, and even Marcel Dupré.

The synthesis failed as a simple addition Baroque+romantic= all, but created another style, different from both.

And we must not forget a young german builder worked with him: Rudolf Von Beckerath, who himself taught many a today top-class builder, among who....Who we know.

So the tradition was never broken, contrarily to what many a neo-baroque scholar would have had us believe 20 years ago.

 

Best wishes,

Pierre

[Guest Barry Oakley]

Mr Georges Danion passed recently, and there is a little society

continuing to do some work in Southern France.

The true follower, tough in his own style, of the society is Mr Bernard

Dargassies.

The most interesting period is Victor Gonzalez's himself, tough, who died

in 1956 during the construction of his last organ, the Soissons Cathedral organ.

There is a movement emerging in France towards the recognition of Victor Gonzalez work as highly worthwhile; the eclectic idea was a failure as a "do-it-all repertoire"

chimera, but the organs themselves are very interesting as the ideal medium for

Messiaen, Duruflé, Litaize, and even Marcel Dupré.

The synthesis failed as a simple addition Baroque+romantic= all, but created another style, different from both.

And we must not forget a young german builder worked with him: Rudolf Von Beckerath, who himself taught many a today top-class builder, among who....Who we know.

So the tradition was never broken, contrarily to what many a neo-baroque scholar would have had us believe 20 years ago.

 

Best wishes,

Pierre

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Many thanks for this interesting piece of information, Pierre.