Organs of Nancy Cathedral
| Organs of Nancy Cathedral | |
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| General | |
| place | Nancy Cathedral |
| Organ builder | Nicolas Dupont |
| Construction year | 1763 |
| Last renovation / restoration | 1861 by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll |
| epoch | French romance |
| Technical specifications | |
| Number of pipes | 4194 |
| Number of registers | 65 |
| Number of manuals | 4th |
| Tone tract | Mechanically with a barker machine |
| Register action | Mechanically |
| Number of 32 'registers | 2 |
The organs of Nancy Cathedral are a main organ on the west gallery and a choir organ. The main organ goes back to an instrument that was built in 1763 by the organ builder Nicolas Dupont . He built it in the organ loft above the main portal of Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation of Nancy . In 1861, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll extensively rebuilt the instrument. After further renovations in the 20th century, the organ now has 65 registers, which are distributed over four manuals and pedal. It combines the classical French with the symphonic organ building.
Main organ
history
The great Dupont organ - 1763
When Nicolas Dupont created the great organ between 1756 and 1763, it was one of the largest instruments in Lorraine and the largest that its maker had ever made. A few years before her, Dupont built a comparable organ for the Cathedral de Toul , but it was supposed to show the episcopal ambitions of the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine .
44 registers , two more than in Toul, are housed in a monumental case, which was probably designed by Jean-Nicolas Jennesson. Dupont undoubtedly contributed to the design, as the structure of the case is very similar to that of the Cathedral of Toul. This design was later adopted for the organ in Verdun Cathedral , which was also built by Dupont.
The magnificent case, which fills the entire width of the gallery, is original in several ways: the two large pipe towers that frame the central window, which is now covered, the coat of arms framed by the crown that surmounts the towers and the floating garlands held, as well as the central concave and non-convex tower give the whole elegance and size.
The extension by Jean-François Vautrin - 1814
Nicolas Dupont looked after the organ until his death in 1781. Subsequently, his pupil Jean-François Vautrin was commissioned to carry out the repairs in 1788 and to add the large caisse (bass drum) register . After the organ, the Revolution played thanks to the organist Michelot, the "man of heart and kindness," the revolutionary melodies had survived without damage, it was 1808 again repaired by Vautrin. On this occasion the keyboard was expanded from 50 to 53 keys, four registers were added to the Schwellwerk and changes to the registers were made on the Hauptwerk and the Rückpositiv. The most important addition is undoubtedly that of the two wooden bombardes on the rear wall of the instrument, one 16 feet, the other 32 feet. The installation of the 32-foot bombard, the first in France , required the demolition of part of the rear ledges. The central window was also covered.
Vautrin undertook this work without the written consent of the cathedral administration. The latter refused to pay for the organ to be completed in 1814. For a long time there was no solution in sight until after Vautrin's death in 1836 an agreement was reached between the administration of the cathedral and the organ builder's daughters. Before this regulation, a contract was signed with Joseph Cuvillier mainly to replace the blower. But the Ministry of Culture, for its part, asked for different cost estimates, especially from the Callinet brothers from the city of Rufach , who suggested other changes. Finally, the Claude brothers, originally from Mirecourt but living in Paris, were commissioned with the new work.
The renovation by Cavaillé-Coll - 1861
Despite the changes made since Dupont's death, the main organ of the cathedral remained almost in its original state and retained its classical structure. In 1857 the famous French organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll , who had been entrusted with the renovation of the main organ of Saint Sulpice in Paris , was turned to convert the instrument into a symphonic organ, due to the changing taste of the time over half a century .
As in other similar situations, Cavaillé-Coll used the case as well as a large part of the pipework from the 18th century. He redistributed the registers of the Hauptwerk among two manuals (Hauptwerk and Bombarde), added a new register and renewed all technical elements of the instrument such as the fan, the action and the console . He replaced the two wooden bombardments from Vautrin with two identical registers in the same place and installed a large swell mechanism on the tip of the instrument. The swell box was originally hidden behind linen. It was built with two characteristic glass side walls, which gave it a special charisma and effectiveness.
The registers taken over by Cavaillé-Coll included numerous tongue registers. The organ builder added further (a total of 23 extraordinary reed registers, i.e. more than a third of the organ) in order to achieve the highest percentage he has ever had in one of his organs. The usual labial pipes ( principal and wide choir ) as well as the classical mixtures also found their place in the converted instrument. The high number of pedal registers (15) and the total number of reed registers in the pedal are unique, which has not been exceeded in any other large instrument from Cavaillé-Coll.
Hærpfer-Erman - 1965
In 1881 Aristide Cavaillé-Coll carried out small restorations, and in 1921 his successor Charles Mutin repaired the damage caused by the grenades that fell outside the cathedral. An electrification project for the mechanical action by the House of Rœthinger from Strasbourg , under the supervision of Marcel Dupré , was prevented by the beginning of the Second World War . This project would have provided for the dismantling of the mechanics, the windchest and the gaming table and a change in the disposition and profound re-intonation of the organ. This would have lost this masterpiece by Cavaillé-Coll, as was the case with many other French instruments.
In 1965 a restoration was carried out by the organ builder Hærpfer-Erman . This was overseen by Gaston Litaize and eventually resulted in major changes in line with the neo-classical aesthetic that peaked in the 1960s. The blower, the mechanics, the console and the wind chests were completely preserved, but the disposition was redesigned and the pipework partially re- intoned . The harmonic registers and the characteristic viols of the romantic organ as well as the numerous 16-foot registers have been removed in favor of higher registers (mixtures and aliquots), which refer to the classical organ. As was customary at that time, Hærpfer-Erman did not use any noble materials for his new registers that would have corresponded to the historical character of the instrument.
The organ since 2012
In 2012 Laurent Plet and Bertrand Cattiaux carried out work on the organ. These consisted of a cleaning out, maintenance of the mechanical action and the seals, a new intonation of the positive and a restoration of the tongue registers.
Even if the disposition has been somewhat oriented towards neo-classical aesthetics since then, the organ retains the clear Cavaillé-Coll note from a tonal perspective, despite the changes made by Hærpfer-Erman in 1965. There are still 24 registers (37%) from Dupont, 23 (35%) from Cavaillé-Coll, and two registers from Vautrin. Some registers (17) have been replaced, others such as the flutes or the tongue registers of the positive have been changed, the latter being newly intoned. Thanks to the pedal and the unique swell, which was spared the most, the ensemble retains its distinctly symphonic character. The completely new arrangement of the largest instrument, which was built by Cavaillé-Coll outside Paris, combined with the voluminous and precise acoustics of the cathedral, gives the instrument its special majesty, power and depth.
The case has been classified in the Monument Historique category since August 9, 1906 and the instrumental part of the organ since September 22, 2003 .
Disposition since 2012
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- Pair : I / II, III / II, IV / II, I / P, II / P, IV / P
- Playing aids : Introduction II, Appel anches I, IV, Appel anches 32 ′, Appel anches Pédale
Remarks
The playing and stop actions are mechanical. The actions in the main work are equipped with a barker machine .
Organists
- Johann Vexo has been titular organist since 2009
- Guillaume Beaudoin has been the second titular organist since 2014
Choir organ
On the left side of the choir is a choir organ by Kühn from 1912 with 17 stops.
Individual evidence
- ^ René Depoutot, Christian Lutz: Inventaire des orgues de Lorraine, Meurthe-et-Moselle. Vol. 1. Serpenoise, Metz 1990, pp. 235-244.
- ↑ Edgar Auguin: Monograph de la cathédrale de Nancy. Berger-Levrault, Nancy 1882, pp. 149-151.
- ↑ http://www.uquebec.ca/musique/orgues/france/nancynda.html
- ↑ Gilbert Huybens: Aristide Cavaillé-Coll - List of works carried out. Organ building specialist publisher Rensch, Lauffen / Neckar 1985, p. 40.
- ↑ Félix Raugel: Les orgues de la cathédrale de Nancy, l'Orgue, n ° 122. 1967, p 131st
Web links
Johann Vexo plays in Nancy Cathedral: