Saint Eustache, Paris
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A.R.G.O.S.
L'ÉGLISE SAINT-EUSTACHE
Visite virtuelle de l'orgue de Saint-Eustache
12/2003: The tour through the organ consists of 19 new photo's
The Church of St. Eustache, erected between 1532 and 1640, is one of the most important churches in Paris. Standing near the Louvre an the Royal Palace, St. Eustache was known as the Parochial an Royal Church from the 17th century until the French Revolution.Numerous major events have marked its history. Richelieu, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (the future Marquess de Pompadour) and Molière were baptised there. Louis XIV Holy Communion was celebrated in the St. Eustache, as were the funerals of La Fontaine, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's mother, and many others.
The writer Voiture, the grammarian Vaugelas, Furetière, the harlequin Dominique Bensérade and Scaramouche are buried there.
The world-wide reputation of the St. Eustache is due not only to its splendid architecture, but also to its musical tradition. The merriage of Lulli, the last organ recital of Remeau, the concerts of Berlioz, Franck, Liszt and many others are examples. Since 1963 Jean Guillou, accomplished virtuoso, improviser of great talent and representative of modern music for the organ, has been the titular organist.
Having to face the disastrous results of the works initiated in 1978, the City of Paris decided, in 1985, to organise an European competition in order to have the organ rebuild.Amongst the organ builders selected and allowed to submit a proposal, KLAIS and VAN DEN HEUVEL got the same number of votes at the "Commision des Orgues" and finally the contract was awarded to the Dutch firm VAN DEN HEUVEL.
Building the new instrument began at fall 1986 and the organ was completed in the organ builder's assembly hall in august 1988. At that time it was fully playable
(with exception of the display pipes which, together with the case, were strongly anchored to the walls of the Saint Eustache church). During fall 1988 the instrument was dismantled and shipped to Paris, then reinstalled on the gallery. Works were finished by summer 1989 and the titular was able to record some CD's in June 1989 and play the dedicatory recital on September 21st, 1989.
The Van den Heuvel organ is completely new except the case with its display pipes and a few stops which were reused (amongst them the Cor de Basset 8' made by the famous English organ builder Henry Willis for Joseph Bonnet - organist of Saint Eustache from 1906 to 1943).The new organ has five manual divisions of 61 notes and a Pedal of 32 notes. The Specification is exceptionally rich. The Positif has 18 stops, the Grand-Orgue 16 stops, the Récit Expressif 17 stops, the Grand-Choeur 19 stops, the Solo 11 stops and the Pedal 20 stops, altogether 101 stops, 147 ranks and 8.000 pipes. Amongst the uncommon features of this organ, the following are particularly noticeable:
- a grand Plein-Jeu based on the Montre 32' on the Grand-Orgue;
- the harmonic series up to the ninth in 32' on the Pédale (Théorbe: 4 4/7' + 3 5/9') , in 16' on the Grand-Choeur and in 8' on the Solo (Harmoniques: 1 1/3' + 1 1/7' + 8/9'), and up to the seventh in 8' on the Positif;
- a Plein-Jeu Harmonique 2-8r. on the Grand-Choeur;
- a battary of hooded Tubas on the Grand-Choeur;
- a reed battary based on the 32' Contrebasson on the Récit Expressif;
- the five ranks of chamade reeds on the solo winded on 6 (!) different wind pressures increasing from bass to treble.
The Contre-Bombarde 32' was not specified in the original contract but the Van den Heuvel brothers thought that the existing Contre-Trombone 32' (with its wooden resonators of relatively small scale) was not assertive enough for such a large instrument; so they gave this new stop to the city of Paris. Thus the organ of the Saint Eustache seems to be the only one in the world which has three independent 32' reed stops.
There are two consoles: one "en fenêtre" on the gallery which has an assisted tracker key action with Barker-levers; the other, in the nave, is moveble and has an electronic transmission. The electronic stop has a separate combination system for each console.- Gallery console: the action is direct tracker for the Positif and Grand-Orgue, and is assisted by Barker levers for Récit, Grand-Choeur, Solo and Pédale and, ad libitum, for the Grand-Orgue. In order to avoid the very disturbing noise of the Barker machines when the organ is played they are put in a big insulated room with triple walls.
- Nave console: the transmission is electronic thanks to a coder and decoder (made by the American firm ICMI, as the adjustable combinations, the Soprano and Alto couplers and the Sostunutos).
The main parts of the instrument are distributed on 5 levels:
- in the nave: the moveble console;
- on the gallery level: the attached console, two blowers in sound-proof boxes, three reservoirs, the room for the Barker machines, the Positif (Pos);
- on the 1st floor: The Grand-Orgue (G-O), the Pédale (P1: Anches; P2: Fonds; P3: Mutations) and the Grand-Choeur Tubas (T). One blower in a sound-proof box and eight reservoirs;
- on the second floor: the Récit (Réc) and the Grand-Choeur (G-Ch), two blowers in sound-proof boxes and six reservoirs;
- on the 3rd floor: the Solo (S) with it's Chamades (Ch), one blower in a sound-proof box and six reservoirs.
Six blowers produce the wind necessary for the 8000 pipes. The most powerful one feeds the Pedal windchests and the Barker machines; the other are put in sound-proof boxes. 23 reservoirs enable every division to get the right pressure (from 90 to 167 mm). As a matter of fact, every division - with exception of the Positif - has at least three different wind pressures: one for the bass, one for the medium and on for the treble. The Grand-Choeur has four different wind pressures because the Tubas stand on a special windchest at 150 mm and the Solo has six different wind pressures from bass (105 mm) to treble (167 mm); this feature is unique in the world.
Instruments | St. Eustache, Paris