THE GREAT ORGAN
4/5
the organ of Franck - the organ of
Tournemire - the organ of Langlais -
the organ of Taddei
THE ORGAN OF JEAN LANGLAIS
The second enlargment of the organ
Just after 1945), a part of the roof of the organ
case was taken away and replaced by a sound
board placed approx. 1 meter above the case
to improve to sound of the Swell in the
church.
Between 1956 and 1962, a drastic renovation
of the organ was realized under the
supervision of Jean Langlais, which adapted
the organ more or less to the neo-baroque
ideas of that time. These works were
performed again by the Beuchet-Debierre-
company.
The works included:
•
Replacement of the mechanical action of
the keyboards and stops by an electro-
pneumatical traction
•
All wind facilities were altered, including
the cancellation of the division of
windpressures in the Great and (probably)
the Positif.
•
A new console was installed with pistons
and a crescendo pedal*
•
Changes in the stoplist:
Grand-Orgue
. the octave 4' was replaced by a Flûte 4'
(perhaps this was done in 1933)
. the Cornet was newly made and place on
a additionale windchest
. the resultant of 16’ of the Plein-jeu was
silenced
Positif
. the Viole de gambe was replaced by a
Larigot 1 1/3'
. the Flûte Octaviante 4 was cut 'on tone'.
Récit
. on the windchest of 1933: + Clairon 2’** +
Principal italien 4'
. the Flûte Octaviante 4 was cut 'on tone'
. reharmonisation of the Octavin 2’
Pedal
. the additional windchest of 1933 was
modified to house three new stops
Prestant 4', Doublette 2' and Bourdon 8'
(replacing the Quinte).
•
Reharmonisation of the organ (by Jacques
Picaud)***
* the old keyboards were reutilized in the new organ of Saint-
Louis-de-Vincennes (Denis Lacorre, 2016). Source: L'orgue
Denis Lacorre de l'église Saint-Louis-de-Vincennes. Naga-
Infoigrapie, 2017.
** According to Marie-Louise Langlais (video), her husband
had heard the Clairon 2 of the organ of the Tabernacle of Salt
Lake City, Utah (USA). He was impressed by it and wanted to
have a full range of reeds (16-8-4-2) on the Swell of the organ
of Sainte-Clotilde.
*** Unfortunately, there are no data on the actions of
Beuchet-Debierre concerning the reharmonisation, but there
can be no doubt this renovation changed the sound of the
organ severely. The following stops of Cavaillé-Coll were not
present anymore or heavily modified:
- Octave 4 (Great); in 1933 replaced by a flûte 4
- Gambe 8 (Pos); removed in 1962
- Flute octaviante 4 (Pos and Swell); shortened in 1933
- Clairon 4 (Pos and Swell); fis2-f3 replaced by labial pipes
Maintenance works in 1983 by Jacques
Barberis
Besides the normal maintenance tasks, some
modifications were carried out:
•
the Clarinette of the Swell returned to its
original place at the Positif and the Tierce
and Piccolo were subsequently placed on a
separate electro-pneumatic windchest.
•
the console was modified too to create a
solid-state stop action with multiple
channels of memory and an adjustable
crescendo pedal.
Maintenance works in 1995 by Maison
Hédelin
Around 1995, la Maison Hédelin installed an
electronic Setzer and did some mainenance
works without any modifications.
More information on the desktop-version