The organs

The idea of a Flemish-style organ for the church of Beurnevésin, which had never had a pipe organ, very quickly became obvious to me. Indeed, given the richness of the region’s organological heritage and the desire to further enrich it, the choice of this aesthetic, which is still unrepresented (and in fact rarely present outside […]

The wishes expressed by the local officials and the handsome decorations of the Jesuit church prompted me to choose a historical façade — a model by Gottfried Silbermann. The fact that up to then no organ builder had ever attempted an integral copy of these beautiful organ cases was a further major incentive. The goal […]

Before the French Revolution, organ builders often settled in episcopal capitals, where they could count on the many convents clustered around the cathedral as potential customers. On the left bank of the high Rhine valley, the city of Strasburg attracted prestigious builders like the Silbermanns. The city of Basel could not exert the same attraction […]

The great Bossard organ of the former Premonstratensian monastery of Bellelay, which dated back to 1721, disappeared during the French Revolution.  Among the visible traces of the instrument, the most mysterious was its silhouette: it was drawn on the west wall, like a memorial, seeming to express the expectation of its rebirth. In addition to […]

The overall picture formed by the organs of the former Abbey of Bellelay at the beginning of the eighteenth century was to become reality again with the building of the choir organ, just after that of the regal organ and the reconstruction of the great organ. The building of the choir organ was made possible […]

The smallest organ in the former abbey church of Bellelay is a copy of the Ab Yberg family’s positive (made around 1600), now in the Basel Historical Museum. In the course of its history, the positive had undergone several transformations, in particular the extension and replacement of the original reed stop. The rehabilitation process restored […]

Buffet peint et doré, Ripieno et jeux Da Concerto, Gérald Guillemin’s organ is designed for very “Italian” concerts. Built in 1979, this instrument is directly inspired by the classic Italian organ, by its sound aesthetics and by its painted, gilded case with the flat front made with mitres, flat faces and cornices. Like the type […]

L’école française à la cathédrale – historique Waltrin-Callinet / restauration manufacture Schwenkedel

L’orgue de la Cathédrale Saint-Christophe, trois dates, trois visages : 1750 – la création et Jean-Baptiste Waltrin, 1850 – l’extension et les frères Callinet, 1970 – la reconstruction et Kurt Schwenkedel En 1749, la ville de Belfort passe commande d’un orgue à Jean-Baptiste Waltrin. Le père de Jean-Baptiste, avait construit l’orgue de l’ancienne église Saint-Denis, devenue […]

L’école d’Allemagne du Nord au Temple St-Jean – atelier Marc Garnier

Une déclinaison Arp Schnitger par Marc Garnier, dans la plus pure tradition nordique Il n’est pas commun qu’une association soit maître d’œuvre d’un projet d’une importance artistique et financière comparable à celui de l’orgue du temple Saint-Jean. Ce rôle est plus souvent tenu par des organismes publics, principaux financeurs des grandes réalisations. Malgré deux écueils redoutables : […]