Thursday, December 4, 2003

8,000 pipes

The great organ, Église Saint-Eustache (Church of St. Eustache), Paris

The great organ
Église Saint-Eustache (Church of St. Eustache)
Impasse Saint-Eustache
Quartier des Halles, 1st arrondissement
Paris, July 2002

“With nearly 8,000 pipes, the great organ, with 101 stops and 147 ranks of pipes, is one of the largest organs in France, competing for first place with the great organ of Notre Dame de Paris, with 115 stops and 156 ranks of pipes, and that of Saint Sulpice, with 102 stops and 135 ranks of pipes, and reaching first place with its size, 10 metres wide and 18 metres high. The organ, originally constructed by P.-A. Ducroquet, was powerful enough for the premiere of Hector Berlioz's titanic Te Deum to be performed at St-Eustache in 1855. It was later modified under the direction of Joseph Bonnet. The present organ of St. Eustache was designed by Jean-Louis Coignet under the direction of Titular Organist Jean Guillou and dates from 1989, when it was almost entirely rebuilt by Dutch firm van Den Heuvel, retaining a few ranks of pipes from the former organ and the wooden case, which is original. Each summer, organ concerts commemorate the premieres of Berlioz’s Te Deum and Liszt’s Christus here in 1886.” (Saint-Eustache, Wikipedia)

No comments: