Grand Organ of Orléans Cathedral

The **Grand Organ of Orléans cathedral** is a large organ built by the French organ builder Cavaillé-Coll in 1880. The organ is one of few large Cavaillé-Coll organs that have not had any major additions, alterations, or redesigns over the years. Due to this fact, the organ of Orléans cathedral is generally regarded as one of the most authentic Cavaillé-Coll organs in France, along with Saint-Sulpice, Saint-Denis and others.

### History of the organ

The original of the current organ begin in 1631. A organ by Fleury was installed in the abbey of Saint Benoît in Loire, which was later expanded in 1707 by Jean Brocard. This organ was gifted to Orléans cathedral by Benoist Leburn, after had purchased the organ in 1796 during a sale of government assets. Despite the fact that the original deal was made in 1806, the organ did not move to Orléans until 1821, when it was shipped in boats up to the Loire river. When the organ arrived in 1822, the organ was in bad shape from lack of use and transit. Louis Callinet, who was responsible for moving the organ, took the opportunity to modify the organ to update its tonal scheme to the newly emerging romantic styles. However, the Classical organ is still very much present, especially in the form of it's F-compass French pedalboard. At this time the organ has 45 stops (including 12 reeds) over four manuals and pedal.

While the organ was installed in Orléans with relative ease, the platform that it was installed on could not handle the weight. It warped, damaging the action in the process. In 1831, Callinet warned the church officers that the organ was at risk of being permanently damaged if action was not taken. To take the load off the already warped beams of the organ loft, the organ case was attached to the back wall by iron rods. While this provided some stability, the issue of the weak structure would remain.

Cavaillé-Coll's first interaction with the church came in 1842 when he is commissioned to build a small choir organ with a 18 note attached pedal and treble-only Récit. The specification was proposed in 1843 and was inaugurated in 1846. Starting in 1861, the main organ begins to deteriorate again. In 1866, a beam breaks and destroys the action of the organ. Cavaillé-Coll is called back in 1869 to submit a proposal to rebuild the organ. However, this proposal is put on hold as war breaks out in 1870. Prisoners that were held inside the cathedral destroyed what was left of the organ. Upon the conclusion of fighting in 1876, Cavaillé-Coll can finally start building his organ from 8 years before. Cavaillé-Coll wanted to lower the organ balcony by a few meters to better improve the acoustics and to allow the placement of 32 foot pipes, but this request was denied by the architects given the balcony's past incidents regarding its stability. Most of the callinet and earlier pipework was destroyed by the war, so a majority of the registers are a mix of Cavaille-Coll and Earlier materials as CC "filled in the gaps" left in the old pipework by said war. Finally, organ was inaugurated by Alexandre Guilmant on February 5th, 1880, 11 years after it was first proposed.

The organ has had minimal changes over the years following 1880. A blower was installed in the 1920s, but Cavaille-Coll's bellows were still kept in case of a power outage or emergency. Following the second world war, the organ is cleaned by Robert Boisseau in 1949. In 1955, Boisseau prepared a major alteration to the organ to fit the new Neo-Classical style, which would see independent pipework added to the bombarde division, as well as revoicing of the rest of the organ. Thankfully, financial restraints did now allow this to occur and the Cavaille-Coll was saved. The grand organ was established as a historical monument in 1973 following a report from Marie-Claire Alain, where the instrument is described as "a perfect authentic example of the works of Cavaillé-Coll". By this time the organ was in need of a restoration, since it had not had any major work since its inauguration. The Haerpfer firm restores the organ 1978, making miniscule changes in the process. The Unda Maris of the Positif is replaced by a tierce, and the pitch is raised from 435 to 440, however this changes the character of the organ, making the tone darker. Haerpfer returns to run maintenance on the organ in 1978.

In 1995, Bernard Hurvy restored the choir organ, returning it to its original position, while raising the wind chests to allow the pipework to speak more freely. A new case using the same general shape of the Cavaillé-Coll was made using parts from the old rood screen. In the next year, Hurvy cleaned the great organ. In 2008, Hurvy restores the great organ to its original Cavaillé-Coll specification. The pitch was returned to 435 by extending all the flue pipes, and a replica Unda Maris replaced the tierce that was installed in the Positif in 1978. Since then, the organ has been in general good use in both services and concerts.

The choir organ too has had minimal alterations. In 1901 the treble only-recit was extended to 42 notes from C to f0. The mute lowest octave is permanently coupled to the Grand-Orgue clavier. A 16' Bourdon was added at the same time, wich is available in the pedal as a soubasse as well. All of this work is done by Charles Mutin. The entire choir stall structure is moved into the transept in 1936, the organ moves with it, and a new more minimalist facade is provided by Gonzalez. The organ was very cramped in this new location, and it could not project into the room well. In 1995, the stalls were moved back to their original position. Bernard Hurvy made a new case based on the Cavaille-Coll original, made using carvings from the old Rood Screen. The wind chests are raised slightly to greatly improve the projection. The organ is voiced rather strongly for a choir organ and is capable of filling the church with sound. This makes it great for performing dialogues with the great organ.

### Description

The large 16-foot organ case from the 17th century is a typical example of a French classical organ case. The main buffet has 5 towers with 4 flats between them, their pipes are arranged in a 5-7-5-8-5-8-5-7-5 position. The towers at the ends of the case are the largest, followed by the central one, with the middle two towers being the smallest. The Positif de Dos has 3 towers with 2 flats between them. It's pipes are arranged in a 5-7-7-7-5 layout. The center tower has the shortest pipes in the façade and the flaking towers hold the tallest. The center tower of the Positif has a less extreme curve then the others, and it is slightly wider then them. The side towers are rather thin for their height. The 4 outer towers of the main case are supported by larger-than-life statues, and the central one by a carving featuring the wings and head of a cherub. The rest of the bottom of the case has simple square carvings. This square pattern continues beyond the width of the case to hide the bass notes of the Grande Pédale, and are hinged to serve as doors into the organ and to the calcant chamber.

Inside the organ, the layout is typical. Obviously, the Positif is located in its own case on the rail of the balcony. Just behind the façade is the Grand Orgue, with the Bombarde just behind it. These two divisions are on a diatonic wind chest which extends approximately the width between the two shortest towers of the main façade. Many of the large bass pipes are offset to the sides of the chest to allow it to stay compact. Flanking this chest is the chests of the Pétite Pédale. Behind the organ case, the Récit Expressif is located behind the grand orgue and bombarde, and is is elevated compared to them. Because of this, the top of the swell box can be seen on top of the case. Flanking the Récit is the chests of the Grande Pédale, which are cone chests, a rarity for Cavaille-Coll. The lowest notes of these chests can be seen from the nave. Below the Récit and Grande Pédale is the majority of the wind system which shall be described in detail later.

The console is located behind the Positif case and is attached to the main case. Unlike most Cavaillé-Coll organs, the stops are not arranged in stepped tiers. The Positif is the first manual, followed by the Grand-Orgue, Bombarde, and Récit in height order. Every manual and the pedal have barker levers, minus the positif which is a direct mechanical connection. The stops are arranged to follow this same general order, with the exception of the pedale stops being located between those of the Positif and Grand-Orgue When not in use, the console can be protected by closing two doors on either side of it for protection.

A interesting feature of the organ is the Contre-Bombarde 32'. Since the plan to lower the balcony was rejected, Cavaillé-Coll decided to develop a work-around to allow this register to still fit in the organ. The Contre-Bombarde is really a mutation reed at 10 2/3'. When the Contre-Bombarde stop knob is drawn, it also mechanically pulls out the 16' Bombarde, creating a surprisingly effective resultant effect, especially when supported by the upperwork and the manual stops via a pedal coupler. Since the bombarde 16' is quite small by CC standards and is used in the acoustic 32, The Pédale also has a Tuba Magna 16', A widely scaled Bombarde. This second 16 foot reed serves to add power to the bombarde and function as a 16' reed when the bombarde is preoccupied enforcing the acoustic 32' effect. However, this stop is *Not* on the jeux de Anches (due to a technical fallacy with the cone-chests) so it is often used sparingly.

The wind system consists of of 4 large bellows behind the organ, under the Grande Pédale chests. These are arranged in two pairs of two stacked bellows, the lower of whom is connected to the upper via a flexible windline. From here, regular windlines carry the wind to various secondary bellows located throughout the organ. Each pair of bellows is pumped by two men, with the feeders pumping up a static regulator which then feeds the stacked bellows as described above. Throughout the organ, higher pressures are used in the treble than in the bass. The Grande Pédale is also on heavier pressure then the Petit Pédale. *(Citiation Needed)*

From a tonal standpoint, the organ has some limitations. The Tirasse Récit and the Récit sur Positif couplers are absent, as is the pedal to disengage the grand orgue. This makes playing some music a challenge. The Positif and the Récit must be joined through the grand orgue, but the lack of a "renvoi sur machine" pedal means the Grand-Orgue stops cannot be muted (unless all of the stops are pushed in) and will be played with them. The problem of no Récit Tirasse is solved by using the Bombarde keyboard, as a Récit to Bombarde coupler is provided. However, this then raises the issue of the bombarde reeds playing with the Récit. This problem can be worked around due to the fact Cavaillé-Coll allowed the main battery of reeds and mixtures to float between the grand orgue and bombarde keyboards. The Anches G-O and Anches Bombarde pedals allow the reeds and mixtures to play on their respective keyboards. If the Récit Tirasse has to be used, the bombarde reeds can be floated to the grand orgue, and then Récit to Bombarde and Tirasse Bombarde are enabled, the Récit alone will play on the Bombarde, with the Tirasse. Meanwhile, the Grand-Orgue manual will play its foundation stops, as well as the reeds from the bombarde if they are floated to that manual. In addition, the Positif manual does not have an Appel Anches pedal, so a assistant is needed to quickly disable the reeds. Similarly, the Tuba Magna of the Pédale is not on the Jeux de Combinaison despite being painted red on the stop knob. All of this features make playing some literature challenging, especially when assistance from registrants is unavailable.

Despite these setbacks, the well rounded stoplist makes the organ very capable in the music it can play, ranging from romantic strings to classical plenums and dialogues, as well as a roaring tutti. One may compare the stoplist of this organ to that of Cavaille-Coll's masterpiece in Saint-Ouen de Rouen. It is not clear until the two are put next to each other how similar they are. The Ouen organ is slightly larger, especially in the Récit section, as well as the implementation of more reeds, including two ranks of chamades.However, this organ does not have the technical innovations present at Orléans, like the cone chests and floating reeds.

### Stoplist

#### II. Grand-Orgue

* *Positif on G-O*
* *Bombarde to G-O*
* *Récit to G-O*
* *Anches G-O (floats bombarde reeds to GO)*
* *Octave Graves*

#### III. Bombarde

* *Récit to Bombarde*
* *Anches bombarde (floats bombarde reeds to bombarde)*
* *Octave graves*

#### IV. Récit Expressif

Jeux de Combinaison
 Claion

* *Appel Jeux de Anches*
* *Tremulant*
* *Balanced Expression pedal*
* *Octave Graves*

#### Pédale

Jeux d'Anches
 Bombarde

* *Appel Jeux de Anches*
* *Tirasse G-O*
* *Tirasse Bombarde*

### Sources

**Images:**

https://inventaire-des-orgues.fr/detail/orgue-Orléans-cathedrale-sainte-croix-fr-45234-orlea-stcroi1-t/

https://www.hetorgel.nl/en/2011/09/e2011-05b/

https://www.facebook.com/OrguesOrléans/

http://lfdc45.canalblog.com/albums/cathedrale\_d\_Orléans\_\_\_tribune\_des\_orgues\_et\_triforium/index.html

**Information:**

https://www.musiqueorguequebec.ca/orgues/france/Orléanssc.html

http://www.jeanpierregriveau.com/Orgues-Cathedrale-Orléans.html

https://inventaire-des-orgues.fr/detail/orgue-Orléans-cathedrale-sainte-croix-fr-45234-orlea-stcroi1-t/

*Special thanks to Jean-Pierre Griveau for sharing his expertise with the author over E-mail.*