Understanding Maurice Duruflé, 1902–1986

Ronald Ebrecht, an international performer for more than three decades, has been heard in concert on four continents. His articles have been published on three continents, including two forthcoming in Russian and the present article, which was requested for the Bulletin de l’Association Maurice et Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, where it appeared in a French version in December 2008. He continues work on his next book on the Cavaillé-Coll project for Saint Peter’s, Rome, to be published in 2011. As University Organist at Wesleyan University, he has taught for more than twenty years. Ebrecht has commissioned works from composers such as William Albright, Xiaoyong Chen, Raul de Zaldo Fabila, David Hurd, Christian Wolff and Wesleyan composers Anthony Braxton, Neely Bruce, Jay Hoggard, Ron Kuivila and Alvin Lucier. Many are available from major publishers. His latest performances of the Poulenc Concerto were at Minsk Philharmonic Hall on November 5.

Maurice Duruflé altered his organ works many times from when he composed them in his youth to the end of his life. My intent to know the original led me to strip away these layers.1 I now perform from my restored early versions in which I include Duruflé’s later note corrections. Duruflé’s changes to the Scherzo, opus 2 and Prélude, Adagio et choral varié sur le thème du “Veni Creator,” opus 4 are quite extensive. Informed listeners are often surprised to hear the original published scores.

The Polignac organ
In the process of researching these first editions and my book, I studied the earliest version of the Poulenc Organ Concerto and the instrument where it was premiered by Maurice Duruflé, the Cavaillé-Coll house organ of the Princesse de Polignac, who commissioned the work—the last in her distinguished collection of commissions.2 She was a capable organist and patroness of the arts, who also commissioned Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos. Poulenc, with no skills as an organist, sought advice from the Princesse’s house concert director, Nadia Boulanger, regarding the solo part. Her interest in early music is revealed in the concerto’s reminiscence of two German Baroque pieces: Buxtehude’s and Bach’s Fantasias in G Minor.
From manuscript sources, I have reconstructed the specification of the Cavaillé-Coll as it was for the premiere, December 16, 1938. Most performers reference the sound of the organ in the 1961 recording of the concerto as performed by Duruflé on the newly restored organ of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont; however, there was no west-end organ in this church when the concerto was premiered, nor when Poulenc consulted with him for the registrations in the published score, because it was removed in spring 1939. Two newspaper articles, one with a photo showing the pipes being removed, chronicle this planned rebuild: Anonymous, “Les Orgues de St-Étienne-du-Mont,” Le Petit Journal, Paris (28 April 1939), and Stephane Faugier, “On transforme les orgues de Saint-Étienne du Mont,” Le Journal, Paris (3 March 1939).
During the previous summer, with Felix Raugel and Marcel Dupré, Duruflé prepared a proposed specification to rebuild the organ.3 The neo-Classic sounds he imagined from the 1938 specification (or those of the quite different 1956 specification of the organ once restored after the war), were not available to the performer on the Polignac organ at the time of the private premiere, nor the Mutin of the public one (see below). The Polignac concert room allowed only a small orchestra, which, combined with its Romantic Cavaillé-Coll organ, certainly produced a melded ensemble quite apart from the ‘oil and water’ effects of Duruflé’s famous recording.
Unfortunately the manuscript does not give the registrations initially used, leaving the problem that the published registrations would not have been possible on the two organs where it was first played. On these the effect was certainly more blended with the orchestra, and more importantly, the timbre of these instruments was decidedly Romantic.
Winnaretta Singer originally commissioned her Cavaillé-Coll in 1892 for the balcony of the atelier of her residence on the corner of what was then the Avenue Henri Martin and is now the Avenue Georges Mandel and the rue Cortambert. After her divorce from her first husband, the Prince de Scey-Montbéliard, she married the Prince Edmond de Polignac, thirty years her senior, in 1893. When Polignac died in 1901, she took down the house leaving the atelier, and built a grand mansion with a separate music room incorporated into the main house on her property. The two-story atelier was also reconstructed, with an apartment on the upper level and a large music room with the rebuilt organ provided on the ground floor. In these two spaces many concerts were given, and the musical and artistic elite of the age gathered: Cocteau, Colbert, Dupré, Fauré, Proust, Stravinsky, etc. Prominent organists often gave recitals, but Duruflé seems not to have been among them, and only had access to the instrument to practice the day before the premiere of the concerto.
Jesse Eschbach in “A Compendium of Known Stoplists by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll 1838–1898” (Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, Vol. 1; Paderborn: Verlag Peter Ewars, 2003, p. 557) omits the Grand orgue Bourdon 16. However, as Eschbach remarks in a footnote, it is included in René Desplat, “L’Orgue de salon dans la région parisienne depuis un siècle,” L’Orgue 83 (April-September 1957): 79–90.4 Similarly, Carolyn Shuster-Fournier in “Les Orgues de Salon d’Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Paris,” L’Orgue: Cahiers et Mémoires, 1997, p. 95, omits it in the specification but mentions it in a footnote. I will prove Desplat correct. The Bourdon 16 was present in all versions of the organ.

Princesse de Polignac, Cavaillé-Coll, 1892, 56-note manuals, 30-note pedal

Grand orgue expressif
Bourdon 16
Montre 8
Flûte harmonique 8
Bourdon 8
Prestant 4
Flûte douce 4
Basson 16
Trompette 8
Clairon 4

Récit expressif
Flûte traversière 8
Gambe 8
Voix céleste 8
Flûte octaviante 4
Octavin 2
Plein jeu
Basson-Hautbois 8
Clarinette 8

Pédale
Soubasse 16
Flûte 8

Orage
Tirasse GO
Tirasse Récit
Anches Récit
Anches GO
Copula
Trémolo
Nadia Boulanger, known in the USA as “the famous French organist,” gave the premiere of the Copland Organ Symphony, written for her, with the New York Philharmonic on January 11, 1925. The Princesse was also quite an accomplished organist, and continued to play and study major works of Bach in her London exile during World War II. The Poulenc Organ Concerto was originally intended to be performed by the Princesse. Duruflé was Mlle. Boulanger’s very natural suggestion: she knew him from having judged him in the organ contests he won in 1929 and 1930, and from his teaching of harmony at the Conservatoire Americain at Fontaine-
bleau, which she directed.
The organ was again rebuilt in 1933 before Duruflé played for the premiere of the concerto under the baton of Nadia Boulanger.5 The Princesse wrote to Nadia Boulanger from Italy October 23, 1933, authorizing the work to be done to her organ to cost 11,500 francs.6 These alterations made by Victor Gonzalez, when Rudolf von Beckerath was in his employ, are as follows: make the expression boxes open more fully, repair the pedal mechanism, and most importantly, add a Plein jeu 4 ranks to the Grand orgue in the place of the Basson 16, which is transferred to the Pédale.7 Also enumerated at a cost of 500 francs is removal of the 32′ stop. Though it is possible that one may have been added in 1904, given the size and reduced height of the space where the organ was re-installed and the fact that no one who saw the organ remarked upon such an addition, I think it most unlikely. This expense was probably for the removal of the Orage mechanism.
The Princesse encloses the typed estimate from Gonzalez:

WORK TO BE DONE
I—The most urgent
1. Take the pipes out, clean them, repair them and clean the organ: 11,000 frs
2. Take apart the bass windchests and modify them to have more wind for the pipes: 4,000 frs
X 3. Do away with the 32 foot stop and take it out of the organ: 500 frs X
4. Move the Bourdon 16′ wood pipes to permit the placement of a three-rank cornet on the main chest: 1,500 frs
5. Redo the lead windlines that are oxidized: 4,000 frs
X X 6. Give the expression boxes maximum opening—redo the mechanism: 1,000 frs X
X X 7. Move the Basson 16′ of manual I to the Pédale: 4,000 frs X
X 8. Replace the Basson 16′ on G.O. with a Plein jeu of 4 ranks, which will brighten the main manual: 4,500 frs X
9. Redo the voicing of the organ to make stops more distinct: 7,000 frs
X 10. Repair the mechanism of the Pédale, which has frequent ciphers: 1,500 frs X
11. Modify the Bourdon 8′ and Flûte douce stops of the G.O. which must serve as bass for the Cornet, by giving them chimneys: 800 frs
12. Make new pipes for: Nasard 22⁄3′, Doublette 2′, Tierce 13⁄5′: 6,000 frs
13. Make a new chest for these three stops (Nasard, Doublette, Tierce): 2,800 frs
= 48,600 frs X

On it she makes annotations mentioned in her letter and marked X.8 The total for the work to be done equals the 11,500 francs she agrees to pay for those items on the invoice she accepts. This offers much to consider, as much by what she decides to do as by what she declines—changes that would have given the organ a neo-Classic sound. How fortunate that the efficient person who typed the estimate provides precisions that allow one to establish the original and modified specifications. The estimate references the addition of a 3-rank Cornet (by moving the Bourdon 16′ pipes and modifying the Bourdon 8′ and Flûte douce), and completing it with pipes and a new chest.
We thus know that originally there were both 16′ and 8′ Bourdons on the Grand orgue and that there was no Cornet, even though Duruflé suggests Cornets on both the Récit and Positif in his concerto registrations. It is clear that it was the Baroque-minded Mlle. Boulanger who wanted the Cornet, not the Princesse herself.9 More importantly, we can establish what the balance was between this organ and the small orchestra. Some have thought of the work as a chamber piece, but the Princesse’s instrument was certainly very powerful relative to the smaller cubic volume of the space where it was re-installed in 1904. Thus, the Organ Concerto is not like the Concert Champêtre where the orchestra overwhelms the harpsichord, but rather the reverse. Duruflé had to exercise care in registration not to swamp the orchestra. Performers with large orchestras in large halls can therefore use more organ to achieve the appropriate balance.

Princesse de Polignac, Cavaillé-Coll, 56-note manuals, 30-note pedal, as modified in 1933

Grand orgue expressif
Bourdon 16
Montre 8
Flûte harmonique 8
Bourdon 8
Prestant 4
Flûte douce 4
Plein jeu IV
Trompette 8
Clairon 4

Récit expressif
Flûte traversière 8
Gambe 8
Voix céleste 8
Flûte octaviante 4
Octavin 2
Plein jeu III
Basson-Hautbois 8
Clarinette 8

Pédale
Soubasse 16
Flûte 8
Basson 16

Tirasse GO
Tirasse Récit
Anches Récit
Anches GO
Copula
Trémolo

Six months after the private premiere was the first public performance, June 21, 1939 on the Mutin in the Salle Gaveau.

Salle Gaveau, Mutin, III/36, 56/3010
Grand orgue
Bourdon 16
Montre 8
Gambe 8
Flûte harmonique 8
Bourdon 8
Praestant 4
Nasard 22⁄3
Doublette 2
Fourniture III
Basson 16
Trompette 8
Clairon 4

Positif expressif
Principal 8
Salicional 8
Cor de nuit 8
Flûte douce 4
Flageolet 2
Carillon III
Cromorne 8

Récit expressif
Diapason 8
Flûte traversière 8
Viola de gambe 8
Voix céleste 8
Flûte octaviante 4
Octavin 2
Plein jeu IV
Trompette harmonique 8
Basson-Hautbois 8
Soprano 4

Pédale
Contrebasse 16
Soubasse 16
Basse 8
Violoncelle 8
Bourdon 8
Flûte 4
Tuba Magna 16

Tirasse GO
Tirasse P
Tirasse R
Forte Péd
FF Péd
Positif/Récit
Machine GO
P/GO
R/GO
Anches GO
Anches R
Récit/R 16

Poulenc dedicates his score to the “Princesse Edmond de Polignac” and credits Duruflé for the registrations: “La registration a été établie avec le concours de Monsieur Maurice Duruflé.” (The registration was established with the assistance of Maurice Duruflé.) The following specification is derived from Duruflé’s suggested registrations for the Concerto. It produces an organ that is interesting to compare with those at his disposal for the first two performances, as well as that of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont at the time of the first recording: the specification as below concurs with none of these three. Normal type is used for stops inferred from generic suggestions, viz: fonds. Italics indicates specific stop names.

Grand orgue expressif
Montre 16
Bourdon 16
Montre 8
Flûte 8
Bourdon 8
Gambe 8
Octave 4
Flûte 4
Mixture
Trompette 8
Clairon 4
Positif/G.O. 8
Récit/G.O. 8
Positif/G.O. 4
Récit/G.O. 4

Positif expressif
Montre 8
Flûte 8
Bourdon 8
Gambe 8
Dulciane 8
Octave 4
Flûte 4
Nazard
Mixture
Cornet
Clarinette 8
Trompette 8
Clairon 4
Récit/P.

Récit expressif
Quintaton 16
Montre 8
Gambe 8
Flûte 8
Cor de nuit 8
Voix céleste
Octave 4
Flûte 4
Octavin 2
Cornet
Mixture
Hautbois 8
Trompette 8
Clairon 4

Pédale
Bourdon 32
Montre 16
Bourdon 16
Montre 8
Flûte 8
Bourdon 8
Octave 4
Bombarde 16
Trompette 8
Clairon 4
Grand orgue/Péd.
Positif/Péd.
Récit/Péd.

Since these Poulenc Concerto registration suggestions follow those of Duruflé for his own works so closely, readers seeking more background are referred to my discussion of the organs he knew at this time.11 Of note, there is no request for sixteen-foot manual reeds. The suggestions of mixtures on secondary and tertiary divisions and for super-couplers to the main division are curious, as these were normally not commonly available in France at that time. Also of particular interest is the Dulciane in the Positif, which he did not have on any organ he knew or designed, but he also suggested in the “Sicilienne” of Suite, opus 5.
The Princesse wished to perpetuate her artistic and philanthropic activities by establishing the Fondation Singer-Polignac in 1928. The first president was Raymond Poincaré, former President of France. After the Princesse’s death in London during the war (November 26, 1943), she left her organ to the singer Marie-Blanche, la comtesse Jean de Polignac, niece of Edmond. Marie-Blanche was not an organist, and the organ remained in the house until she donated it to the Séminaire du Merville, where it was reinstalled by Victor Gonzalez with a revised specification and electric pedal chest. Carolyn Shuster-Fournier publishes its present disposition in her excellent book.12 Though the organ is no longer extant in the Paris house, the spaces are still used regularly for performances sponsored by the foundation.

The Woolsey Hall performance
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1894, is the fourth oldest in America. Since the completion of Yale’s splendid Woolsey Hall in 1901, the NHSO has performed on that stage, beneath one of the grandest of all organ façades in an ample, embracing acoustic. The orchestra programs an occasional organ concerto, featuring the 200-rank E. M. Skinner organ. When I was asked to perform, nothing seemed more appropriate than the Poulenc with my new registrations, which I premiered two years before at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Given the Poulenc/Duruflé connection, some of Duruflé’s music was de rigueur. I invited the Yale Camerata, directed by Marguerite Brooks, to perform the Requiem, opus 9, and I arranged with the Association Duruflé to include the American premiere of the orchestrated “Sicilienne.”
As far as we know, Duruflé orchestrated only two of his organ works: the Scherzo, opus 2, published as Andante and Scherzo, opus 8, and the “Sicilienne,” from Suite opus 5 (b), which is unpublished. Duruflé’s adaptation of these scores is quite similar in approach. I have long theorized that harmonic and stylistic links join the Scherzo and “Sicilienne.” I add to that argument another: Duruflé orchestrated them alike.
The Andante and Scherzo, and “Sicilienne” together with the Trois Danses, opus 3, comprise the entire solo orchestral oeuvre of Duruflé. William Boughton, the new conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, shares my passion for them. Eventually the NHSO will present the complete orchestral pieces over the next few seasons, but in Boughton’s October 18, 2007 début concert with the orchestra it seemed appropriate to begin with a premiere of the unpublished “Sicilienne.” Though presented several years ago at the American Cathedral in Paris, it has not been programmed by a regular orchestra. Though his instrumentation of the largest version of the Requiem and of his Trois Danses for orchestra has the punch and verve of the most energetic orchestral compositions of Dukas or Ravel, the gentle, intimate and lilting “Sicilienne” required a quite different approach.
Maestro Boughton began the program with Fauré’s orchestral suite Pelleas et Melisande. Much of Fauré’s music gained a hearing only in the salons of cultivated aristocrats like the Princesse Edmond de Polignac, to whom this piece is dedicated. Fauré’s haunting “Sicilienne” set the scene for that of Duruflé—not just in genre and atmosphere, but it also prepared the audience with the familiar Fauré work to appreciate the unknown one that followed. Organists in the audience were given much to think about from hearing the orchestrated version of the second movement of the Suite. For instance, a clarinet plays the triplets in the accompaniment in the final da capo of the A theme. At the organ, this is often played faster than is possible for a clarinet. One also could note solo lines given to a single stop on the organ that are shared between instruments quite different in timbre in the orchestrated version. Closing the first half of the program, I played the Poulenc.
Readers may be interested in a synopsis of what is unique about my re-edition of the registrations and how I adapted it to this large symphonic organ. As an example, phrases in the concerto pass from first violins to second violins when they are repeated. Since this organ has multiple possibilities—with two clarinets, several solo flutes, two French horns, etc.—I followed the orchestration and registered repeated phrases on similar solo stops in alternate locations. Since the timbres suggested by Duruflé in the score were not available to him in the first two performances nor to me on this instrument, I applied the pattern of Duruflé’s revisions of registrations in his organ works. In these, as an example, Flûte harmonique later becomes Flûte, then even later in some cases Cornet. Neither the Princesse’s Cavaillé-Coll nor the Salle Gaveau Mutin had a Cornet. The Princesse had a solo flute, a Clarinette, a Basson-Hautbois, and a Trompette. In the Poulenc, I therefore used a few beautiful solo flute registrations rather than synthesizing a poor cornet with the available stops where it was suggested, except in the left-hand entry at measure 142, where I used alternating French horns instead of a cornet. Similarly, I used the two exquisite orchestral clarinets for the clarinet lines and did not try to produce a buzzy Baroque-sounding one. For some other solo lines, I used various oboe stops.
In general the effect made the organ more blended into the orchestra because the Woolsey solo stops are more orchestral in timbre than neo-Classic ones, and the foundations are smoother. The solo lines therefore arose from the organ-plus-orchestra texture sounding like orchestral instruments. Even informed audience listeners thought they were hearing orchestral wind instrument solos. At other points, to bring out the organ more, I made other adjustments. For instance, the multiple mixture plenums suggested in the score are not as snappy as reed choruses, and Duruflé did not have access to them. In Woolsey at measure 325 I used the Great mixtures, but answered with the Swell chorus reeds.
After intermission, to accompany the procession of the choir onto the stage, a select group of Yale Camerata men sang the Gregorian Introit. Thus began a marvelous rendition of the Requiem, opus 9. I am very grateful to the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (Martin Jean, director) for their substantial support of this concert. To introduce the audience to the program, musicologist and Polignac biographer Sylvia Kahan gave a pre-concert lecture.13 All were gratified to read the review by David J. Baker in the New Haven Register, which appeared on October 21. 

Jean-Louis Coignet is organ expert and Advisor for the City of Paris.

Two years ago, a storm was suddenly triggered on the Internet: the Sainte-Clotilde organ was being “vandalized” . . . “impure hands were ravaging the Cavaillé-Coll masterpiece” that Jean Langlais had so respectfully preserved . . . Jacques Taddéi, titular organist of Sainte-Clotilde, was deemed responsible for the “sack of a sacred heritage” and put in the stocks. This turmoil spread in the United States with that fine sense of moderation that characterizes some organ circles; it did not arouse much interest in France except from a few quarters where Taddéi is hated for various reasons.
What remains of the storm now? Merely a feeling of ridiculous agitation as it has become obvious that this thermonuclear bomb was a non-event perpetrated by mythomaniacs, and that the real motives of the agitators had little to do with their supposed respect for the Sainte-Clotilde organ. In order to separate lies and fantasms from the truth, it is helpful to sketch the history of this instrument.
When the organ was inaugurated on December 19, 1859, its specification was as follows: three manuals (C1–F5: 54 notes): Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit; Pédale (C1–D3: 27 notes).

GRAND-ORGUE

16’ Montre
16’ Bourdon
8’ Montre
8’ Bourdon
8’ Viole de gambe
8’ Flûte harmonique
4’ Prestant
4’ Octave
22⁄3’ Quinte
2’ Doublette
Plein-Jeu VII
16’ Bombarde
8’ Trompette
4’ Clairon

POSITIF

16’ Bourdon
8’ Montre
8’ Bourdon
8’ Salicional
8’ Unda Maris
8’ Flûte harmonique
4’ Prestant
4’ Flûte octaviante
22⁄3’ Quinte
2’ Doublette
Plein-Jeu III–VI
8’ Trompette
8’ Cromorne
4’ Clairon

RÉCIT

8’ Bourdon
8’ Viole de gambe
8’ Voix céleste
8’ Flûte harmonique
4’ Flûte octaviante
2’ Octavin
8’ Trompette
8’ Basson-Hautbois
8’ Voix humaine
4’ Clairon

PÉDALE

32’ Soubasse
16’ Contrebasse
8’ Flûte
4’ Octave
16’ Bombarde
16’ Basson
8’ Trompette
4’ Clairon

Pédales de Combinaisons

Orage
Tirasse Grand-Orgue
Tirasse Positif
Anches Pédale
Grand-Orgue 16
Positif 16
Positif/Grand-Orgue 16
Anches Grand-Orgue
Anches Positif
Anches Récit
Positif/Grand-Orgue
Récit/Positif
Trémolo Récit
Expression Récit
It should be noted that certain items of the specification are still debatable: Was there a Gambe 8’ or an Unda Maris 8’? Was there a Flûte octaviante 4’ or an Octave 4’ on the Positif? Was there an “appel Grand-Orgue” among the “pédales de combinaisons”? There is at least one point that is no longer questionable, namely, concerning the Récit/Pédale coupler: During examination of the original console in Flor Peeters’ music room, I noted several changes that had been carried out on the “pédales de combinaisons.” There was no longer any “pédale d’orage” as it had been replaced by the “tirasse Grand-Orgue.” Thus the original “tirasse Grand-Orgue” became “tirasse Positif” while the original “tirasse Positif” became “tirasse Récit.” When did this change happen? Probably during one of the “relevages” that Tournemire mentions in the “notice d’inauguration du Grand Orgue” published in 1933. In a letter to Daniel-Lesur, Tournemire wrote that he had the “tirasse Récit” added to the organ. Still, he mentions a “tirasse III” in the “notice . . . ” under the title “Dispositif de l’ancien orgue (1859) . . . ” Historical accuracy was probably not his strong point.
After César Franck’s death, Pierné was appointed in 1890, then Tournemire in 1898. The organ was enlarged in 1933 under Tournemire’s direction: 10 new stops and many new “pédales de combinaisons” were added, while the manuals were extended by 7 notes to reach a 61-note key compass and the pedal by 5 notes to a 32-key compass. These modifications made it necessary to provide a new console. A Cornet V was added to the Grand-Orgue; the Positif Cromorne was transferred to the Récit and renamed Clarinette; a Tierce 13⁄5’ and a Piccolo 1’ were added to the Positif; the Unda Maris gave way to a Gambe 8’.
The most important changes were made on the Récit: a new windchest was installed as well as five additional stops (Quintaton 16’, Bombarde 16’, Nazard 22⁄3’, Tierce 13⁄5’ and Plein-Jeu IV). The Récit enclosure was enlarged to accommodate the new elements. A Soubasse 16’ and a Quinte 51⁄3’ were added to the Pedal, and a Flûte 4’ replaced the Octave 4’. Fourteen new “pédales de combinaisons”—“octaves aigües” and “appels et retraits de jeux”—were added to the existing ones. The expression pedal was centered.
In the “notice d’inauguration,” Tournemire attempts to justify these changes: “These improvements were carried out to better serve the Art of the Organ from the 13th century to the present day.” Even if we do not agree with him, we have to admit that no irreversible changes were perpetrated at that time. All of the Cavaillé-Coll structures of the organ were still there: mechanical action with Barker levers, winding with double-rise bellows, etc. I remember having visited and heard the organ in the 1950s; its sound effect (excepting the “octaves aigües”) was still quite typical of a large Cavaillé-Coll organ.
After Tournemire’s tragic death in 1939, Ermend Bonnal was appointed titular organist. The organ underwent no changes during his tenure. Jean Langlais succeeded him in 1945. Soon afterwards he had part of the organ ceiling removed and replaced by a raised roof in particleboard in an attempt to improve sound egress from the Récit. This modification, carried out in the 1950s, was acoustically efficient, albeit visually very ugly indeed. (Photo 1)
The organ underwent substantial further modifications in 1960–62. The Barker levers, the trackers, and the stop action were removed and replaced with electro-pneumatic transmissions. The Grand-Orgue and Positif reservoirs were also removed and replaced by spring-regulators; the winding of the instrument underwent big changes as did its general balance (along the then-fashionable neo-classical trends). A new Pédale windchest was installed in front of the Récit box to accommodate the Soubasse 16’ as well as three new stops (Bourdon 8’, Prestant 4’ and Doublette 2’). A Flûte 4’ took the place of the Octave 4’ on the Grand-Orgue; the Positif Gambe 8’ was replaced by a Larigot 11⁄3’; a Principal Italien 4’ and a Clairon 2’ were added to the Récit; a new console (the third one) was installed; the “pédales de combinaisons” were reorganized and a combination system, with 6 general and 18 individual pistons, was installed at the back of the organ. Beuchet-Debierre executed these extensive modifications under the direction of Jean Langlais. It cannot be seriously asserted that these were merely superficial, cosmetic alterations. In fact the sound effect of the organ was grossly modified. Whether it sounded better or not is a matter of taste, but obviously the sound was no longer that of Cavaillé-Coll. Jean Guillou faithfully summed up a fairly widespread feeling: “ . . . it is a faucet for lukewarm water!”
Jacques Barberis performed another “relevage” in 1983; the Clarinette 8’ was moved back to the Positif at this time and a few small changes were made among the couplers.
Soon after his appointment as titular organist in 1987, Jacques Taddéi first complained of the limitations of the combination system, then of the lack of wind, quite evident when heavy registrations and 16’ couplers were used. This was by no means surprising as neither Tournemire nor Langlais had ever taken care of this: many stops and couplers had been added to the original organ, an electro-pneumatic action for both notes and stops had replaced the original action, and many reservoirs had been removed when, on the contrary, new ones should have been provided to feed these multiple additions. Worse, in the late 1990s the wiring inside the console had deteriorated to the point where it became dangerous to use certain console controls; e.g., the crescendo pedal had to be disconnected as posing a fire hazard. As far as the instrument’s tonal aspects are concerned, Jacques Taddéi felt that the instrument lacked “guts” and was not responsive enough. This was clearly the result of the drop in the wind pressure that afflicted most divisions, especially the Pédale.
At this point, I drew up a program of repairs aiming at a largely sufficient wind supply by mending the reservoirs and wind trunks, adding a new blower and new primary reservoir to the existing ones, and replacing the electro-pneumatic slider motors (leaking, noisy and very cumbersome) with electric slider motors. To avoid all fire risks, it was decided to upgrade the key and stop action with solid-state transmissions and an electronic combination system. At the same time, Jacques Taddéi requested some tonal modifications that were described in the March 2002 issue of The Diapason: “With Jacques Taddéi and Marie-Louise Langlais as consultants, the organ is currently undergoing yet another restoration. The goal is to return it as much as possible to the original Cavaillé-Coll voicing and disposition while maintaining the tonal design for playing also the music of Tournemire and Langlais.”
The Manufacture Vosgienne de Grandes Orgues was entrusted with these tasks. Due to financial restrictions by the civic administration, they were staggered over many years. At the beginning of 2004, as the final phase was being carried out, Jacques Taddéi received a gift from a significant donor, the Bettancourt Schueller Foundation, to pay for several additions and changes that he was eager to have worked out: adding mutations in the 16’ series, a horizontal Trompette 8’, a Bombarde 32’, and moving the console from the second to the first gallery.
Soon after this, a conflict emerged among Jacques Taddéi, his assistant Marie-Louise Langlais, and the latter’s assistant, Sylvie Mallet. I was not aware of that dispute until Christina Harmon called my attention to the fight that, in fact, seems to have begun soon after the appointment of Nicolas Pichon as new assistant. (In fact, during various meetings concerning the organ, Marie-Louise Langlais used to say nothing but “Jacques is right! . . . ”)
Here are some extracts of my reply to Madame Harmon (May 24, 2004):

I am dumbfounded indeed to hear of a disagreement between Madame Langlais and Monsieur Taddéi concerning the organ of Sainte-Clotilde. At meetings before and during the works, Madame Langlais had the opportunity to voice her concerns, but she did not. She could also have phoned the Bureau des Monuments, or me, if she did not care to express her disapproval during the meetings; she did not. . . . I am very sorry to hear of the dispute between Madame Langlais and Monsieur Taddéi; I thought that they were close friends, but conflicts are SO COMMON in the organ world that I wonder whether they are not the result of a genetic programming. . . . Anyhow it is a rule for me never to interfere in that kind of affair.
. . . Personally I am quite conservative towards organs; I was among the first (more than forty years ago!) to deplore the changes that French organs have endured along the years and centuries. If Monsieur Taddéi’s predecessors had acted more respectfully toward the Sainte-Clotilde organ, we still should be able to hear and play Franck’s organ.
An orchestrated flood of false “news” and delirious scoops was then spread on the Internet, which, according to Claude Imbert (in Le Point, April 14, 2005), “swarms with insane rumors and pillories.” Together with the organists’ verbal “grapevine,” this generated a campaign of considerable misinformation. The limits of absurdity were indeed reached many times, not least when someone launched the report that “The keyboards [of the new console] are repulsive . . . ” when, in fact, these keyboards are simply those of the Beuchet-Debierre console.
Reason clearly has no place in such polemics, and I do not wish to waste my time—and that of serious readers—in analyzing and refuting all of the crazy assertions that appeared here or there; it would give too much importance to mythomaniacs. Nevertheless, there is a point that needs to be clarified: Marie-Louise Langlais claimed that the “Monuments Historiques” [the official body dealing with historic organs] had not approved the work ordered by the City of Paris. This is fundamentally untrue. On June 14, 1999, the office in charge of organs at the City of Paris sent a letter to the “Direction des Affaires Culturelles d’Ile de France,” asking permission to carry out the proposed work on the Sainte-Clotilde organ. In a letter of June 27, 1999, the “Conservateur Régional des Monuments Historiques d’Ile de France” replied that there was no objection.
In order to put an end to the crazy allegations that were circulating, the ministry of culture entrusted Eric Brottier, advisor for historic organs, with the inspection of the Sainte-Clotilde instrument. He visited it in 2004 and acknowledged what every sensible person already knew: that the organ had been significantly and detrimentally altered in 1960–62, and that—far from damaging it—the recent works had on the contrary given it more coherence. The administration clearly understood that the organ had been and was being used as hostage in a private conflict. Consequently all planned-for work on Parisian organs has been cancelled.
The present specification of the organ follows: three manuals, 61 notes (C1–C6), Grand-Orgue, Positif, Récit; Pédale, 32 notes (C1–G3).

GRAND-ORGUE

16’ Montre
16’ Bourdon
8’ Montre
8’ Bourdon
8’ Viole de gambe
8’ Flûte harmonique
4’ Prestant 4
4’ Flûte
22⁄3’ Quinte
2’ Doublette
Plein-jeu VII
Cornet V
16’ Bombarde 16
8’ Trompette
4’ Clairon
8’ Chamade

POSITIF

16 Bourdon
8’ Montre
8’ Bourdon
8’ Flûte harmonique
8’ Salicional
8’ Unda Maris
51⁄3’ Quinte
4’ Prestant
4’ Flûte octaviante
31⁄5’ Tierce
22⁄3’ Quinte
22⁄7’ Septième
2’ Doublette
13⁄5’ Tierce
11⁄3’ Larigot
1’ Piccolo
Plein-jeu III–VI
8’ Trompette
8’ Clarinette
4’ Clairon
Trémolo

RÉCIT

16’ Quintaton
8’ Flüte harmonique
8’ Viole de gambe
8’ Voix céleste
8’ Bourdon
4’ Principal italien
4’ Flûte octaviante
22⁄3’ Nazard
2’ Octavin
13⁄5’ Tierce
1’ Octavin
Plein-jeu IV
16’ Bombarde
8’ Trompette
8’ Basson-Hautbois
8’ Clarinette
8’ Voix humaine
4’ Clairon
Trémolo
8’ Chamade

PÉDALE

32’ Soubasse
16’ Contrebasse
16’ Soubasse
8’ Flûte
8’ Bourdon
4’ Flûte
4’ Octave
2’ Flûte
32’ Bombarde
16’ Bombarde
16’ Basson
8’ Trompette
4’ Clairon
8’ Chamade
4’ Chamade

Combinaison électroniques
Coupure de pédale
Crescendo ajustable
Tirasses 8, 4
Octaves graves aux claviers
Accouplements manuels 16, 8

Conclusion

What does the future hold for the Sainte-Clotilde organ? It is indeed debatable: some strongly advocate recreating the original 1859 instrument; others think that the evolution should follow its course, according to Tournemire’s personal opinion (from “Notice d’inauguration”): “En outre, je ne me suis pas interdit de songer aux possibilités futures . . . ” (Moreover, I have not ruled out any reflection on future possibilities . . . ).

Translation of French terms:

Tirasse – pedal coupler
Anches – reed (ventil)
Octaves graves – 16' coupler
Octaves aigües – 4’ coupler
Relevage – overhauling
Orage – storm effect. A pedal that, on depression, draws down successively six or seven notes from the bottom of the pedalboard upwards.

Casavant Frères op. 3837 (2005)
The Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York

A brief history of Brick Church’s Casavant organ
Ever since my first encounter with the Cavaillé-Coll archives at Oberlin during my student days there in the early 1980s, it has been a dream of mine to be involved in an organ project that would recreate the sounds of the French symphonic organ in a North American setting. When an anonymous donor came forward to provide funding to replace Brick Church’s long-ailing Austin organ, I knew that the time had come to act upon my dream.
In November 2001, I invited four internationally recognized organ builders from the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Germany to bid on a new organ for the Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York. I provided the builders with a preliminary specification and design for the organ. The proposed design was strongly modeled after those instruments built in the latter part of the 19th century by the renowned Parisian organ builder, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. Upon reviewing the proposals from these four organ builders, it was particularly telling that three out of the four builders required the assistance of the pre-eminent Cavaillé-Coll expert Jean-Louis Coignet in order to successfully realize this organ. In July 2002, Brick Church commissioned organbuilders Casavant Frères of Ste-Hyacinthe, Québec, for a new electric slider chest organ of 88 independent stops (101 speaking stops), 118 ranks and 6288 pipes. This organ, with its dual sixteen-foot façades, was installed during the summer of 2005.
As Jean-Louis Coignet writes later in this article, tonally recreating a French symphonic organ in the 21st century is not an easy task. Even for a firm such as Casavant with its long history, the techniques of voicing in this style had long departed the firm. After thorough discussion and experimentation with the Casavant voicers, we finally decided upon Jean-Sébastien Dufour, one of the younger voicers at Casavant, to be the head voicer for this project. Mr. Dufour was the most willing and also the most skilled of Casavant’s voicers to realize Dr. Coignet’s explicit directions. Mr. Dufour was assisted in his labors by Yves Champagne, Casavant’s senior voicer. Jean-Louis Coignet, Jacquelin Rochette (when Coignet was in France), and I carefully guided the voicing process both in the factory and at Brick Church.
The Brick Church project was a very detailed and complex one. I am thankful to the trustees of Brick Church for providing the support for me to travel to Casavant on the average of once every four weeks during the construction of the organ. This hands-on oversight allowed for a most exacting and fruitful collaboration with Casavant. In any large organ project, things can develop that are not planned unless there is continuous and careful oversight. I am thankful to André Gremillet, then president of Casavant Frères, who gave me much freedom to interact with the various departments within Casavant. In essence, Mr. Gremillet allowed me to act as their project director for this project. Such collaboration is rare in the organ industry. Mr. Gremillet also allowed Jean-Louis Coignet to realize his dreams and directives in a manner that had not been afforded Coignet previously at Casavant. The scholarly and artistic interaction between Jean-Louis Coignet, Casavant, and myself on all matters involving this instrument made for as perfect a realization as possible.
The Brick Church commission enabled Jean-Louis Coignet and Casavant to realize, without any compromise, a large, new instrument fully in the French symphonic tradition. Dr. Coignet’s life-long, firsthand experience with the great Cavaillé-Coll organs as expert organier for the historic organs of Paris, along with his encyclopedic knowledge of the symphonic style of organ building, have contributed immensely to the success of the organ both mechanically and tonally. The Brick Church organ has few peers in North America in its ability to accurately reproduce the sounds of the great French organs. This organ also holds a special place in the Casavant opus list. It is the last instrument to be completed by Casavant with Jean-Louis Coignet as their tonal director. Upon completion of this organ, Coignet retired from his position at Casavant and also his position as expert organier for the City of Paris.
This organ, a gift of one anonymous donor, is called the Anderson Organ in recognition of the dedicated ministry of The Reverend Dr. Herbert B. Anderson and his wife Mrs. Mary Lou Anderson. Dr. Anderson was senior pastor of Brick Church from 1978 until 2001.
—Keith S. Toth
Minister of Music and Organist
The Brick Presbyterian Church
New York City

Notes from Jean-Louis Coignet on Casavant Frères Opus 3837
Designing an organ in the French symphonic style is by no means a difficult assignment. However, building a new organ today in that style is more challenging as it requires using techniques, particularly of winding and voicing, which have not been in customary use for a long time. Fortunately, there exist a few examples of fine French symphonic organ building that can be carefully studied in order to regain these techniques. These few examples remain, in spite of the many misguided alterations that had been perpetrated during the 20th century on many symphonic organs, especially in France.
As soon as I was consulted about the Brick Church project, I visited the sanctuary and evaluated its dimensions and acoustics as well as those of the organ chambers. At that time I remembered what Cavaillé-Coll had written concerning the location of organs (in De l’orgue et de son architecture): “It is noticeable that the effect of organs is largely lost whenever they are situated in the high parts of a building; on the contrary they profit by being installed in the lower parts. The small choir organs give a striking example of this fact.” So, far from considering it a pitfall to have to put the organ in chambers on both sides of the chancel, I took the best advantage of the situation.
After much discussion with Keith S. Toth, whose clear vision and strong determination were so important all throughout the building of Opus 3837, I realized that the best instrument for Brick Church would be an organ fairly similar to the one built by A. Cavaillé-Coll for the Albert Hall in Sheffield, England in 1873 (this organ was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1937). Another inspiration came from the organ in Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral as I heard it in the mid-1950s. It is a shame that this organ, which was Cavaillé-Coll’s favorite, was completely altered from its original tonal character in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as was César Franck’s Cavaillé-Coll organ in Sainte-Clotilde, Paris.
The Notre-Dame organ displayed a unique sound effect. In no other organ, with the exception of the Jacquot organ in Verdun Cathedral, had the “ascending voicing” typical of the best French symphonic organs been so splendidly achieved. In fact, the main features of the French symphonic organs are:
• a well-balanced proportion of foundation, mutation and reed stops
• huge dynamic possibilities made possible by many very effective enclosed divisions
• voicing of flue pipes with French slots—“entailles de timbre” (different from the Victorian slots used in some Anglo-American organs) and with nicking sufficient enough to prevent any “chiff”
• a winding system that utilizes double-rise bellows
• ascending voicing with full organ dominated by the reeds

Building process of Opus 3837
Specification: The first step consisted in establishing the final specification of the instrument. It was based upon the preliminary stoplist prepared by Keith Toth. The main change from Mr. Toth’s specification was dividing the Grand-Orgue into two parts, Grand-Orgue and Grand-Chœur, in order to gain more flexibility. This is something that Cavaillé-Coll had done in his most prestigious organs. So, the Brick Church organ has actually five manual divisions. The “chœur de clarinettes” in the Positif as well as the various “progressions harmoniques” are features that were typical of the organ in Paris’s Notre-Dame. The Grand-Orgue Bassons 16′ and 8′ were also inspired by that organ, as well as the independent mutations of the 32′ series in the Pédale.
Apart from the stops peculiar to the French symphonic organ, the Brick Church organ offers a few special effects that were not known in France in the 19th century. Three ranks of pipes (Flutes douce and céleste, Cor français) made for the 1917 Brick Church organ by the esteemed American organ builder Ernest M. Skinner, an admirer of Cavaillé-Coll, were placed in the Solo division. We also retained an interesting Cor anglais (free reed stop) made in Paris by Zimmermann in the late 19th century and imported by the Casavant brothers for one of their early organs. The late Guy Thérien, who built the chapel organ at Brick Church, installed this stop in the previous Austin organ. The Récit’s Voix éolienne is another unique stop that only appeared in Cavaillé-Coll’s large organ at St-Ouen in Rouen. This undulating stop is of chimney flute construction for the most part. Its companion stop is the Cor de nuit. With both stops drawn, a slow undulation is heard. This flute celeste has a haunting beauty not found in the flute celestes of the Anglo-American organ.
Pipework: All the pipework was made according to Cavaillé-Coll scalings; metal pipes are made either of “etain fin” for principals, strings, harmonic part of the flutes, and reeds, or “etoffe” (30% tin) for the bourdons. Wood was used for the bourdons up to B 8′. Wood was also used for the large Pédale stops and for the Contre-Bombarde 32′. For reed stops we used Cavaillé-Coll’s typical parallel closed shallots and also tear drop shallots for the Bassons and Clarinettes 16′ and 8′.
Voicing: Much research on the various voicing parameters was done in order to achieve the desired tone: flue width, toe openings, and nicks were measured on a few carefully preserved French symphonic organs. The slotting was particularly well studied. Thanks to documents from the Cavaillé-Coll workshop in my possession, it was possible to recreate the exact tone of the French symphonic “fonds d’orgue.” In his studies on pipes, Cavaillé-Coll documented this matter quite well: the “entaille de timbre” has to be opened one diameter from the top of the pipe. Its width should be either 1/4 of the pipe diameter for most principals, 1/3 of the pipe diameter for strings and some principals, or 1/5 of the pipe diameter for flutes. It should be noted that the harmonic part of Flûtes harmoniques has to be cut dead length and without slotting (though some organ builders used to make slots even on harmonic pipes). As Jean Fellot very correctly wrote: “Slotting had enormous consequences on voicing. It is not exaggerated to claim that this small detail triggered a real revolution.”
Of particular importance in the formation of our voicing goals for Opus 3837 was a visit by Keith Toth, Dr. John B. Herrington III, and me to the unaltered 1898 Cavaillé-Coll organ of Santa María la Real in Azkoitia in the Spanish Basque territory. This three-manual organ with two enclosed divisions was the last instrument completed under the direction of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, and was voiced by Ferdinand Prince. Immediately upon hearing and inspecting this organ, Mr. Toth and I knew that our voicing goals were well founded and attainable. Moreover, at the same time, I was supervising the restoration of two little-known Parisian organs built in the symphonic style: the Cavaillé-Coll-Mutin (1903) organ in Saint-Honoré-d’Eylau and the Merklin (1905) organ in Saint-Dominique. This enabled me to handle pipes that had not been altered (both organs had escaped the neo-classic furia!), to note their exact parameters and compare their sound to new pipes being voiced.
Winding: Large reservoirs were used throughout, some with double-rise bellows, in order to ensure ample wind supply. The overall wind system is remarkably stable, even when the “octaves graves” are used, but with a subtle flexibility that enhances the instrument’s intrinsic musical qualities. Wind pressures are moderate (from 80mm on the Positif to 135mm for the Solo Tuba), which accounts for the unforced tone of the instrument.
Windchests: Slider chests with electric pull-downs were used for the manual and upper Pédale divisions. The large basses were placed on electro-pneumatic windchests.
Console: Lively discussions and visits with Keith Toth resulted in an elegant console with all controls readily accessible. The console, with its terraced stop jambs of mahogany and oblique stopknobs of rosewood and pao ferro, is patterned after those built by Casavant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The highly carved console shell is of American red oak and is patterned after the communion table in the chancel of Brick Church. The manuals have naturals of bone with sharps of ebony. The pedalboard has naturals of maple and sharps of rosewood.
Expression: The enclosures are built with double walls of thick wood with a void between the walls. The shades are of extremely thick dimension. These elements allow for the performance of huge crescendos and diminuendos.
Conclusion: Such a complex undertaking would have never been successful without the collaborative spirit that prevailed throughout the process and certainly not without Keith Toth’s determination and involvement. In fact, on many points, he acted as a “maître d’oeuvre”—during the phase of preparation, we had nearly daily phone conversations that were most enlightening. His numerous visits in the workshop as the organ was being built proved extremely useful. It was a great privilege to collaborate with an organist who has such a deep understanding of the French symphonic organ. His absolute resolve for only the very best was most inspiring. It is our hope that this new organ will serve and uplift the congregation of the Brick Presbyterian Church and that, together with the magnificently renovated sanctuary, it will enrich New York City’s grand musical heritage.
—Jean-Louis Coignet
Châteauneuf-Val-de-Bargis, France

Grand-Orgue (I)
1. Bourdon (1–12 common with No. 78; 13–61 from No. 3) 32′ —
2. Montre (70% tin, 1–18 in façade) 16′ 61
3. Bourdon (1–24 wood, 25–61 30% tin) 16′ 61
4. Montre (70% tin, 2–6 in façade) 8′ 61
5. Salicional (70% tin) 8′ 61
6. Bourdon (1–12 wood, 13–61 30% tin) 8′ 61
7. Prestant (70% tin) 4′ 61
8. Quinte (70% tin) 22⁄3′ 61
9. Doublette (70% tin) 2′ 61
10. Grande Fourniture III–VII (70% tin) 22⁄3′ 326
11. Fourniture II–V (70% tin) 11⁄3′ 224
12. Cymbale III–IV (70% tin) 1′ 232
13. Basson (70% tin, full-length, extension of No. 14) 16′ 12
14. Baryton (70% tin) 8′ 61
Grand-Orgue Grave
Grand-Orgue Muet

Grand-Chœur (I)
15. Violonbasse (Open wood, extension of No. 17) 16′ 12
16. Flûte harmonique (70% tin) 8′ 61
17. Violon (1–12 open wood, 13–61 70% tin) 8′ 61
18. Flûte octaviante (70% tin) 4′ 61
19. Grand Cornet V (From No. 20) 16′ —
20. Cornet V (30%/70% tin, from Tenor C) 8′ 245
21. Bombarde (70% tin; full-length) 16′ 61
22. Trompette (70% tin) 8′ 61
23. Clairon (70% tin, breaks back to 8′ at F#4) 4′ 61
Grand-Chœur Grave
Grand-Chœur Muet

Positif (II)
24. Quintaton (1–24 wood, 25–61 30% tin) 16′ 61
25. Principal (70% tin) 8′ 61
26. Dulciane (70% tin) 8′ 61
27. Unda maris (From GG, 70% tin) 8′ 54
28. Flûte harmonique (70% tin) 8′ 61
29. Bourdon (1–12 wood, 13–61 30% tin) 8′ 61
30. Prestant (70% tin) 4′ 61
31. Flûte douce (30% tin, with chimneys) 4′ 61
32. Nasard (30% tin) 22⁄3′ 61
33. Flageolet (30% tin) 2′ 61
34. Tierce (30% tin) 13⁄5′ 61
35. Larigot (30% tin) 11⁄3′ 61
36. Septième (30% tin) 11⁄7′ 61
37. Piccolo (30% tin) 1′ 61
38. Plein Jeu II–V (70% tin) 11⁄3′ 233
39. Clarinette basse (70% tin) 16′ 61
40. Trompette (70% tin) 8′ 61
41. Cromorne (70% tin) 8′ 61
42. Clarinette soprano (70% tin) 4′ 61
Tremolo (Tremblant doux)
Positif Grave
Positif Muet

Récit (III)
43. Bourdon (1–24 wood, 25–61 30% tin) 16′ 61
44. Diapason (70% tin) 8′ 61
45. Flûte traversière (70% tin) 8′ 61
46. Viole de gambe (70% tin) 8′ 61
47. Voix céleste (From CC, 70% tin) 8′ 61
48. Cor de nuit (1–12 wood, 13–61 30% tin) 8′ 61
49. Voix éolienne (From Tenor C, 30% tin, stopped pipes with chimneys) 8′ 49
50. Fugara (70% tin) 4′ 61
51. Flûte octaviante (70% tin) 4′ 61
52. Nasard (30% tin) 22⁄3′ 61
53. Octavin (70% tin) 2′ 61
54. Cornet harmonique II–V (30%/70% tin) 8′ 245
55. Plein Jeu harmonique II–V (70% tin) 2′ 228
56. Bombarde (70% tin; full-length) 16′ 61
57. Trompette harmonique (70% tin) 8′ 61
58. Basson-Hautbois (70% tin) 8′ 61
59. Voix humaine (70% tin) 8′ 61
60. Clarinette (70% tin) 8′ 61
61. Clairon harmonique (70% tin) 4′ 61
Tremolo (À vent perdu)
Récit Grave
Récit Muet
Récit Octave
Sostenuto

Solo (IV)
62. Flûte majeure (1–24 open wood, 25–61 30% tin) 8′ 61
63. Flûtes célestes II (Existing Skinner pipework) 8′ 110
64. Violoncelle (70% tin) 8′ 61
65. Céleste (70% tin) 8′ 61
66. Viole d’amour (70% tin) 4′ 61
67. Flûte de concert (70% tin) 4′ 61
68. Nasard harmonique (70% tin) 22⁄3′ 61
69. Octavin (70% tin) 2′ 61
70. Tierce harmonique (70% tin) 13⁄5′ 61
71. Piccolo harmonique (70% tin) 1′ 61
72. Clochette harmonique (70% tin) 1⁄3′ 61
73. Tuba magna (Tenor C, from No. 75) 16′ —
74. Cor de basset (70% tin, hooded) 16′ 61
75. Tuba mirabilis (70% tin, hooded from CC) 8′ 61
76. Cor français (Existing, revoiced; on separate chest) 8′ 61
77. Cor anglais (Existing, revoiced) 8′ 61
Tremolo (À vent perdu)
Solo Grave
Solo Muet
Solo Octave
Sostenuto

Pédale
78, Soubasse (Stopped wood, extension of No. 82) 32′ 12
79. Flûte (Open wood) 16′ 32
80. Contrebasse (70% tin, 1–18 in façade) 16′ 32
81. Violonbasse (Grand-Chœur) 16′ —
82. Soubasse (Stopped wood) 16′ 32
83. Montre (Grand-Orgue) 16′ —
84. Bourdon (Récit) 16′ —
85. Grande Quinte (Open wood) 102⁄3′ 32
86. Flûte (Open wood) 8′ 32
87. Violoncelle (70% tin, 2–6 in façade) 8′ 32
88. Bourdon (1–12 stopped wood, 13–32 30% tin) 8′ 32
89. Grande Tierce (70% tin) 62⁄5′ 32
90. Quinte (70% tin) 51⁄3′ 32
91. Grande Septième (70% tin) 44⁄7′ 32
92. Octave (70% tin) 4′ 32
93. Flûte (Open wood) 4′ 32
94. Cor de nuit (70% tin) 2′ 32
95. Contre-Bombarde (Wood, full-length, hooded, extension of No. 96) 32′ 12
96. Bombarde (1–6 wood, 6–32 70% tin) 16′ 32
97. Basson (Grand-Orgue) 16′ —
98. Bombarde (Récit) 16′ —
99. Trompette (70% tin) 8′ 32
100. Baryton (Grand-Orgue) 8′ —
101. Clairon (70% tin) 4′ 32

Analysis
Stops Ranks Pipes
Grand-Orgue 12 25 1343
Grand-Chœur 7 11 623
Positif 19 23 1324
Récit 19 27 1498
Solo 15 16 964
Pédale 16 16 536
TOTAL 88 118 6288

Couplers
(Multiplex)
Grand-Orgue à la Pédale
Grand-Chœur à la Pédale
Récit à la Pédale
Récit Octave à la Pédale
Positif à la Pédale
Positif Octave à la Pédale
Solo à la Pédale
Solo Octave à la Pédale

Récit Grave au Grand-Orgue
Récit au Grand-Orgue
Récit Octave au Grand-Orgue
Positif Grave au Grand-Orgue
Positif au Grand-Orgue
Solo Grave au Grand-Orgue
Solo au Grand-Orgue
Solo Octave au Grand-Orgue
Pédale au Grand-Orgue

Grand-Orgue au Positif
Grand-Chœur au Positif
Récit Grave au Positif
Récit au Positif
Récit Octave au Positif
Solo au Positif

Solo au Récit
Solo Octave au Récit

Grand-Chœur au Solo

* Grand-Orgue – Grand-Chœur / Positif Reverse (including divisional combinations)
* This control is not affected by the combination action, crescendo or full organ.
Union des Expressions
Coupure de Pédalier

An international concert artist and musicologist, Carolyn Shuster Fournier is titular of the Aristide Cavaillé-Coll choir organ at La Trinité Church in Paris, France (cf. www.shusterfournier.com). Dr. Shuster Fournier was recently awarded the distinction of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters. This is her fourth article to appear in The Diapason.

On June 15, Tournemire played the final “Alleluia” movement in a concert at Sainte-Clotilde that was broadcast live on Paris Radio.
In 1931, the Institut de France had awarded Bonnal the Charles Berthault Prize with 500 francs. Bonnal, however, was looking for other financial awards for his compositions. On March 29, 1932, he admitted in a letter to Tournemire that the private music lessons he gave did not at all cover his expenses:

. . . et vous n’êtes pas là pour m’encourager . . . Je desespère parfois! . . . Alors, je m’endette terriblement . . . et je ne sais ce que je vais devenir.

[ . . . and you are not there to encourage me . . . I sometimes become desperate! . . . Then, I am deeply falling into debt . . . and I don’t know what will happen to me.]

He even began to apply for other posts as a conservatory director in Belfort and in Aix (where he was refused). On February 3, 1932, Bonnal wrote to Tournemire to express his gratitude and ongoing support:

sans doute ma destinée est-elle de mourir à Bayonne. Je m’en réjouirais au reste si ma situation y était en rapport avec mes charges familiales. Je vous remercie de tout Coeur de l’aide précieuse qu’une fois encore (après tant d’autres!) vous m’avez généreusement et cordialement consentie.

[without doubt my destiny is to die in Bayonne. I would really be thrilled if my position was in keeping with my family expenses. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the precious aid (after so many others) which you have so generously and cordially granted.]

On April 25, Bonnal admitted to Tournemire that he was behind schedule and that he hoped to send something to the next competition of the Amis de l’Orgue. In May, 1932, Bonnal composed at Amentcha his most monumental work: his Symphonie d’après “Media vita,” Répons du temps de la Septuagésime in C-sharp minor. Maurice Duruflé played it during the second “Amis de l’Orgue” composition competition, which took place at Saint-François Xavier Church in Paris on June 20, 1932. This time, Bonnal won First Prize and received 4,000 francs. The members of the jury were Gabriel Pierné (president), Alexandre Cellier, Maurice Emmanuel, Arthur Honegger, Paul Le Flem, Henri Mulet, Henri Nibelle, Achille Philip, Gustave Samazeuilh, Florent Schmitt, and Canon François-Xavier Mathias. An honorable mention was granted to André Fleury for his Prélude, Andante et Toccata, and congratulations were given to Daniel-Lesur for his work La Vie intérieure.
Bonnal’s symphony is a free paraphrase in three movements that correspond to the following texts from Septuagesima Sunday, the first of three Sundays before the Lenten season:

1. In the midst of Life we deal with Death. To whom can we turn if not to You, Savior, who has suffered so much for our sins.
2. Holy and Merciful Savior, do not deliver us to a bitter death. Our fathers have hoped in You, and You have delivered them.
3. Our fathers have cried toward You; they cried, and they were not disappointed. Holy God, God full of strength, do not deliver us to a bitter death.
The first movement, rather slow and very calm, presents two themes: the first one is contrapuntal; the second is like a chorale. In the second movement, a luminous trio—a sort of colorful arabesque (with the Positive Nazard, Flute 4' and Tierce 13⁄5' in the right hand, the Swell 8' foundation stops in the left hand and the Pedal 8' and 4' stops)—seems to express the hope mentioned in the text; after a section on the Swell Voix Celeste with a Flute 4' in the Pedal, the piece ends on an A-flat major chord with a quiet 16' in the Pedal. The third movement, which uses themes from the other movements, becomes increasingly flamboyant, leading to a free, lyrical second melody on the Positive Clarinet 8', followed by an arabesque on the Great Harmonic Flute 8'. After a progressive crescendo with the theme announced tutti in the Pedal, two measures of silence and a brief return to the Clarinet solo, there is a final distressful cry. Bonnal dedicated this work to his friend Joseph Bonnet who greatly appreciated it:
Ta nouvelle œuvre est magnifique, d’une grande profondeur de sentiment d’une haute sérénité musicale et poétique. Tu as tiré un parti excellent de la mélodie si belle et traduit les sentiments exprimés par le texte littéraire sous l’âme d’un grand artiste chrétien. Ton œuvre, comme toutes les précédentes du reste, témoigne d’une haute sincérité humaine et artistique.35

[Your new work is magnificent, a very deep, peaceful expression of great musicality and poetry. You have brought out the best in the beautiful melody and translated the feelings contained in the literary text as expressed by a great Christian artist. Your work, like all of your previous ones, testifies to an utmost human and artistic sincerity.]

In this same letter, Bonnet advised Bonnal to contact the publisher Leduc, who, thanks to Bonnet’s intervention, published this work in 1933. Bonnet played this symphony on numerous occasions, notably for a mass at Saint-Eustache Church in Paris on January 28, 1934. He also recorded it for the BBC. Encouraged by these successes, which placed him in the upper ranks of the French organ scene, Bonnal participated in a series of eight recitals organized by the Amis de l’Orgue on the Mutin organ at Saint-Bernard College in Bayonne.

His adherence to the neo-classical organ
Around 1930, Bonnal had been appointed titular organist at Saint-André Church in Bayonne, a neo-Gothic church built 1856–1869. The 32-stop, three-manual organ was built in 1863 by the Wenner et Götty firm from Bordeaux (Georges Wenner and Jacques Götty founded their firm in Bordeaux in 1848). This organ was a gift to the city from Napoléon III. When a vault collapsed above the organ loft in December 1895, Gaston Maille, who had taken over the Wenner firm in 1882, restored this symphonic organ from 1898 to 1902; an electric blower was installed probably during the 1920s. (See photo 3.)
In 1933, Bonnal supervised the restoration of this instrument by Victor Gonzalez, in collaboration with André Marchal, who had a home in Hendaye, and Norbert Dufourcq, much of whose family lived in Labastide-Clairence, a village about 20 kilometers from Bayonne. Bonnal described its neo-classical aesthetic:
on the Swell, we added a Plein-Jeu II and a Clairon that came from the Positive; on the Positive, some new stops were installed: Nazard, Doublette and Tierce, replacing the Gambe, Trompette and Clairon; for early music, the Clarinet was transformed into a Cromorne . . . The deteriorated pneumatic elements were replaced with a modified tubular system which provided more rapid and perfect precision . . .36
Finally, this 35-stop instrument was entirely revoiced to give more fullness to the foundation stops and more distinction to the reed stops. (See photo 4.)

Saint-André Church, Bayonne
Wenner et Götty / Maille (1902) / Gonzalez (1933)

I. GRAND ORGUE (56 notes)
16' Montre
8' Montre
8' Bourdon
8' Flûte Harmonique
4' Prestant
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Doublette
Plein-Jeu IV
Cornet V (C3)
16' Bombarde
8' Trompette
4' Clairon

II. POSITIF (56 notes)
16' Bourdon
8' Principal
8' Bourdon
8' Salicional
4' Flûte
22⁄3' Nazard
2' Doublette
13⁄5' Tierce
8' Cromorne

III. RÉCIT (56 notes)
8' Cor de nuit
8' Violoncelle
8' Flûte Harmonique
8' Voix Céleste
4' Flûte Octaviante
2'/1' Plein-Jeu II
8' Voix Humaine
8' Basson-Hautbois
8' Trompette Harmonique
4' Clairon

PÉDALE (30 notes)
16' Flûte
8' Flûte
16' Bombarde
8' Trompette

Combination Pedals: Thunderstorm Pedal, G.O./Péd, Pos/Péd, Réc/Péd; Pos./G.O., Réc/G.O.; Réc./Pos; Réc/G.O. 4, Pos/G.O. 16. To activate the Reeds: on the Réc, Pos and G.O. To activate the G.O. keyboard. To activate the Pos Mixtures; Réc Tremulant.

Pistons under the G.O. keyboard: Soft Foundation stops, Foundations 8 and 4, Foundations 8, 4 and 2, Tutti Plein-Jeu, General Tutti.

Bonnal performed the inaugural recital on September 27, 1933:

I.
J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue
A Sarabande grave by François Couperin
Father Martini’s Gavotte (for the new “carillon-like stop” [the Swell Plein-Jeu II])
N. de Grigny’s Trio en dialogue (utilizing the Cromorne stop)
D. Buxtehude’s Fugue in C major

II.
C. Franck’s Third Choral
Tournemire’s L’Orgue mystique, Op. 57 (nos. 1–4), which had been dedicated to him
Joseph Bonnet’s Epithalamé, Op. 5 (1909)
E. Bonnal’s Cloches dans le ciel (first public performance).
On November 8, 1933, Bonnal’s organ students gave another concert:

Irène Darricau performed two pieces by J. J. Lemmens
Jeanne Larre (Vierne)
Renée Gemain (Franck)
Marylis Bonnal [his daughter] (a piece by Périlhou)
Mady Galtier, the organist at the Saint-Charles Church in Biarritz (a Bach Fugue)
Christian d’Elbée (Franck’s First Choral)
Ermend Bonnal (his own Paysages euskariens).

This beautiful organ has remained unchanged to this day and was classified as a historical monument in 2001. According to the present titular organist, Etienne Rousseau-Plotto, in addition to the French symphonic repertory, French organ music from the 1930s sounds absolutely spectacular on this organ.37
In 1933, the same year as the restoration of the Saint-André organ in Bayonne, Tournemire had requested the Société Cavaillé-Coll firm to modify his own historic 1858 A. Cavaillé-Coll organ at Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris. According to an article by Bérenger de Miramon Fitz-James,38 following the reinauguration of this organ on June 30, 1933, the following ten stops had been added to this instrument: a Cornet on the Grand-Orgue; a Tierce and a Piccolo on the Positif; a Quintaton 16', a Nazard, a Tierce, a Plein-Jeu IV and a Bombarde on the Récit; and a Bourdon 16' and a Quinte 51⁄3' in the Pedal. The wind pressure was lowered on the Positif, the Positif Unda Maris was transformed into a Salicional, and the Positif Clarinet was moved to the Récit. In addition, a new console was installed with three 61-note manuals and a 32-note pedalboard, along with numerous pedal combinations. Following this restoration, a series of seven benefit recitals was given to help cover the restoration expenses. On March 22, 1934. Bonnal ended the fourth concert, given with the following artists who performed their own works:

Daniel-Lesur – La Vie intérieure
Olivier Messiaen – Diptyque
André Fleury – Prélude, Andante, Toccata
Maurice Duruflé – Adagio and Choral varié on the “Veni Creator”
Ermend Bonnal – Symphonie sur le Répons “Media Vita”

In 1934, Bonnal was awarded the Prix Durand (with Guy Ropartz) as well as the Grand Prix of a wine competition in Bordeaux for his Hymn au Vin. Bonnal then gave a series of prestigious organ concerts. On March 28, 1936, he performed a recital on Emile Bourdon’s organ at the Monaco Cathedral. On September 1, 1936, he inaugurated, with André Marchal, the organ restored by Victor Gonzalez at the Bayonne Cathedral. On January 28, 1937, he performed his own La Vallée du Béhorléguy au matin in the eighth concert of La Spirale at the Schola Cantorum, with his fellow colleagues: Jehan Alain (Suite), Olivier Messiaen (Jules Le Febvre’s Prélude, Aria et Final and selections from his La Nativité du Seigneur [Les Bergers, La Vierge et l’Enfant, and Les Anges]); Daniel-Lesur premiered his own Cinq Hymnes; Jean Langlais, his own Hommage à Francesco Landino and Mors et resurrectio; and André Fleury, his own Deux mouvements (Très lent and Vif et agité). How exciting it must have been to attend this concert! On April 26, 1937, Bonnal inaugurated the Debierre organ in the Preparatory School at the Aire-sur-Adour Seminary.
In the mid 1930s, both Bonnal and Tournemire were drawn to St. Francis of Assisi. On July 19, 1933, Bonnal had thanked Tournemire for having sent him his Fioretti pieces:

J’admire qu’après le monument qu’est l’Orgue mystique vous puissiez écrire d’autres pièces en renouvelant encore votre style. Une telle abondance dans sa richesse est une chose magnifique et si rare qu’on ne l’avait pas vue depuis Bach! Quel haut exemple vous êtes pour nous: vos disciples! Donc merci mon bon maître et ami d’être la lumière qui nous aide à avancer dans la voie difficile, mais belle!

[I admire that after the monument which is the Orgue mystique that you can write other pieces while continually renewing your style. Such a rich abundance, so magnificent and rare, has not been seen since Bach! What a noble example you are for us, your disciples! Therefore, thank you my dear master and friend to be such a light which helps us to advance on the difficult but beautiful path.]

A year and a half later, on May 7, 1935, Bonnal’s Franciscan Poems39 were performed in a concert at the Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux, broadcast live on the radio. That same year, Tournemire and his second wife, Alice, became members of the third order of Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1937, Tournemire finished a theatrical work that crowned his career: Il Poverello di Assisi, Op. 73 (five lyrical episodes in seven scenes on a text by Joséphin Péladan).40 Both Bonnal’s and Tournemire’s two monumental works, centered around this great saint, certainly prepared the way for Olivier Messiaen’s future opera Saint François d’Assise (1983).

His positions in Paris
In 1938, the French Institut awarded Bonnal the coveted Prix Lassere for his compositions. On September 3, 1939, the Second World War broke out. On November 3, Tournemire died mysteriously, leaving the organist post vacant at Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris. However, since the government had closed the church (which was located just across from the Ministry of War) for fear of bombings, no successor was named. Bonnal did indeed write a text for L’Orgue in homage of Tournemire, entitled “L’Homme et L’Oeuvre,” which was published in March, 1940.41
In the summer of 1940, Sainte-Clotilde Basilica reopened. The organ was played during services by Bernard Schulé (1909–1996), an organ student of Joseph Bonnet who was the titular at the British Embassy Church since 1935 and who had substituted at Sainte-Clotilde for Tournemire since fall 1938. Schulé was a close friend of both Norbert Dufourcq and André Marchal.42
In 1941, Bonnal returned to live in Paris, where he was appointed to work with Henri Busser as Inspecteur Général de l’Enseignement Musical à la Direction des Beaux-Arts [General Inspector of Musical Education for the Direction of Fine Arts] throughout France. Dufourcq then organized a competition to determine Tournemire’s successor at Sainte-Clotilde. It was supposed to take place on December 20, 1941, precisely at 1:30 p.m. According to the announcement, the public was invited to attend with free admission; the church was to be heated. The candidates (Jean Langlais, Antoine Reboulot, and Daniel-Lesur) were to improvise a prelude and fugue and the verses of a hymn and to perform a work each by Bach, Franck, and Tournemire. Daniel-Lesur, who was supported by Olivier Messiaen, was hoping to compete. However, this competition was cancelled, due to the fact that many of the possible candidates were held as prisoners or were demobilized in the free zone during the war, thereby preventing them from coming to Paris to officially apply for this post. This was, in any case, Daniel-Lesur’s situation. On December 14, 1941, Norbert Dufourcq wrote a letter to Jean Langlais, informing him that the competition would occur at a later date.43
Then it was decided that an interim organist would be designated at Saint-Clotilde until a competition could be held after the war. When Sainte-Clotilde reopened in February, 1942, Canon Verdrie, the church priest, named Bonnal as titular without a competition, due to his fame as a well-known and respected musician who had been highly recommended by Count Bérenger de Miramon Fitz-James. After his nomination to this prestigious post, Bonnal thus became the successor to his lifelong friend and professor, Charles Tournemire.44 According to Bonnal’s daughter Marylis, numerous prominent musicians encouraged him to accept this post (notably Norbert Dufourcq, Béranger de Miramon Fitz-James, André Marchal, Noëlie Pierront, Gaston Poulet, René Calvet). Bonnal rarely remained in Paris since he often traveled throughout France to inspect conservatories. Thankfully, Schulé was able to substitute for him. (See photo 5, page 28.)
Bonnal felt that making music in French conservatories during this tragic time represented a sign of hope for the future. He encouraged students to maintain the following objectives:

D’abord le travail et la discipline dans l’effort: c’est à dire les deux ferments qui forgent, grandissent et trempent les caractères, purifient et annoblissent les ambitions. Ensuite: la recherche constante de la qualité. Songez qu’il ne doit pas vous suffire d’être d’excellents virtuoses possédant de sérieuses qualités techniques, il vous faut devenir d’authentiques musiciens.
La musique vous la découvrirez dans la pratique quotidienne, dans la fréquentation permanente des grands musiciens, des Bach, Mozart et Beethoven, pour n’en citer que trois parmi les plus grands. Vous devez par la méditation fréquente, essayer d’entrer en communion avec l’âme de ces grands humains qui furent de très grands penseurs. N’en jouer, même parfaitement, que le texte musical, c’est n’en connaître que la lettre, mais cela ne suffit pas, il vous faut en rechercher l’Esprit.
Soyez donc très ambitieux spirituellement et vous aurez un jour la surprise de découvrir la musique là où elle se trouve, en son seul domaine qui est celui des mouvements de l’Ame, de la connaissance humaine . . . en un mot: de la poésie!
Je n’ai jamais oublié ce mot admirable que me dit un jour mon cher ami Paul Dukas: “il n’y a pas d’art sans poésie.”45

[First of all, one must work and discipline one’s efforts: this will forge, expand and solidify one’s character, purify and ennoble one’s ambition . . . Constantly search for quality; it’s not enough to be an excellent virtuoso with a serious technique, you must become authentic musicians.
You must daily discover the great musicians: Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, to mention only these three among the greatest. Through frequent meditations, you must try to enter in communion with the souls of these great people who were very great thinkers. It does not suffice to play the musical text perfectly, this only allows you to know the letter; you must look for the Spirit.
Dare therefore to be spiritually ambitious and you will one day be surprised to discover that music belongs to the exclusive field . . . of poetry!
I’ll never forget the admirable words of my dear friend Paul Dukas who told me one day: “There is no art without poetry.”]

During the war, Bonnal took his vacations each August at Saint-Sever (in the Landes). He stayed in the home of Father Binsoll, the priest in Arièle, a nearby village. Each day, Bonnal visited his dear friends Ambroise Dupouy (organist at the Abbatial Church in Saint-Sever since 1840—who was responsible for the installation of its beautiful A. Cavaillé-Coll organ there in 1898—who died at the end of World War II), and his son Jean Dupouy (1896–1965), who succeeded him. Ambroise Dupouy’s daughter Jeanine, born in 1922, took daily lessons with Bonnal and her father. She has testified to Bonnal’s rigorous and severe approach, emphasizing his noble ideas and his meticulous care concerning details of touch, phrasing and fingering.
At the beginning of his summer vacation in 1844, Bonnal gave an organ concert with Jean Etchepare’s Double Vocal Quartet at Saint-André Church in Bayonne on Monday, July 31, 1944 at 3:45 p.m. This may seem like an odd time to give a concert, but this was due to the fact that many of the organ concerts in churches at that time served as an introduction and a conclusion to the exposition and benediction of the Holy Sacrament. Bonnal’s eclectic programs combined classical music with the popular traditional Basque repertory:

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue (in D minor)
C. Franck: First Choral
A Basque Cantique (sung by the Double Vocal Quartet)
C. Franck: Second Choral
E. Bonnal: Joie et Joie for a men’s choir, set to a text by Loÿs Labèque
C. Franck: Third Choral
Improvisation on a given theme (by E. Bonnal)

E. Bonnal: O Salutaris
Josquin des Près: Ave Vera Virginitas
E. Bonnal: Tantum Ergo (in the Basque style) (sung during the exposition and benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament)
To conclude, Bonnal played J. S. Bach’s Chorale on the Veni Creator (most certainly his Fantasia super “Komm heiliger Geist, Herre Gott,” BWV 651).

Following this concert on July 31, Bonnal went to Saint-Sever to rehearse for a “Grand Concert Spirituel” that he was planning to give on Friday, September 8, 1944, at the Abbatial Church there, in collaboration with the Calvet Quartet and the Parish Schola directed by the organist Jean Dupouy. The proposed program:

I.
J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue (in D minor)

II.
N. de Grigny: Trio en dialogue
F. Couperin: Sarabande grave
N. Clérambault: Dialogue du 1er Ton
Cl. Balbastre: Noël (“Joseph est bien marié”)

III.
Händel: Sonata (in D major) for organ and violin (with Joseph Calvet)

IV.
E. Bonnal: Paysage landais
Noël landais
Improvisation (on a given theme)

V.
Maurice Ravel: Quatuor (played by the Calvet Quartet during the exposition and benediction of the Holy Sacrament)
At the end, Bonnal had programmed C. Franck’s Final.

During his visits to rehearse in Saint-Sever, the following photo was taken (See photo 6).
Unfortunately, Bonnal’s deteriorating health, due to his many personal sacrifices and concerns during the war, provoked a stroke that led to his death in Bordeaux, on August 14, 1944. This occurred just two and a half years after his appointment to Sainte-Clotilde46 and only twelve days after Joseph Bonnet’s own death.47 In the midst of the liberation of Paris, Bonnal’s daughter Marylis learned about her father’s death while listening to the radio! During this difficult time, Bonnal was buried in Bordeaux.
In 1945, Bonnal’s wife Hélène moved with her young children to Anglet. She survived, thanks to the generosity of an American organist, Mr. MacEvans, who was an officer in the American Army. He also directed a choir at the American University in Biarritz. To this day, Bonnal’s family is still extremely grateful for Mr. MacEvans’ kindness. In addition, André Marchal gave several benefit concerts for Bonnal’s family. On September 18, 1949, at Saint-André Church in Bayonne, with the singer Madame Malnory-Marsillac, the program included works by Bach, Couperin, Franck, Tournemire, and Bonnal (the second movement of his “Media Vita” Symphony). On May 15, 1952, Marchal performed another concert on the Saint-André organ in Bayonne, in Bonnal’s memory, with commentaries by Norbert Dufourcq, for the Jeunesses Musicales de France. This group was highly promoted in the Basque region by Bonnal’s very close friend, Joseph Calvet. Marchal’s eclectic program displayed the various tonal colors of this organ:

Louis Couperin - Chaconne in G minor
François Couperin – “Kyrie,” 5 verses from the Mass for the Parishes
J. S. Bach – Chorale: Christ lag in Todesbanden
C. Franck – Prélude, Fugue et Variation
Louis Vierne – “Final” from the First Symphony.
In 1975, Ermend Bonnal’s body was transported from Bordeaux to the Arcangues cemetery, in the Pyrenees mountains, an area he loved dearly. For this occasion, Henri Sauguet rendered homage to Bonnal’s positive inspiration on his own personal career as well as his contribution to 20th-century French music. Sauguet evoked Francis Jammes’ poem written in homage to Ermend Bonnal:

Taillé dans le dur bois d’un chêne harmonieux,
Ton pur profil, Bonnal, se confond avec l’orgue;
Mais de nous déchiffrer le silence des cieux
Ne te remplis jamais de vile et sotte morgue.
Comme aux astres, le jour, voilés par leur pudeur,
L’ombre est ce qui convient à ta noble carrière.
Ah! que tombe la nuit, et toute ta splendeur
Saura la consteller de notes de lumières.

[Carved in the hard wood of a harmonious oak tree,
Your pure profile, Bonnal, is merged with the organ;
But we must fathom the silence of the heavens
Which never fills you with a vile and foolish arrogance.
Like the stars, during the day, veiled by their modesty,
Darkness is most suitable to your noble career.
Ah! May the night fall, and all of your splendor
Will spangle it with enlightened notes.]

Conclusion
Joseph Ermend Bonnal belonged to a generation of artists from Bordeaux who possessed a high degree of moral perfection in their art and in their personal lives. They all shared a common, spiritual artistic vision, devoid of material ambitions, only desiring to serve music with deep, devoted love and passion. Inspired by the renewal of both traditional and early music, Bonnal formed numerous musical societies to promote this repertory. He left us an important heritage of deeply poetical pieces inspired by the rich culture of the Basque region. The intact organ at Saint-André Church in Bayonne testifies to his adherence to the French Neo-Classical organ. A prominent composer, music educator and administrator, a first-rate improviser and performer, Bonnal was indeed a dignified successor to his master and friend, Charles Tournemire, as titular organist at the Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris. Bonnal served his art with humility. In spite of the numerous obstacles he encountered during his lifetime, Bonnal’s noble aspirations, along with the faithful support of his friends, enabled him to pursue his ongoing quest for perfection.

Acknowledgements
Carolyn Shuster Fournier warmly expresses her gratitude to: Mayette Bonnal, François and Marylis Raoul-Duval (members of Bonnal’s family), Madame Catherine Massip and Madame Vallet-Collot of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cécile Auzolle, Madame Marie-Françoise Romaine Brown-Bonnet, Aurélie Decourt, Madame Janine Dupouy, Brigitte de Leersnyder, Jacqueline Englert-Marchal, Adolphine and François Marchal, Yannick Merlin, Etienne Rousseau-Plotto Marie-Christine Ugo-Lhôte, and to the Ruth and Clarence Mader Memorial Scholarship Fund for its grant in 2006.

Gregory Peterson is Assistant Professor of Music and College Organist at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, where he teaches organ and church music, conducts the Luther Ringers, and serves as cantor to the student congregation for daily and Sunday chapel services in the College’s Center for Faith and Life, playing the 42-stop mechanical-action organ by Robert Sipe. He holds the DMA from the University of Iowa, MM from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and the BA from Luther College. An active recitalist, he has performed in Europe and throughout the United States. He is represented by Concert Artist Cooperative, .

Start with two world experts on French organ building and organ music, add seven qualified, eager American organists, stir them together with extant examples of the finest French organs, and let steep for a couple of weeks in the rich culture of Bordeaux and Epernay, France. This is the recipe for the Summer Institute for French Organ Studies (SIFOS). Since 1986, organ builder Gene Bedient of Lincoln, Nebraska and Jesse Eschbach, Professor of Organ and Chairman of the Keyboard Division at the University of North Texas School of Music, have teamed up to direct this biennial seminar. It is not your grandmother’s recipe for the typical European organ tour, however, where a large group travels from instrument to instrument with minimal opportunity to play. Instead, a select group of performers and scholars is given the chance to delve deeply into the appropriate repertoire for each instrument through masterclasses and individual practice time, culminating in a group recital, open to the public, at the end of each week.
Participants in this year’s course were Michael Chad Leavitt, student, Manhattan School of Music, New York; Gregory Peterson, Assistant Professor of Music and College Organist, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa; Patrick Allen Scott, student, University of Texas, Austin, Texas; Timothy Wissler, organist, children’s choir director, Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, Georgia; Marilyn Witte, Cantor, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Andrew Yeargin, student, Manhattan School of Music, New York. Elaine Mann, director of music, Grace Lutheran Church, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, joined the group for the second week.

First week
Sainte-Croix Church, Bordeaux
The group gathered on Sunday, May 24, in Bordeaux, a cosmopolitan port city on the Garonne River approximately 300 miles southwest of Paris. With a population of one million, Bordeaux is the seventh largest metropolitan area in France and is the capital of the Aquitaine region and a major wine-producing center. This beautiful, historic city was described by Victor Hugo as a combination of Versailles and Antwerp. Lectures, masterclasses, practice sessions, and the public recital took place at the Sainte-Croix Church, on the site of a 7th-century abbey. The current structure with its Romanesque façade was built in the late 11th to early 12th centuries and boasts a magnificent organ from 1741 by Dom Bédos, meticulously restored in 1997 by the French organ builder Pascal Quoirin. Every aspect of the instrument—winding system, key and stop action, pipe restoration and replacement, casework—was restored with the utmost care and concern for historical accuracy. This famous instrument is known throughout the city and is a source of much local pride. It was not uncommon to hear “Oh, the Dom Bédos” exclaimed by a local after being introduced as an organist visiting the city.

Dom Bédos five-manual organ
A unique aspect of the five-manual Dom Bédos instrument at Sainte-Croix is the 32′ plenum of the Grand-Orgue. The 32′ Bourdon lays the foundation for the searing Grand Plein-Jeu of this post-classical organ, building up through the 16′ Montre, 8′ Montre and Second 8′ Montre, Prestant, Doublette, Grosse Fourniture and Grand Plein-Jeu of 13 ranks. In addition to the customary Nazard and Tierce, there is a Gros-Nazard of 51⁄3′ and a Grosse Tierce of 31⁄5′, a late addition to the French Classical organ, after 1690. The Grand Cornet, two 8′ Trompettes and the Clairon complete the division. The Positif de Dos, based on an 8′ Montre, contains the usual plenum, mutations, and Cromorne. In addition, there is an 8′ Trompette, Clairon and Voix Humaine. The third manual contains the Bombarde 16′ and Gros Cromorne 8′. According to Gene Bedient, this could be the first Bombarde division in France, as there was not much use of this division before 1750. The Récit is a short keyboard of 32 notes, with a Cornet V and Trompette 8′. This chest has the expressive Tremblant doux and raucous Tremblant fort. The Echo is also a shorter keyboard of 39 notes containing a Cornet V. The pedalboard is extended down to F, known as the ravalement for exciting, thunderous pedal effects from the Bombarde 16′ and first and second Trompettes. The division also contains a Clairon, 16′ Flûte, 8′ Metal Flûte, 8′ Wooden Flûte, and Flûte 4′. Shove couplers allow the Positif and Bombarde to be coupled to the Grand-Orgue. All of this—plus a generous acoustic of four to five seconds’ reverberation—made for a most satisfying performance of repertoire selected by Jesse Eschbach, including excerpts from François Couperin’s Messe pour les couvents (Kyrie, Elevation–Tierce en taille and Offertoire); the Tierce en taille, Basse de Trompette and Grand jeu from Livre d’Orgue of Pierre DuMage; En taille, Fugue [à cinq], Récit de Cromorne and Dialogue sur les Grands Jeux from Veni Créator by Nicolas de Grigny; and two Noëls by Jean-François Dandrieu, Il n’est rien de plus Tendre and Allons voir ce divin Gage.

Lectures and masterclasses
An anteroom in the gallery, containing an historical exhibit with large posterboard illustrations from L’Art du Facteur d’Orgues by Dom Bédos, provided sufficient space for the daily morning lectures. Gene Bedient covered wind systems and key action in classical French organ building, as well as pipework, tonal issues, and temperament in the 17th and 18th centuries. Under his guidance, participants were able to crawl into the immaculately clean case and hand-pump the organ’s six bellows. It was interesting to note the subtle change in the organ’s sound when hand-pumped as opposed to using the electric blower. And it was quite an aerobic workout to boot!
Jesse Eschbach lectured on French post-Classical style and registration in France pre-1665 and 1665–1710. There was much fascination with the Grosse Tierce 31⁄5′ and its musical application. It was used for the bass or left hand, combined with the 16′ Bourdon and 8′ flute. Professor Eschbach also addressed the use of notes inégales and ornamentation, pointing out that ornamentation is a product of what the organ will invite, depending upon which division is being played, how much air is in the pipe channel, the registration, and acoustics, as well as the performer’s bon goût. The correct use of ornamentation in French music can often bring fear and trepidation to the performer. Professor Eschbach’s helpful explanation encouraged spontaneity and improvisation as a way to bring local surface detail to the performance. Multiple handouts enhanced the lecture material. Dr. Eschbach’s knowledge and passion for this music was also in evidence during each of the late morning masterclasses, where his expert teaching motivated everyone to move ahead in their interpretation and understanding, resulting in a stylistically informed and aesthetically pleasing recital.
Pentecost is celebrated as a national holiday in France, and it was fortuitous that the birthday of the Christian Church fell on the weekend between the first and second weeks of this summer’s institute. Most participants headed to Paris for the weekend, braving the crowded trains to take advantage of festival Masses at major churches in the capital, especially Notre Dame, Sainte-Clotilde and Saint-Sulpice.

Second week
Church of Notre Dame, Epernay
Nestled in the verdant hills of the Champagne region, the “Champagne City” of Epernay (population 25,000) was the site for the second week of lectures, masterclasses, and the recital. Located on the left bank of the Marne River about 17 miles southwest of Reims, Epernay is home to two magnificent organs by the celebrated 19th-century French builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. Classes and the recital took place at the Church of Notre-Dame, an imposing structure begun in 1898 and completed in 1915. Bombardment on the night of July 24, 1918 caused considerable damage to the nave. Rebuilding was not completed until April 1925. This building replaced a 16th-century edifice that was demolished due to severe collapsing.

Cavaillé-Coll organs
The 1869 Cavaillé-Coll instrument was moved into the rebuilt church and is housed in the north transept of the cruciform nave with 34 stops distributed over three manuals and pedal.
Grand-Orgue
16′ Bourdon
8′ Montre
8′ Bourdon
8′ Violoncelle
4′ Prestant
2′ Doublette
Plein-jeu harmonique
16′ Basson
8′ Trompette
4′ Clairon
Positif
8′ Quintaton
8′ Salicional
8′ Unda Maris
4′ Flûte douce
2′ Doublette
1′ Piccolo
8′ Clarinette
8′ Trompette
Récit expressif
8′ Flûte traversière
8′ Viole de gambe
8′ Voix céleste
4′ Flûte octaviante
2′ Octavin
8′ Trompette
8′ Basson-Hautbois
8′ Voix Humaine
Pédale
16′ Contrebasse
8′ Basse
4′ Flûte
16′ Bombarde
8′ Trompette
4′ Clairon

The dedication recital was given by Alexis Chauvet and Charles-Marie Widor on December 2, 1869. The organ was restored in 2001 by Bernard Hurvy.
SIFOS participants also had use of an 1897 Cavaillé-Coll instrument at the Church of Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul. Also three manuals and pedal, this later instrument has a few more mutations and small pipes, perhaps showing the influence of Alexandre Guilmant. Both instruments are typical in the layout of the tirasses, ventils and coupler pedals, and employ a Barker machine, the pneumatic lever to assist the playing action of the coupled Grand-Orgue, developed by Charles Barker and first used to great success by Cavaillé-Coll in his 1841 instrument at Saint-Denis, Paris.

Lectures and masterclasses
Cavaillé-Coll was a disciple of Dom Bédos, evidenced by his well-annotated copy of L’Art du Facteur d’Orgues. The lectures during this week by Gene Bedient brought forward the connections between these two significant builders and covered the innovations and mechanics that are the hallmark of the 19th-century French organ. Jesse Eschbach lectured on “Rousseau, Revolution, and Restoration: An Overview of Cultural and Political Influences in France Affecting Sacred Music in the Nineteenth Century,” “Post Classical French Organ Registration from Dom Bédos to Georges Schmitt,” and the concept of plenum in nineteenth-century France. The masterclasses again centered on selected repertoire including César Franck’s Grande Pièce Symphonique, op. 17 and Prélude, Fugue et Variation, op. 18, Marcel Dupré’s Prélude et Fugue en Sol Mineur, op. 7, the Adagio from Louis Vierne’s Troisième Symphonie pour Grand-Orgue, Pastorale from the Première Sonate en Ré Mineur, op. 42 by Alexandre Guilmant, and “Tu es petra” from the Esquisses Byzantines by Henri Mulet. The resulting recital was a thrilling conclusion to the week and a testament to the enduring legacy of this music as an outgrowth of the partnership between artisan and artist.

French culture
Of course, no time spent in France would be complete without a total immersion into the food and wine that is the sine qua non of French culture. After working hard each day, participants enjoyed festive repasts at gourmet restaurants carefully selected by Gwen and Gene Bedient. As with organ registration, there is great variety in French cuisine, adventurously sampled by all participants, adding to the collegial camaraderie permeating the institute.
Is it possible to say that an organist has not lived without hearing the thrilling Grand Plein-Jeu of Dom Bédos or a beguiling Cavaillé-Coll harmonic flute? The Summer Institute for French Organ Studies is a rich, cultural and musical immersion. Try it. It will transform your playing and teaching—perhaps even your life. To learn more about the Summer Institute for French Organ Studies and plans for the 2011 Institute, visit the Bedient Organ Company website at www.bedientorgan.com.

Glück New York Organbuilders, New York, New York
Union Church of Pocantico Hills, Tarrytown, New York

From the pastor: Our latest chapter When Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse never miss a service, and a church is blessed with a warm, close, and giving congregation, special events in the life of a church somehow become even more special. The commissioning of the Laurance Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Pipe Organ was a remarkable milestone in our history, and a finishing touch to our beautiful sanctuary, 85 years after its cornerstone was laid. The instrument was funded by Mr. Rockefeller’s brother, David, his daughter, Dr. Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, and other members of the family, supplemented by the generosity of their fellow congregants and friends.
Planning for the organ began several years ago and proceeded at a careful pace. Several organbuilders were consulted before selecting Sebastian M. Glück of New York City. An organist, organbuilder, and preservation architect, he was sensitive to all of our concerns, knowing that his creation could neither upstage our worship nor compete with the peerless stained glass that adorns our landmark church. The long process of on-site voicing and tonal finishing resulted in the “perfect fit” of this outstanding pipe organ. The congregation’s sense of the holy is lifted as the clear tones of the organ fill the space. Praising God in the sanctuary soars here to new heights!
—Rev. Dr. F. Paul DeHoff

From the consultant: Looking forward through the rear view mirror

Building an organ for a small space is a challenge for both design and execution, and these challenges have been creatively met in this installation. The builders have carefully engineered the instrument to fit the space, providing good tonal egress and ample accessibility for ease of tuning and maintenance. The instrument possesses character and a distinctive personality, and the magnificent windows by Matisse and Chagall made it seem fitting to emulate the orgue de chœur of the French tradition. Choral and congregational accompaniments are the important functions of this organ, and it contains surprising resources for playing a considerable variety of organ literature.
Essentially a two-manual instrument, a third manual division has been derived from the tonal scheme through studied extension and duplexing. This “found” Positif adds to the versatility of the organ in which each stop must pull its weight, individually and in ensemble. The success of this master plan is in its careful scaling and meticulous tonal finishing.
All of the ranks embody individual character, yet blend effectively in the total ensemble. Some of the ranks deserve special mention because of their creativity and success in this installation. The 16' Contrebasse gives clarity and definition to the pedal, and in combination with the stopped 16' Sous Basse provides a firm foundation. The Contrebasse can also be used beneath the Récit strings, which have a delightful, sizzling, French edge as well. This is a welcome relief from the ubiquitous 16' Gedeckt extensions found on most organs. As the bass to the principal chorus, the 16' Contrebasse undergirds with clarity. An interesting historical aspect of this stop is that it was typical of French Baroque churches to have a double bass playing with the orgue de chœur for additional sonority. On the manuals, this same rank (playing as the 8' Violoncelle) has a desirable incisive quality that is important for color and contrast in the family of foundation stops.
Another stop that serves multiple functions is the Clarinette. It provides gravity and weight as the 16' manual stop for the Récit reed chorus without competing with the Pédale 16' Bombarde. As an 8' solo stop it is more refined than a Cromorne, but has more color and personality that most other Clarinet stops. This is an effective solution for a small instrument.
The removal of the carpet from the chancel revealed an attractive hardwood floor that adds warmth to the music of the organ and the Union Church Choir.
This project was the outcome of a happy collaboration among organist, organbuilder, and consultant. The congregation and its pastor have been most helpful in making this a successful project with rewarding musical results. I am happy to be associated with this organ installation, from the initial discussions, through the building phase, to the dedication and inaugural recital.
—Dr. Gordon Turk

From the director of music: An about-face in the right direction

My service at Union Church began in 1999 when our last organ had aged precisely 30 years. Replacing Wurlitzer’s 1922 Opus 548, it had been assembled by a local organ man utilizing pipes imported from Holland. Unfortunately, the electric valve action of this heavily unified instrument had not withstood the test of time, and Union Church faced the pressing need to replace its console, relays, and playing mechanisms, as well as address the obvious tonal imbalances. After much discussion, the church decided that a new instrument would be a better investment.
The thin, prismatic sound of the old organ, truly a product of its time, actually required amplification to reach our small sanctuary, and from the outset Sebastian Glück had suggested a completely different approach, based upon his ongoing fascination with the orgues de chœur and orgues de salon of fin-de-siècle France. I had the opportunity to play his Opus 10 at Our Lady of Loretto in Cold Spring, New York, a small new organ in this French Romantic style, and I became convinced of both the concept and the builder.
Our consultant agreed with my stipulation that the instrument should be a worthy vehicle for choral accompaniment. He also concurred that Mr. Glück’s focus on a French symphonic character would serve our worship better than yet another neoclassical design, as it could more effectively support our choir with its abundance of properly scaled unison ranks. We were hopeful that the sound generated in the right chancel chamber would somehow fill the entire room, a feat dependent upon Sebastian’s scaling and voicing, as no changes could be made to the historic building. Ironically, all of these ideals represented the opposite of the situation with which we started!
Mr. Glück and I pored over the smaller documented Cavaillé-Coll designs, and I shared his excitement when he returned from his close examination of the famous Merklin/Mutin organ at l’Église Réformée du Saint-Esprit on Paris’s Rue Roquépine as he prepared for his tonal work at Union Church. Although the prototype instruments by Cavaillé-Coll and Mutin usually found their way into highly reverberant rooms, he was correct in asserting that an organ of this character would bloom with a greater presence in our intimate setting than another neo-Baroque organ.
I am elated that the entire church family and the local organ community have expressed nothing but admiration and enthusiasm for this new musical instrument. Its frank sound and rich color activate every corner of the room without ever sounding “loud.” It is thrilling to launch a virile grand chœur in the context of our worship, and satisfying to employ the fonds d’huit without apology. These marvelous attributes do not preclude the performance of music from other schools of literature, as this organ embraces the components of a respectable plein jeu as well as solo stops and ensembles of great clarity.
I often ponder the fact that our new pipe organ continues to be a gift each and every time it is engaged in its sacred function. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. David Rockefeller, Dr. Lucy Waletzky, Dr. Paul DeHoff, Dr. Gordon Turk, Mr. Sebastian M. Glück, Mr. Albert Jensen-Moulton and the entire Glück staff, as well as all of the donors at the Union Church of Pocantico Hills who made this amazing instrument a reality.
—Thomas Zachacz

From the organbuilder: A French recipe from an American chef

The Laurance Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Pipe Organ is a 21st-century instrument inspired by the school of organbuilding that flourished late in the reign of Napoléon III and during the first 30 years of the Third Republic. The French Romantic organ is characterized by bold, warm, and rich colors. Despite their strong individuality, these organs’ diverse voices form a cooperative community akin to a superb ensemble of celebrated actors, in which the sum of the distinctive parts is exceeded by the exhilarating effect of the whole.
French pipe organs and music of the period exhibit the same passion and spiritual freedom as the painting, sculpture, architecture, and dance of the era, a phenomenon that has captivated the Rockefellers for generations. The family had commissioned the Aeolian company to build large organs for their homes, so in addition to growing up with historically pivotal visual arts, they appreciated the pipe organ in a secular, purely musical context, in addition to what they heard in church.
I made it clear from the start that this would not be an historical copy. The copyist develops solid technique, but does not always make artistic progress as he reproduces the flaws and limitations of his models along with their glories.
The Rockefeller family and Union Church have consistently managed to balance strong tradition with a keen eye for the new. Since my own mindset has always been on “the cutting edge of the passé,” I felt immediately comfortable with them. I could create something new that still took its cues from the past, and they would understand what I was doing. As Dr. Turk said at his dedicatory recital, the organ comes with its own character, but “it has a definite French accent.”

Historical antecedents of the design
Le Grand-Orgue

The structural blueprint of the Grand-Orgue was influenced by Cavaillé-Coll’s 1879 design for the same division in the II/18 instrument in Le Château du Compte de Liminghe, Gesves, Belgium, an orgue de salon for which Lemmens served as consultant. It struck me as a sensible and still-modern concept for the main division for nearly any school of composition. Such compact specifications usually bore either a 2' chorus member or a mixture, but rarely both. The inclusion of both, to the exclusion of yet another 4' flute, seemed to afford more options for the interpretation of a broader range of repertoire. The Fourniture II–IV begins as a Progression Harmonique, adding lower pitches without breaking, then moves to classical plagal breaks in the treble. With slightly smaller scales and higher cutups, the mixture is one that melds smoothly, adding brilliance and line without the harsh separation one might encounter from a “neo-classical” mixture.
Supplying the fonds d’huit would prove more difficult, simply because of space. While the 16' Bourdon was most often “duplexed” to the Pédale in such instruments, I reversed the procedure, extending the substantial 16' Sous Basse upward, making it available at 16' and 8' pitch. The 8' proved a bit too large for proper balance, so I provided a new treble with narrower scales and higher mouths. The 8' Violoncelle is large, warm, vibrant, and nearly reedy, furnishing the third member of the 8' quartet, but we had run out of room.' The 8' Flûte Harmonique was almost pulled out of thin air. I opted to transmit the Récit 4' Flûte Octaviante an octave lower, with one personal quirk. While traditionally one would build an open wood 8' octave (as opposed to the American practice of switching to non-matching stopped pipes), the compromise was to use the stopped poplar pipes of the Récit 8' Cor de Nuit for the first eleven notes, and then build a single low BB pipe of open spotted pewter to complete the octave. My reasoning? I cannot bear to hear the final left-hand note in Franck’s Prélude, Fugue, et Variation land on a stopped pipe, and I was determined that it not happen here. It is a smaller, less soaring sound than normal, being based upon the Récit scale, but provides an essential component that otherwise would be omitted.

Le Récit-Expressif

The Récit had to be an economically designed powerhouse, faithful to its French spirit without locking out other schools of music. Since the French Romantic tradition is one that specifies a string and its undulant under expression, the effect had to be authentic. There would be no washed out, noncommittal, characterless Violas here. Cutting, pungent, keen, energized strings of narrow scale and high tin content were the order of the day, emitting the tone color known and expected by composers and organists of the era.
Cavaillé-Coll would modify his choir of 8', 4', and 2' harmonic flutes in his small organs, and I did so as well. Still stylistically appropriate, the chimneyed 8' Cor de Nuit is a fine stop for continuo use and vocal accompaniment, and it combines beautifully with the Viole de Gambe and Voix Humaine. The 2' Flûte Conique adapts to all music, from Baroque trios to modern choir accompaniments. While unidiomatic to the size and genre of this organ, the 4' Prestant has proven itself to be indispensable, a tonal anchor for the secondary manual in northern literature, and a binding element for anthem accompaniment.
A shortage of space placed the burden of all reed tone upon the Récit. The “usual suspects” (Trompette, Basson et Hautbois, and Voix Humaine) had to be included, tailored to the intimate church and its non-reverberant acoustic. The first step was to acknowledge that a full-throttle blaze of French reeds would work against our goals, so a bright English trumpet with harmonic resonators fit the bill. Despite its modest scale this voice speaks with remarkable authority.
The 8' Basson et Hautbois is a variation of what I had observed in France. French practice called for single-taper resonators and closed, tapered shallots for the bass and tenor octaves, and stem-and-bell resonators and open, domed, parallel shallots for the remainder of the stop. Such a break would have been abrupt and evident in Union Church’s acoustic, so a structural compromise was struck: Bertounêche shallots throughout, with traditional, coned-in Hautbois resonators for the treble, and stem-and-bell resonators with lifting lids for the 8' and 4' Basson octaves.
The huge, woody 16' Clarinette-Basse is a rarity of great impact if properly scaled, built, and voiced. The inspiration for this stop was Cavaillé-Coll’s 1894 design for the III/46 instrument in the salle de concert in the hôtel particulier of the erudite Baron de l’Espée at 55 Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It was the only 16' manual reed in the organ, residing in one of two powerful Récits.
Half-length cylindrical reeds such as this effectively resonate the fundamental, whereas half-length inverted conical ones do not. It is for this reason that the half-length 16' Bassoon extensions so often built sound weak and thin. I opted for an enormous scale, a world away from the anæmic 16' Dulzians that plagued this nation’s Swell divisions in decades past. Its sound latches on to the 8' Trompette and gives the impression of a 16' Double Trumpet when accompanying English anthems and adds complex color to the ensemble.

Le Positif (perdu et trouvé)

When Union Church embarked on this journey, I maintained the position that I would build a smaller, finer instrument than the one they were using, and that a three-manual organ was not possible; I have seen grand dreams push organ projects to unsatisfactory results, and was ethically bound to protect the clients. As the two-manual design was in the process of refinement, Dr. Turk, Mr. Zachacz, and I collectively admitted that despite the sumptuousness of our little banquet, we still felt pangs of hunger. Could we have a third manual for dessert, even though our stomach was full?
While I could not add a third manual division, I could extract one from the material at hand. Cavaillé-Coll’s designs revealed that there were many ‘givens’, trends, and features within his œuvre, but there were no “standard” specifications, beyond the marketed stock models, which were so often customized for the client. A creative license had been granted.
The 8' extension of the 16' Clarinette-Basse, speaking from the Grand-Orgue in the two-manual design, was the first resident of the new Positif. The mezzo-forte fluework was duplexed to this manual, and two 4' extensions, exclusively in this department, provided it a distinctive timbre and center of gravity. Having lived with this organ since its completion, no one involved can imagine it as a two-manual instrument in light of the returns on this small investment.

La Pédale

Two-manual organs of this style often had pedal divisions borrowed entirely from the manuals. As I had no desire to fall back upon historic precedent as an excuse for absent majesty, I asked organbuilder and consultant Randall Wagner, a longtime friend, to help our firm engineer my desires into the available space.
In addition to the aforementioned 16' Sous Basse unit, there is a 16' Contrebasse, an extension of the 8' Violoncelle. It is built with Haskell re-entrant tubes to save space, and maintains bowing string tone all the way to 16' CCC. The 16' string extension is something I had used in Opus 5, Opus 8, and Opus 9, lending variety, pitch definition, and clarity in lieu of the dull “Echo Lieblich” so often found over the past century.
The 4' Quinzième is an independent principal stop essential to the pedal line. Experience confirms that a 4' pedal voice borrowed from a manual unit interferes with the inner voices of polyphony, contributing to “missing note syndrome” and never quite balancing correctly. When funds and space are rationed, such a measure saves the pedal line.
The 16' Bombarde, with full-length resonators, is an extension of the 8' Trompette. The combined result of all of these ideas results in a more effective pedal division.

The nuts and bolts

The organ’s playing action is electro-pneumatic, combining pitman windchests with individual-pouch unit chests for extensions and duplexed voices. The pipe ranks are planted in major third formation, a centuries-old arrangement that assures both easy access and stable tuning. A turbine located beneath the organ delivers wind at a pressure of four inches water column through single-rise reservoirs, providing a stable, unfailing wind supply, even when the tout ensemble is unleashed. The intake is routed from the church itself for added temperature stability, and the entire organ is built on the same level, with the exception of the 16' octaves.
The console is constructed of mahogany and white oak, bearing manual keyboards of cow bone and walnut. The drawknobs and toe studs are turned from pao ferro, and the pedal clavier is constructed of maple and rosewood. I carved the music desk with a medallion that adheres to this firm’s ideals of “opulent restraint.” It acknowledges 19th-century French harmonium grilles as well as the Art Nouveau botanical forms in Matisse’s rose window, his final work, the design for which he completed two days before his death.
While the console is patterned after the work of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, there are some concessions to make the contemporary American organist feel more at home, such as the inter-manual couplers front and center, controlled by Skinner-style dominos. The Grand-Orgue is normally played from the second manual keyboard, but the order of the two lowest manuals can be switched to conform to standard 19th-century French layouts. A 256-level combination action provides the freedom of kaleidoscopic registrational changes, so the ventils for the jeux de combinaisons have been foregone.

Where thanks is due

As I said at the service of dedication, my staff does everything, and I do the rest. They are all degreed musicians (oddly, all professional singers) with high standards and amazing work ethics. Albert Jensen-Moulton has kept every single project (and me) on track, and his uncanny attention to detail has enhanced each achievement this company has made since he joined the firm. Dominic Inferrera and Joseph DiSalle were the two principal organbuilding pillars supporting the success of this instrument, and their loyalty is deeply appreciated.
Thomas Zachacz maintains a modest front for somebody who knows as much as he does, and his love for this school of organbuilding and composition surfaces with every discussion. From the start, Tom “got it,” and the process of working for him was not just rewarding, it was fun.
The experience was enhanced by the guidance of a knowledgeable, worldly, and supportive consultant, Dr. Gordon Turk, and when he played the dedicatory recital, it was obvious to all that he understood the nuances of instrument he helped to create.
Pastor DeHoff, the Board of Trustees, and the congregation of Union Church form a rare group of cultured, inquisitive, progressive minds, and their willingness to embrace this project will always remain a notable feature of this period in our lives.
Without the donors, this road would not have been traveled. Without their trust and insight, the results might have been different. Buying a great painting is one thing. Commissioning one from an artist you admire is another. But trusting an unknown to build you a mysterious machine that some time in the future will produce sounds you have never heard takes a good deal of courage. Some of the donors I have met, others I have not, but it is for their trust and courage that I shall always be grateful.
—Sebastian M. Glück

The Laurance Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Pipe Organ
Union Church of Pocantico Hills,
Tarrytown, New York
Glück New York, Opus 11

GRAND-ORGUE (II)
16' Bourdon (from Pédale)
8' Montre (58 pipes, 50% tin)
8' Violoncelle (58 pipes, 50% tin)
8' Flûte Harmonique (1 pipe, 50% tin) (a)
8' Bourdon (38 pipes, pine, mahogany, & 50% tin) (b)
4' Prestant (58 pipes, 50% tin)
2' Doublette (58 pipes, 50% tin)
II–IV Fourniture (196 pipes, 50% tin)
C1 19.22
C13 15.19.22
C25 12.15.19.22
C37 08.12.15.19
C49 01.08.12.15
8' Trompette (from Récit Expressif)
Grand-Orgue Muet
RÉCIT-EXPRESSIF (III)
8' Viole de Gambe (58 pipes, 90% tin)
8' Voix Céleste (46 pipes, 90% tin)
8' Cor de Nuit (58 pipes, poplar, walnut, & 50% tin)
4' Prestant (58 pipes, 50% tin)
4' Flûte Octaviante (58 pipes, 50% tin)
2' Flûte Conique (58 pipes, 50% tin)
16' Clarinette-Basse (12 pipes, 50% tin) (c)
8' Trompette (58 pipes, 50% tin)
8' Basson et Hautbois (58 pipes, 50% tin)
8' Voix Humaine (58 pipes, 30% tin)
Tremblant (I et III)
16' Récit
Récit Muet
4' Récit
POSITIF-EXPRESSIF (I)
8' Violoncelle (Grand Orgue)
8' Flûte Harmonique (Grand Orgue)
8' Cor de Nuit (Récit-Expressif)
4' Viole d’Amour (12 pipes, 50% tin) (d)
4' Flûte Douce (12 pipes, 50% tin) (e)
8' Clarinette (58 pipes, 30% tin)
Cloches
16' Positif
Positif Muet
4' Positif
PÉDALE
16' Sous Basse (32 pipes, poplar & walnut)
102/3' Gros Nasard (from Sous Basse) (g)
8' Octave Basse (Grand-Orgue)
8' Violoncelle (Grand-Orgue)
8' Flûte (Grand-Orgue Bourdon)
4' Quinzième (32 pipes, 50% tin)
4' Flûte Ouverte (Récit-Expressif)
4' Flûte Bouchée (Grand-Orgue Bourdon)
16' Bombarde (12 pipes, zinc) (h)
16' Clarinette-Basse (Récit-Expressif)
8' Trompette (Récit-Expressif)
4' Clarinette (Récit-Expressif)
Cloches

(a) C1–A#11 from Récit Cor de Nuit;
C13–A58 from Récit Flûte Octaviante
(b) Extension of Pédale 16¢ Sous Basse
(c) Extension of Positif 8¢ Clarinette
(d) Extension of Grand Orgue 8¢ Violoncelle
(e) Extension of Récit 8¢ Cor de Nuit
(f) Extension of Grand Orgue 8¢ Violoncelle
(g) Becomes a 32¢ Contre Bourdon at C13
(h) Extension of Récit 8¢ Trompette
Tirasses, Accouplements et Échanges (dominos basculants)
* 8' Tirasse Grand Orgue
* 8' Tirasse Positif
* 8' Tirasse Récit
4' Tirasse Récit

16' Récit au Grand Orgue
* 8' Récit au Grand Orgue
4' Récit au Grand Orgue
16' Positif au Grand Orgue
* 8' Positif au Grand Orgue
4' Positif au Grand Orgue
8' Grand Orgue au Positif

16' Récit au Positif
* 8' Récit au Positif
4' Récit au Positif
Grand Orgue au lieu du Positif

* Piston et Cuillère
Combinaisons (256 levels)
6 adjustable thumb pistons acting upon each manual division
6 adjustable thumb pistons and toe studs acting upon the Pédale division
8 adjustable thumb pistons and toe studs acting upon the entire organ
Tutti thumb piston and cuillère
Annulateur piston
Set piston