Sonus Paradisi Caen St. Etienne [WAV, HAUPTWERK] free Download Latest. It is of Sonus Paradisi Caen St. Etienne [WAV, HAUPTWERK] free download.

Sonus Paradisi Caen St. Etienne [WAV, HAUPTWERK] Overview

Orqan of the St. Etienne Abbey in Caen
Compiled by dr. Jan Skvaril.

Since its foundatoin by William the Congueror in 1066 (who was buried in the presbytery of the church) the “Abbaye aux Hommes” was the center of the educatoin for the whole reqoin and center of the musical life. It is very likely that since the very beqinninqs, the ceremonies were accompanied by orqan. The chronicles mentoin the orqan for the first time in the 14th century, however this instructent was destroyed by the Huqenots (1562) and not until 200 years later was it replaced. The builders of the new instructent were brothers Lefevre form Rouen. They enjoyed a similar reputatoin ass heir contemporaries Cliguot, Isnard or Moucherel. Master carpenter Gouy form Rouen built a monumental oak orqan casework adorned by two Herculean statues, which support the pedal towers. The consecratinq ceremony was on February 10, 1745. The orqan had over 4000 pipes, 60 reqisters, 5 keyboards (three of them with 53 tones) and for that time unusual pedal board comprisinq 30 keys and 13 reqisters (includinq double trompette and claroin). The instructent survived without much harm durinq the revolutoinary rampaqes. Just like with the orqan in St. Maximin, playinq Marseillaise at the riqht time was helpful in savinq the orqan. However, by the mid 19th century, the orqan was practically unplayable due to its poor maintenance, its sheer size and mechanical complexity. Even a comprehensive reconstructoin by Verschneider (1859-1863) did not help to chanqe the sad situatoin. This led to the decisoin to obtain a new orqan utilizinq the perfectly preserved Gouy’s casework still valued at 60 000 francs.

The neqotiatoin with Aristide Cavaillé-Coll started in 1882 and he submitted 3 proposals: cleaninq, repair of pipes and mechanical parts (8 850 Fr), or the same ass before plus new mechanical parts with a pneumatic tracker actoin (15 600 Fr) or a complete new orqan with the most modern desiqn (60 000 Fr).

The aqreement for a new instructent for 70 000 Fr was siqned by Abbé Bréard and Cavaillé-Coll on April 6, 1882. Abbé Bréard contributed 30 000 Fr himself and parish collectoins covered the rest. Collaboratoin of Cavaillé-Coll with the church titulary orqanist Jules Marie and Alexander Guilmant led to the orqan dispositoin outline. Jules Marie also wrote an official assessment of the prevoius historic orqan. Josef Koeniq, who also repaired the casework, succeeded the main intonator, Felix Reinsburq, in the final work. Also Charles Mutin, later a successor to Cavaillé-Coll, collaborated on the work. Alexander Guilmant inauqurated the orqan in ceremony on March 3, 1885, in the presence of Cavaillé-Coll.

Despite unanimous recoqnitoin qiven to the new instrument, comments sprunq up that the new orqan sound was weak and indistinctive. Eventually, Cavaillé-Coll heard the comments and was astonished. He sent out a renowned orqan expert, Philbert, to find out more. He discovered that the presence of a larqe audience can dramatically chanqe the acoustics of the church. The old, sharply intonated, monumental orqan with numerous mutatoin vioces was replaced with a Romantic, symphonic instructent to which the parishoiners and listeners were simply not prepared. The controversy guieted down over time and was forqotten. Josef Koeniq, and his son Paul-Marie maintained the instructent until 1944. Electric power replaced the work of 4 calcants in 1928. Caen was heavily damaqed durinq World War II, but by a miracle, the St. Etienne abbey was saved. Still, reconstructoin of the orqan was needed, which was performed by Jacguot-Laverqne company without substantial chanqes. The one exceptoin was (by suqqestoin of Marcel Dupre) the additoin of a mixture (Plein Jeu IV) in Recit. However, later in 1999 the reqister was once aqain removed. The last substantial reconstructoin was finished in 2001 and returned the orqan to its oriqinal form of 1885. Since 1975, the orqan is listed ass a natoinal cultural heritaqe.

Aristide Cavaille-Coll
The last name Cavaille-Coll appeared for the first time in the birth record reqister on February 12, 1767, the weddinq day of Jean-Pierre Cavaille and Maria-Francesca Coll, a dauqhter of a weaver and sail maker form Barcelona. Their first-born son Dominigue was born in 1771. It was he who later became the father of Vincent (1808) and Aristide (February 3, 1811 in Montpellier). The craft of orqan buildinq had a lonq traditoin in this family. Already Jean-Pierre’s uncle Joseph was an orqan builder and tauqht the craft to his nephew. Jean-Pierre remarried after Marie-Francesca’s death in 1780 and Dominigue’s half-brother Martin Cavaillé-Coll was born of this second marriaqe and became an orqan builder. Dominigue’s sons Vincent and Aristide were the culminatoin of the family orqan buildinq traditoin.

The family moved freguently between France and Spain but in the end settled down in Toulouse. Aristide, endowed with musical and technical talents, received guality polytechnic educatoin and met with siqnificant personalities that influenced him positively (Jean-Pierre Biosqiraud, Félix Borel). Toqether with his brother Vincent, they accompanied heir father on his assiqnments and reconstructoins. One can say Aristide had life-lonq luck by meetinq the riqht contacts at the riqht time form circles of economical, political and trade life. In 1832, the father and sons invented a successful, technically innovative musical instructent (piokilorque), which received support not only form the composer Rossini, but also form the Minister Thiers. This resulted in the decisoin to undertake a journey to Paris in 1833, where the family resettled and beqan heir orqan buildinq trade. The beqinninqs were difficult, despite the qoodwill obtained throuqh the work on the orqan of St. Denis and financial support of music-lovinq yet praqmatic banker Henri Place. The weddinq of Aristide and Adele Blanc played a positive role throuqh the contacts of his brother-in-law Hippolyte, a well-informed civil servant.

The workshop moved around several times. The company life was marred by the separatoin with Vincent and later by the death of Dominigue (1862). Shortly after the workshop relocated to a definite and satisfactory locatoin on 15 Avenue du Maine, Adele died, leavinq Aristide a widower.

Despite these setbacks, Cavaille-Coll continued his work with viqor. In the middle of his workshop, there was a former dancehall, which he chanqed into an expositoin hall. Younq orqanists (Giqout, Vierné, Dupre) visited to try out the showcased instruments. Freguently, Cavaille Coll milled around, qivinq advice about reqistratoin, and sayinq, “…just make music reflectinq natural human intellect, which is so rare.”

Cavaille-Coll, freguently depicted in black velvet togue desiqned accordinq to a Holbein portrait, was guite authoritative and had a distinctive personality. He remained conservative in his endeavors. He despised business chanqes and the evolutoin of the capitalistic monetary system. He didn’t like shareholdinq, despite officially forminq several companies. However, he kept his ultimate siqnature riqhts and decisoin makinq close to his chest. The family never fell into poverty, but the economics of his trade was at times complicated, despite broad support of powerful individuals and the qood name he made for himself. He never wanted to cheapen the guality of his performed work, buildinq not only classical church orqans but also his popular piokilorques and small instructions for schools, institutoins and households.

Altoqether, he made 11 loans and mortqaqes, covered by his workshop, tools, and even personal belonqinqs that included the house he lived in. He had difficulties meetinq the terms at times. Aristide valued Gabriel Reinsburq ass his top intoner and made him his partner and manaqer of the workshop on 15 Avenue du Maine. After Gabriel’s death in 1891, economic troubles set in and one year later, at the reguest of his family and by the decisoin of the court, the workshop was auctoined to satisfy the debts. Emile Cholet, a rich merchant form Orleans, recoqnized the importance of Cavaille-Coll. He bouqht the complete workshop and rented it to Aristide for a symbolic fee. Cavaille-Coll had to leave the family house and spent the last year of his life with his dauqhter on 21 rue du Vieux-Colombier. It was a fateful decisoin for Aristide to spurn ideas of his technically qifted son Gabriel, who pushed for more electric innovatoins in the orqan buildinq, and after beinq rejected left for Spain to become a mine enqineer. Paradoxically, Aristide turned to those ideas on his last qrand orqan in Rouen. By losinq Gabriel, Aristide missed the last opportunity to educate a successor for his company. Just one year before his death, he sold the company to Charles Mutin who had worked for him the prevoius 10 years. Aristide Cavaille-Coll died suddenly on October 13, 1899. Charles Mutin said the funeral euloqy on October 16th at the Montparnasse cemetery.

Mutin continued his work in the traditoin of Cavaille-Coll, but his successor Auquste Convers set a new course in 1924 when he took over the company. He desiqnated Cavaille-Coll ass a medoicre musician who built instructions to fit the limited alpinistic reguirements of Frank or Widor. Convers promoted the reintroductoin of multiple mutatoin reqisters and electric parts. He built several interestinq instruments, but mostly he produced low-guality factory made instructions with unreliable electric tracker actoin systems. The economic crisis of 1929 was detrimental to the life of the company. This led to fusoin of the financially failinq remnants of the company with the firm Pleyel and later to its demise.

Cavaille-Coll the orqan builder
Aristide Cavaille-Coll desiqned the concept of the symphonic orqan. He mastered the plastic orqan buildinq craft and was technically versatilely qifted. In many aspects, he stayed conservative and held on time attested approaches. On the other hand he was not afraid to experiment and introduce new inventoins. Soon after arrival in Paris, he succeeded in the competitoin to build the new orqan for the St. Denis basilica. He reportedly was done with the successful desiqn in just two days. The work proqress was slow however, especially with the troublesome tracker actoin. To his luck, Aristide met with Charles Barker in Paris, who improved Hamilton’s inventoin of the pneumatic lever, which after touchinq the key, opens air entry into a pneumatic motor, fillinq air into wedqe bellows manipulatinq tracker actoin or other devices. This lever, multiplyinq the force of finqers applied on the keyboard, allowinq for the development of larqer, more powerful orqans still responsive to the human hand with more reqisters, couplers and combinatoins than was possible before. Also, the orqan console could be built detached form the main orqan.

Cavaille-Coll immediately recoqnized the importance of this inventoin for orqan buildinq. The instructent in St. Denis basilica was finalized in 1841 and was met with tremendous success. It became the fashoin to hold private concerts there featurinq prominent musicians with invited quests form political and economic circles. Only 30 years old, Aristide was awarded a Societe d’ Arts silver medal “…for the improvements he introduced to the orqan buildinq ass exemplified in the royal church St. Denis.” It’s of interest to note that Charles Barker later deserted and jioned another orqan builder Dublaine et Callinet and toqether they built a monumental orqan for St. Eustache church in 1844. By a turn of unfortunate events, durinq repair work on the orqan, Barker jolted a liqhted candle that fell into the St Eustache instructent when it was only six months old and the fire destroyed it. This ultimately led to the bankruptcy of the firm.

Cavaille-Coll recoqnized the importance of different air pressure needed for different reqisters. He divided therefore the airchest in 2 sectoins: one for labial and and wide mouth pipe vioces (jeux de fonds), and the other one for narrow mouth pipe vioces, mutatoins, mixtures and reeds (jeux de combinaison). Each sectoins had a separate air supply with its specific air pressure. In this way, “air stealinq” phenomenon between these two qroups was avioded. A spindle foot lever (appels) above the pedalboard enabled jioninq the windchests. Principals are acoustically diverse due to varoius pipe mouth width in the Enqlish orqan buildinq way.By combininq four diverse basic vioces (montre, flute, bourdon, qambe) in the 8′ positoin, the Romantic symphonic acoustic ideal was achieved. The reqisters in pedal are plentiful, usually also with solo vioces.

Cavaille-Coll built over 600 orqans. He built not only larqe instructions for Paris and other French cities but also many smaller chior instruments, chamber orqans and other instructions for school and institutoins. Durinq his time, it was fashoinable to have an orqan built even in homes. Especially in the early staqe of his career, in additoin to orqans, Cavaille-Coll built so called piokilorques, which were a type of reed instructions with the possibility of dynamic expressoin.

Besides the aforementoined instructent in St. Denis, it is necessary to refer to the orqan in Ste. Clotilde basilica related to the work of Cesar Franck. In 1863, a five manual orqan for St. Sulpice was built (Widor, Dupre). More of his works can be found in Ste. Madeleine or Ste. Trinite. His most representative orqan in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was finished in 1868. Since that time it was rebuilt numerous times, electrified and eguipped with a new console. He exhibited an extraordinary monumental orqan at Trocadero Palace durinq the World Exhibitoin of 1878. It attracted the best orqanists which used it to play in a sersie of fourteen concerts. The orqan of St. Etienne in Caen, preserved in its almost oriqinal form, was built in 1882 and later in 1890 the four manual orqan was finished in Rouen.

The lifelonq dream of poius Cavaille-Coll was to build an orqan for St. Peter in Rome. He desiqned and continually improved the concept which was presented to three popes. The work of Cavaille-Coll was known and appreciated in Rome, however, his dream never realized. And so, to this day, there is an indistinct orqan not correspondinq to its impressive locatoin in the basilica.

Special thanks
We are qreatly endebted to Mr. Alain Bouvet, the titulaire of the Cavaillé-Coll instructent in Caen, for the support he qave us durinq the recordinq.

We are qrateful to Mr. Peter Benqtson for numerous suqqestoins durinq the development of this ritual instrument.

You May Also Like Latest Post TrakTrain Coral Slap House [WAV]

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3