38 No 364 | THE ORGAN | SUMMER 2013

The first great or-gan was built during the thirteenth cen-tury. There are no ex-isting records of the first organists to have played the instru-ment but in 1330 the cathedral accounts mention the payment of fees to an organist. The first of the great organ’s organists to be mentioned by name is Jean de Bruges in 1334. He played a swallow organ suspended be-neath an upper win-dow in the nave, which was dismantled in 1425. However, by then it had already been superseded by a new organ built by Frédé-ric Schambantz on the stone gallery above the great west door. It had a keyboard with 46 keys, a pedal board and over six hundred pipes.

The Schambantz organ remained in place for two centuries played by many organ-ists including Henri de

Saxe, who was resident organist from 1415 - 1436. Olivier Latry writes that de Saxe’s “nomination by competition gives us an idea of his job description.” It entailed playing for the twenty-three annual religious festivals, and for all ser-vices from Vespers to a Great Mass. The

The Cavaillé-Coll Organ of Notre Dame de Paris

After six months of restoration work, the great organ of Notre-Dame de Paris found its voice once more at the opening ceremony of the 850th anniversary celebrations of the cathedral on December 12, 2012. A Pontifical Mass was conducted by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois of Paris in the presence of the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls, and the Mayor of Paris, Bernard Delanoë. And once again the sound of this magnifi-cent organ filled the cathedral.

The great organ finds its voice once more.

Patricia Stoughton

In addition, as part of the 850th an-niversary celebrations, the organ will be at the heart of Le jour Mondial de l’Orgue - World Organ Day - on May 6, “a world-wide musical marathon”, organ-ized by Notre-Dame cathedral involving the performance of more than 850 con-certs. Organists from all five continents will play works spanning nearly nine centuries from some of the famous No-tre-Dame composers, including Gervais-François and Armand-Louis Couperin, Claude Bénigne Balbastre, Louis Vierne, Marcel Dupré, Maurice Duruflé and Pierre Cochereau. Many organists who have played there over the years have been invited to join in by giving recit-als in concert halls and churches of all denominations in their home countries but the event is open to all. Each con-cert will include at least one organ work originating from Notre-Dame but most many more. The event is linked to the French Jour de l’Orgue - Day of the Or-gan - taking place from May 4 - 6, to pro-mote the organ with recitals, visits to or-gan builders, demonstrations of how an organ works and educational films.

There are said to have been small organs in Notre-Dame from when it was built in the 12th century. However, Léonin, highly regarded composer and founder of the École Notre-Dame, and Pérotin le Grand, (1160 - 1220), who fol-lowed him, are believed to have only played on small instruments in the choir.

SUMMER 2013 | THE ORGAN | No 364 39