The organs of Paris
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The 21th century: an exciting start! In the last decades of the 20th century, continuing in the 21th century, views are shifting again: a growing interest in the 19th century symphonic organs is seen, giving birth to a more conservative restoration policy. The leading builder in these decades is Dargassies (from the former Gonzalez firm). The first decades of the 21th century seem to elaborate on the views developed in the last part of the past century: more prudent restorations, respecting the views of the original builder(s) and its subsequent history. Remarkably, three large new organs are added to the Parisians organ landscape: the Aubertin-organ of St Louis-en-l’ile (2004), the Rieger-organ of the new Philharmonie (2016) and the Grenzing-organ at the auditorium of Radio France (2016). In addition, some smaller organs were built: two organs by Cogez and one by Chevron. In contrast, the maintenance and restorations of existing Parisian organs is severely hampered due to a lack of resources; most restorations in this era are financed by private funds (e.g. Sainte Clotilde , 2006). The table on the right side shows the main organ builders of the 21th century (and last decades of the 20th century) and the numbers of organs they built or restored and/or renovated. This table shows the dominance of Dargassies, in particular in the last decades of the 20th century. In this era, there are 15 new organs to welcome, a sharp decline in relation to the numbers presented before on the 19th and 20th century, but still impressive when realising that this ‘market’ is well saturated after centuries of organ building activities in Paris.

After the revolution

(1) Organs built in the 19th century

(2) Organs built in the 20th century

(3) Organs built in the 21th century

Organs of Paris

After the revolution -

Organs built in the 21th century

The 21th century: an exciting start! In the last decades of the 20th century, and continuing in the 21th century, views are shifting again: a growing interest in the 19th century symphonic organs is seen, giving birth to a more conservative restoration policy. The leading builder in these decades is Dargassies (from the former Gonzalez firm). The first decades of the 21th century seem to elaborate on the views developed in the last part of the past century: more prudent restorations, respecting the views of the original builder(s) and its subsequent history. Remarkably, three large new organs are added to the Parisians organ landscape: the Aubertin-organ of St Louis-en-l’ile (2004), the Rieger-organ of the new Philharmonie (2016) and the Grenzing-organ at the auditorium of Radio France (2016). In addition, some smaller organs were built: two organs by Cogez and one by Chevron. In contrast, the maintenance and restorations of existing Parisian organs is severely hampered due to a lack of resources; most restorations in this era are financed by private funds (e.g. Saint Clotilde , 2006). The table below shows the main organ builders of the 21th century (and last decades of the 20th century) and the numbers of organs they built or restored and/or renovated. This table shows the dominance of Dargassies, in particular in the last decades of the 20th century. In this era, there are 17 new organs to welcome, a sharp decline in relation to the numbers presented before on the 19th and 20th century, but still impressive when realising that this ‘market’ is well saturated after centuries of organ building activities in Paris.
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