Before the revolution

(1) Organs in French classical style

(2) Organs in neo-classical style

(3) Organs rebuilt in the 19th century

(4) Organs rebuilt in the 20th century

Neo-classical style

Saint-Séverin Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Saint-Germain-des-Prés

All organ builders

before the revolution

Pigache Langhedul Carlier De Héman Pecheur Thierry Clicquot other builders 17th century other builders 18th century

In the sixties and seventies of the past century, a few organs from before the revolution in Paris have been rebuilt in a neo-classical style. The idea was to construct an organ on which both German and French baroque music could be played. Of course, this was an illusion, so compromises had to be made. In four of the five cases, priority was given to the German baroque style (Saint-Séverin, Saint-Jacques- du-Haut-Pas, Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin, Notre-Dame- des-Victoires). In one case, priority was given to French baroque style (Saint-Germain-des-Prés). The table on the right site summarizes the main characteristics of the five pre-revolutionary neo-classical organs. It shows that the organ of Saint-Séverin has still a substantial amount of old stops; the other four organs lost most of their stops from before the revolution. Note: The choir organ of Saint Pierre de Chaillot (Paris XVI) is a former ‘orgue de salon’ from the church Saint Eustache (Paris I), built in a style of the end of the 18th century. Since the precise date of built of this organ is unknown and the instrumental part is entirely new, this organ is not part of this review of pre- revcolutionary organs in Paris.