Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Why France is suffering from organ failure

6:52 AM | Posted by Free Game Zone | Edit Post

outdated and expensive to repair, Paris religious organizations are facing a bleak future

The December 12, 2012, after 10 months of restoration and silence, the great organ of Notre-Dame de Paris - the largest in France, with five manuals, 109 stops and about 8,000 tubes - opened the celebrations of the 850th anniversary of the cathedral. But this tree, which is public property, is a forest of 234 other agencies in the capital, many of them in poor condition. Of these, 126 (including 32 historic buildings) are the responsibility of the council under the 1905 law separating church and state.

"Paris has the privilege of being a public authority which holds most of the organs in the world," says Catherine Hubault, director of the Heritage Council and the Department of History. "Our annual budget € 250,000 ($ 320,000) is sufficient for about 15 instruments reduced maintenance. But we need to plan the restoration work that can cost, depending on the instrument, between € 500,000 and € 1.5 million was the case for organs of St. Louis en l'Ile, which was restored in 2004. since we spent about € 3.5 million. "

The budget is totally inadequate, according to Eric Brottier expert body to the city council. He made a complete inventory when he started working in 2005. "The situation is alarming," he said. "Two-thirds of organizations in need of major repairs, so that all we can do is to patch the most urgent attention."

the outlook is bleak. The funds allocated to the religious heritage of the city have fallen over the past 15 years. "Between 2000 and 2013, the amount was reduced by € 120 million to € 60 million, while the overall budget has increased from three billion to € 8 billion €" said Maxime Cumunel, director of the Observatory of the Religious Heritage (OPR).

outside dust from the normal wear and pollution in cities are key factors in the deterioration of organs. Neither heating systems dry air help.

Brottier complains that the bodies are usually poorly maintained by the parishes. In addition, "the repair work on the rest of the building often damages the instruments that are not protected," he added. "A Saint-Pierre de Montrouge, found a lot of sand and stones inside the body after work on the steeple." 0Setting financial concerns aside, the image of the organ has lost its luster. "Organists do everything to change attitudes, but most people associate with. Besides religious complex instruments that are mysterious, often considered boring," says Benjamin Alard, organist of the church of Saint-Louis-en- Island, which has a beautiful display built by Bernard Aubertin. fall between two stools - the artistic religious party - organizations are increasingly marginalized as church attendance decreases France. "Given the choice between public good and repairing bodies, local councils for the welfare forever," said Cumunel. "For organizations to justify subsidies must serve a social purpose, which is used for concerts and teaching."

  • But they remain an essential element of local identity, with all the emotional baggage that entails. "We have not been able to save the Saint-Jacques church in Abbeville in the Somme [in the north of France]," says Roland Galtier, organs used by the organization of Historical Monuments technician. "However, the organ in 1906 Mutineer / Cavaill?-Coll, was saved."
The outlook for the next 20 years, the dark air. However, members have a lot going for it. France has one of the major categories Schools for organists, although star level in the past - such as Marcel Dupr?, Cochereau Pierre and Marie-Claire Alain - followed equally talented but less renowned virtuosos. It also has excellent organ builders, whose skills have won recognition in many places, especially in the United States, Japan and more recently in Russia. "However, we are concerned about the future," said Yves Fossaert, organ builder based in Seine et Marne, east of Paris, you just restored a 19th century symphonic organ built by Aristide Cavaill?-Coll, to Pentemont Protestant church in Paris. "Many projects have been delayed, which makes it difficult for young people entering the trade."
To reverse this trend, lawyers emphasize the need for new instruments to play a central role in the concert halls. In France, only the Auditorium Maurice Ravel in Lyon, still has an organ, an old Cavaill?-Coll (82 stops, 6,500 pipes) purchased at the Palais du Trocad?ro in Paris in 1977. The Palais Garnier lost his body when Rolf Liebermann was in front of the opera. But Radio France is the construction of a new auditorium and, after selling his Danion-Gonzalez Lille Cathedral for almost nothing, suddenly changed his mind and ordered a 86-stop Grenzing board. The new Philharmonie de Paris plans to have a body too.


Find best price for : --France----Eric----Dame----Notre----Paris--

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Blogger Template created with Artisteer.