Many will recognise the Cavaillé-Coll organ such as St Sulpice, but few will know of a special organ that in its short life was played by many of the great Parisian organists.
David Bridgeman-Sutton looks at the fate of a brief but glorious instrument.
David Bridgeman-Sutton looks at the fate of a brief but glorious instrument.
The organ that time and men forgot
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Visitors to Paris for the International Exhibition of 1878, were astonished by the new Exhibition site at the Trocadéro. Less than three years earlier, not so much as a rough sketch had existed.
Now, splendid buildings arose among fountains in elegant gardens. A superb Concert Hall – the Salle des Fêtes – formed the centre piece. A Commission, appointed in 1876, had worked so efficiently that the vast undertaking was designed and completed in time for the opening. Only in the matter of the great organ for the Salle des Fêtes was there delay. The problem was money – insufficient had been allowed for Aristide Cavaillé-Coll to produce an instrument adequate for a hall seating 5,000 people. While the matter was discussed, time grew short. |
Fig. 1 The Trocadéro Salle des Fêtes – exterior
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Fortunately, he was completing a 3 manual, 46 stop organ for a customer who had become financially embarrassed and was greatly comforted at the prospect of lending the instrument to the Salle des Fêtes, thus postponing the need for payment. Accordingly, the instrument was erected in the Hall, its resources augmented to 4 manuals and 66 speaking stops. While generally typical of Cavaillé-Coll’s larger organs of later date, its specification reflected its intended concert hall use.
This may be found in Rollin Smith’s paper (quoted below) and, with supplementary material, in Jesse Eschbach’s Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
This may be found in Rollin Smith’s paper (quoted below) and, with supplementary material, in Jesse Eschbach’s Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
2. Salle des Fêtes – interior.
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It was a great success. Organ recitals proved the most popular of the Exhibition’s musical events and thousands attended to hear Guilmant, Widor, Gigout, Saint-Saëns and other luminaries. Many programmes included an extemporisation on a theme suggested by a member of the audience. This popularity ensured that the organ was bought by the State as a permanent feature of the Salle des Fêtes.
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This, the first large organ in France outside a church or conservatoire, brought organ music to new audiences. An authority* on the French organ and its music suggests that a number of major organ works, such as Widor’s Fifth Symphony with its famous toccata, were written with the Trocadéro instrument in mind.
By the time of the first World War, the effects of age and constant use were becoming apparent, though it was not until 1927 that a complete overhaul was undertaken. Necessary funds were raised, largely through the efforts of Marcel Dupré, titulaire at St Sulpice (Pic 3) who had, in 1920, played the entire organ works of Bach from memory on the Trocadéro organ. |
3. Marcel Dupré at St Sulpice: the Trocadéro organ had stops arranged in straight rows, not curved as at St Sulpice, Notre Dame etc.
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Sadly, the Salle des Fêtes was demolished less than eight years later when the 1878 buildings were cleared to make room for new premises for the forthcoming (1935) Exhibition. The organ was rebuilt in altered form in the new buildings, though it was not ready for use until 1939. It seems to have had little use and was eventually bought, and again altered by the city of Lyon, where it remains in the Maison Danion-Gonzalez.
*A full account will be found in Rollin Smith: The Organ of the Trocadéro and its Players – from French Organ Music from the Revolution to Franck and Widor University of Rochester Press 1995/1997.
Thanks to Dr Rollin Smith for the use of the first two pictures.
Thanks to Dr Rollin Smith for the use of the first two pictures.
David Bridgeman-Sutton,
July 17, 2005
July 17, 2005