Saint Eugène
4 bis, rue Sainte-Cécile, 75009 Paris
Orgue de tribune
1865 - Merklin-Schütze
2005 - Olaf Dalsbaek
Orgue d'accompagnement sur tribune
1900 - ??
19xx - Abbey
1993 - F. Delangue
Photo GO: Jeroen de Haan
Saint-Eugène (home of the ‘Paroisse St-Eugène-Sainte
Cécile’) was built in 1854-1856 in a 13th century style
(exterior) and a neo-gothic style (interior), using metal
instead of stone. The remarkable preserved 19th
century interior shows an abundance of lights and a
richness of the colours. The architects were Louis-
Auguste Boileau and Adrien-Louis Lusson.
Organiste titulaire
Touve R. Ratovondrahety
Concerts
Seldomly
Masses with organ
Sunday 9.45 a.m., 11 a.m., 5.45 p.m. (Vespers), 7 p.m.
Videos
Touve R. Ratovondrahety
The organ of Saint Eugène is of the utmost importance: it
was the first organ of Merklin and his voicer Friedrich
Schütze in France/Paris, built in 1854-55. It is almost
entirely authentic and a rare example of a synthesis
between French and German-Flemish organ building
traditions at that time.
The organ case, in perfect harmony with the surrounding
building, was designed by Louis-Auguste Boileau, the
church architect.
The organ was largely constructed in Bruxelles, just
before Merklin moved to Paris and acquired the Parisian
firm of Ducroquet (former Daublaine-Callinet firm).
The organ was presented at the Paris World Fair in 1855,
and was awarded a First Class Prize. Since Merklin
wanted to present a master piece at the World Fair, he
enlarged the organ (originally designed as a two-manual
organ) with a third keyboard and five additional stops.
The enlarged organ was installed and inaugurated in
Saint Eugène in 1856.
There are several distinctive features which make this
organ exceptional and remarkable:
1.
All windchests are cone-valve chests, each pipe
having its own valve. Merklin learned about cone-
valve windchests from Walcker of Ludwigsburg
during his appprentice years.
2.
The Récit is a real third manual (in contrast to the
small ‘Echo’ which was common before)
3.
The action of the organ is mechanical with a Barker
machine on the Récit division to which the coupler
machine is linked. The Récit manual (added after the
original conception of the instrument) is thus the
accumulating keyboard. By acquiring the Daublaine-
Callinet firm, Merklin was assured of the expertise of
Barker, who was the leading expert of this former
firm.
4.
The stops are almost entirely original, with a large
variety (11) of eight foot stops, three flûtes
harmoniques (flûte ouverte GO, flûte octaviante 4
GO and the flûte harmonique Récit (the flûte
harmonique 4 Récit is in fact not harmonic!) and the
use of stops of German origin: gemshorn (Corne de
Chamois), Dolce (very soft flute), Dolciana. A Voix
Céleste is missing. The Clarinette is an extraordinary
stop, having two ranks: a free reed 8 (Clarinette) and
a Bourdon 8 starting at c. These two ranks sound
together, but it is possible to open or close only the
reeds in the interior of the organ. This is useful for
the tuning of the bourdon and, by closing the reeds,
one creates one additional foundation stop!
5.
The first use in France of voicing curls (in French:
entailles d‘accord).
The organ was restored with great care and
craftsmanship by Olaf Dalsbaek (Dalsbaek - Merklin
company at Miribel ) and inaugurated in 2005.
Source:
Olaf Dalsbaek & Roland Galtier L’orgue Merklin-Schütze de
l’église Saint-Eugène-Saint-Cécile à Paris : une singularité
dans la facture du Second Empire. La Flûte Harmonique
Numéro 92, année 2011 - Association Aristide Cavaillé-Coll
(in French)
Photos : Gaspard de la Motte