Saint Nicolas
des Champs 1 - 2
254, rue Saint-Martin, 75003 Paris
Orgue de tribune
1572 - Jacques Pigache
1632 - Paul Maillard, Crespin Carlier
1666 - Pierre Thierry, François Ducastel
1688 - Antoine Vincent
1732 - L.A. Clicquot
1776 - F.H. Clicquot
1825 - Dallery
1854 - Ducroquet
1930 - Gonzalez
2008 - Denis Lacorre
The great organ is now mute, waiting for a complete
restoration.
Photo GO: Jeroen de Haan
The organ was built by Francois-Henri Clicquot, using the
case of the Great-Organ of Carlier built in 1633 (using
parts from 1572) and extending it laterally to house the
pedal and the positif. Saint Nicolas is residing on the
centre turret of the GO surrounded by angels-musicians.
The organ survived the Revolution. In 1825, Pierre
François Dallery replaced both 2’ by a second Flûte 8,
added a Flûte 8 on the Récit and suppressed the Plein
Jeu. In 1854, Ducroquet built a new wind-chest to
accommodate six new stops for the pedal. In 1871,
Merklin renewed the keyboards and the wind supply. A
great restoration by Victor Gonzalez was completed in
1930. He added a Récit and pneumatic stop traction, but
carefully respected all the ancient stops. He also
reconstructed the Clicqout Plein Jeu, prestant and
doublette of the GO.
In 2008, provisional maintenance works were carried out
by Denis Lacorre which made the organ playable again.
Nowadays, the organ is in a bad condition and the Récit
of Gonzalez is not playable at all.
All wind-chests date from before the revolution (F.H.
Clicquot, récit: L.A. Clicquot). 40 out of the 58 stops are
old. Mechanical transmission with Barker at the GO.
This organ is probably the most authentic of all organs from
before the revolution in Paris. Its pipework is in a relatively
good condition, not cut and on its orginal place on the
windchest. It´s worth a thorough restauration!
Site of the organ
Jean Boyer at the organ of St Nicolas des Champs (1989)
Organiste titulaire
Vincent Genvrin & François Ménissier
Famous organists in the past:
Nicolas Gigault, Louis Braille and Michel Chapuis.
Concerts
-
Masses with organ
Saturday 6.30 PM Sunday 11 AM
Video
François Ménissier (waiting for approval)
The Church of Saint Nicolas des Champs was part of
the former Abbey of Saint Martin des Champs. It was
built after 1420 and enlarged in 1541. The church in
its present form was built in 1615. The tower and
parts of the nave still dates from the 15th century,
the top portion of the tower dates from the 17th.
Restauration in the 19th century. It is the only church
in Paris which still has its retable: a work of the
master Simon Vouet created in 1629.
In the plan to maintain the cultural heritage of the City of
Paris, this organ is among the four prestigious and
emblematic instruments, classified as Historic Monuments,
requiring a fundamental restoration.
Restoration issues
Designed specifically for the Church of Saint-Nicolas-des-
Champs, the great organ was masterfully rebuilt in 1773
by François-Henri Clicquot, parishioner of the church,
from an existing organ. This instrument of exceptional
dimensions (45 stops) is almost authentic given the
amount of original components preserved. It is the most
important of the classical era that has reached us in the
capital and the first "5 keyboards" in the history of the
Organ. The pre-restoration study of the organ, carried
out by Christian Lutz, a state consultant technician,
presented to the National Commission of Historic
Monuments on 11 June 2015, was approved. Based on
the program established in this study, the work will
consist of restore the Clicquot state of the organ while
retaining the contributions of 19th century organ factors,
François Dallery around 1815 and PierreAlexandre
Ducroquet in 1854, the later elements being deposited.
The restitution, or not, of an important part of the Grand
Plein Jeu, will be studied during the complete
dismantling of the instrument, in view of the detailed
analysis of all the pipes.
This work concerns the entire organ: the buffet with its
sculpted decoration and statuary, the wind tunnel, the
wind chests, the console, the transmissions and the
pipes. Ancillary work is also needed: upgrading the
organ's electrical installation, pre-restoration work on
the vault of the building during the dismantling phase of
the organ, possible restoration of the tribune.
Expected work time: 36 months Call to Patronage: 2,250,000
euros, exclusive the costs associated with the project, which
will be taken care of by the City of Paris.
Source
Photo : Victor Weller