ORGANS OF PARIS © 2024 Vincent Hildebrandt HOME ALL ORGANS
1878 - Cavaillé-Coll
1938 - Gonzalez
1977 - Danion-Gonzalez
2013 - Michel Gaillard (Aubertin)
In 1878, a large concert hall was inaugurated in
Paris at the Trocadéro, on the hill of Chaillot, to face
and serve as a backdrop for the Universal
Exhibition held on the other side of the Seine, on
the Champ de Mars. The Architect is Gabriel
Davioud. In the wake of the Commune, the
intention was to offer Paris its first public concert
hall (all the others were private) and its first secular
organ. The construction of the organ was entrusted
to the most famous French organ builder of the
time: Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who already had
experience in hall organs, with those of Sheffield
(1873) and the Palais de l'Industrie in Amsterdam
(1875). This mythical organ (IV/66) was inaugurated
on 7 August 1878 by Alexandre Guilmant.
Plus d’informations…
On the occasion of the Universal Exhibition held on
the Champ de Mars in 1937, the Palais du
Trocadéro was destroyed and replaced by an
esplanade and a new palace, the Palais de Chaillot.
The design of the new complex was entrusted to
Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Léon
Azéma (the brothers Édouard and Jean Niermans
built the interior of the auditorium itself).
Marcel Dupré was in charge of supervising the
removal and reinstallation of the Cavaillé-Coll
organ. Cavaillé-Coll's romantic organ was
transformed into a neo-classical organ, more in
keeping with the taste of the day. It is electrified
and extended by fifteen stops. The contract was
won by Victor Gonzalez and his son Fernand. André
Marchal was appointed titular and gave his first
recital on 10 March. Norbert Dufourcq was
appointed artistic director of the organ.
Plus d’informations…
From 1961 onwards, the theatre took an increasing
place in the life of the auditorium. The instrument
is entering a phase of decline. The coup de grace
came in 1972 when the company of the Théâtre
National Populaire left for Villeurbanne. The hall is
now home to the Théâtre National de Chaillot, and
Jack Lang, the new director, decided to completely
rebuild it. On this occasion, the organ was
definitively removed. In 1977, the organ was
transferred to the Maurice-Ravel Auditorium in
Lyon by Danion-Gonzalez. The layout remained
largely the same, using much of the 1938 material.
Restoration in 2013 by Michel Gaillard (Aubertin
organ factory).
Plus d’informations…
Audio
•
improvisation of André Marchal : nous n’irons
plus au bois
•
rare shots of the organ of the Palais de Chaillot,
more particularly during the organ advancing
on the stage
Alexandre Guilmant
Marcel Dupré
André Fleury on the organ of the Palais de Chaillot
Victor Gonzalez showing the smallest and the
largest pipe of the organ of the Palais de Chaillot
Organs of Paris
ORGANS OF PARIS © 2024 Vincent Hildebrandt ALL ORGANS
1878 - Cavaillé-Coll
1938 - Gonzalez
1977 - Danion-Gonzalez
2013 - Michel Gaillard (Aubertin)
In 1878, a large concert hall was inaugurated in
Paris at the Trocadéro, on the hill of Chaillot, to face
and serve as a backdrop for the Universal
Exhibition held on the other side of the Seine, on
the Champ de Mars. The Architect is Gabriel
Davioud. In the wake of the Commune, the
intention was to offer Paris its first public concert
hall (all the others were private) and its first secular
organ. The construction of the organ was entrusted
to the most famous French organ builder of the
time: Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who already had
experience in hall organs, with those of Sheffield
(1873) and the Palais de l'Industrie in Amsterdam
(1875). This mythical organ (IV/66) was inaugurated
on 7 August 1878 by Alexandre Guilmant.
Plus d’informations…
On the occasion of the Universal Exhibition held on
the Champ de Mars in 1937, the Palais du
Trocadéro was destroyed and replaced by an
esplanade and a new palace, the Palais de Chaillot.
The design of the new complex was entrusted to
Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Léon
Azéma (the brothers Édouard and Jean Niermans
built the interior of the auditorium itself).
Marcel Dupré was in charge of supervising the
removal and reinstallation of the Cavaillé-Coll
organ. Cavaillé-Coll's romantic organ was
transformed into a neo-classical organ, more in
keeping with the taste of the day. It is electrified
and extended by fifteen stops. The contract was
won by Victor Gonzalez and his son Fernand. André
Marchal was appointed titular and gave his first
recital on 10 March. Norbert Dufourcq was
appointed artistic director of the organ.
Plus d’informations…
From 1961 onwards, the theatre took an increasing
place in the life of the auditorium. The instrument
is entering a phase of decline. The coup de grace
came in 1972 when the company of the Théâtre
National Populaire left for Villeurbanne. The hall is
now home to the Théâtre National de Chaillot, and
Jack Lang, the new director, decided to completely
rebuild it. On this occasion, the organ was
definitively removed. In 1977, the organ was
transferred to the Maurice-Ravel Auditorium in
Lyon by Danion-Gonzalez. The layout remained
largely the same, using much of the 1938 material.
Restoration in 2013 by Michel Gaillard (Aubertin
organ factory).
Plus d’informations…
Audio
•
improvisation of André Marchal : nous n’irons
plus au bois
•
rare shots of the organ of the Palais de Chaillot,
more particularly during the organ advancing
on the stage