- CHRISTMAS IN PARIS -

Notre Dame Part 2

LINKS to other pages in the 'Christmas in Paris' site and to the Travelling Days series:

Though several organs were installed in the cathedral over time, the earliest ones were inadequate to the building. The first noteworthy organ was finished in the early 1700s by the noted builder Clicquot. Some of Clicquot's original pipework in the pedal division continues to sound from the organ today, almost 270 years after being installed.

The organ was almost completely rebuilt and expanded in the nineteenth century by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. The organ has 7800 pipes with 900 classified as historical. There are 109 stops, five 56-key manuals and a 32-key pedalboard.

In December 1992 work to fully computerize the organ was completed.

Among the best-known organists at Notre Dame was Louis Vierne, who held this position from 1900 to 1937. Under his tenure, the Cavaillé-Coll organ was modified in its tonal character, notably in 1902 and 1932. Pierre Cochereau initiated further alterations, many of which were already planned by Louis Vierne, as well as the electrification of the action, between 1959 and 1963. Further stops were added between 1965 and 1972, notably in the pedal division. After Cochereau's sudden death in 1984, four new titular organists were appointed at Notre Dame in 1985: Jean-Pierre Leguay, Olivier Latry, Yves Devernay (who died in 1990), and Philippe Lefévre, each one playing for three months in the year. (A picture of the organ appears in the the previous page)

A side chapel (left)......






......and some of the cathedral 'treasures' (below)

Carvings surrounding the sanctuary area (below)