Map: France

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century France
The French Classical Organ

Origin | Later Developments | Documentation | Review Quiz

Origin

The history of the organ in France doesn't really begin in the seventeenth century, of course. As you might imagine, the organ was a part of musical life in France long before then. Records indicate the presence of instruments in major religious institutions from the thirteenth century on, and some surviving sixteenth-century instructions for registration originated in France. 124 All during this time, though, there was no distinctively French organ to be found. Instruments from the northern part of the country were heavily influenced by developments in the lowlands, and those in the south had strong similarities to organs in Italy. It was not until the seventeenth century that a truly French style of organ building developed, at first in the areas centered around Paris and Normandy. It was there that the first organs were built incorporating the features that have since been recognized as constituting the French Classical organ.

This set of characteristics dominated organ-building in France for over a century, from the first half of the seventeenth century through the waning years of the eighteenth. The qualities of endurance and longevity have contributed to the modern tendency to call these instruments "classic" or "classical." In addition, composers of the time wrote music that is intimately connected in style and genre with the organs themselves. The period of French Classicism is thus a "classic" example of cooperation and inter-relationship between the organ builders, their instruments, and the music composed for those instruments.

In general, the typical French organ of the period owes its primary characteristics to its predecessors of the lowlands:

  • The French classical organ was typically placed in a rear gallery and disposed in two cases, a large one and a smaller one placed behind the organist on the gallery rail.
  • The primary stops of the main manual divisions are descended from the Medieval Blockwerk.
  • The typical stops included principals, mixtures, flutes, and a variety of reeds.
  • The typical pedal division was small and little used.
In another time -- or in another country at this time -- a development in one region would probably not have been used as a model for other sections of the country. You have to remember that Louis XIV -- the "Sun King" -- was on the French throne during the entire second half of the seventeenth century. His reign was the very embodiment of the concept of an absolute monarchy, and his "style" was copied by every person of influence in the country. The king's statement, "I am the state," was certainly not made with regard to music in France, but it does apply. As it was with tastes in other genres of music (especially opera and ballet), so it was with organ building. Paris was seen as his city, and every part of Parisian life was considered the model for the rest of the country. Characteristics of Parisian organs -- Northern in origin -- were adapted by builders in the rest of France. Therefore, although earlier French instruments in the south had Italian characteristics, and Spanish influences could even be found in some areas, the Parisian organ of the seventeenth century became the model, and the French Classical organ is, for all practical purposes, the Parisian organ of the time.

Origin | Later Developments | Documentation | Review Quiz

Later Developments

The eighteenth century saw little change in the overall approach of a French organ-builder to his trade. The general pattern of Grand orgue, Positif, Récit, Echo and Pédale that developed a century before was by 1700 found in instruments throughout the realm. In detail, however, the organs of the eighteenth century, some of which remain in an unaltered or restored condition, show some differences when compared to their predecessors.
  • In terms of design and construction of individual stops:
    1. Greater dynamic contrast was given to soft and loud stops as the century progressed. Reeds, especially Trompettes, gained in power, and the Bombarde, a 16' trumpet stop, appeared in the pedal as well as on some manual divisions.
    2. Pedal divisions began to include 16' stops.
  • In terms of common use of stops, two new ensemble registrations appeared. These are described on the "Registration" page.
Composers continued to write pieces that used traditional textures, and whose titles indicated the types of registrations that were to be used. As the eighteenth century progressed, composers began to call for new combinations of stops more and more, and new genres of compositions, especially Noëls, were in the forefront in making use of these new sounds. These sounds even extended to the point of beating upon the keys of the Grand orgue in order to imitate the sound of drums when playing "fife and drum" music. 128

Origin | Later Developments | Documentation | Review Quiz

Documentation

We have quite a lot of information about organs in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Even when instruments themselves have been altered, the stoplists have often been retained, and sometimes, as in the case of the Thierry instrument played by generations of Couperins in paris, we have several first-hand reports describing the organ as it once was. In addition, composers' registration instructions provide us with an excellent picture of the way in which these instruments were used, giving us much more detail than we have in other places in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

So far as written sources are concerned, there are two major publications with which you should be familiar, one from very early in the period, the other from the very end.

  • The earliest source is Marin Mersenne's Harmonie Universelle, published in 1636. This is a theoretical source, not a practical one, in that it was not published in a collection of music, but as part of a treatise on music in general. Mersenne's description of an organ, listing its stops, and his recommendations for the use of these stops is based on practices common in Paris at the very beginning of the period. 135
  • The most complete written description of the organ in France was published in 1770 by Dom François Bedos de Celles as L'Art du Facteur d'Orgues. This multi-volume work included painstakingly done engravings showing the way pipes were made, details of tracker action, rollerboards, and pallets, and full diagrams of the way in which pipes were disposed inside a large organ. He included not only these descriptions of the instrument, but also details about the use of the different stops and registrations of the day. 136 His treatise is so complete and so often cited, that in much of the literature you read today, you will find both the author and his book referred to simply by the short form of his name: Dom Bedos.

As noted above, composers' registration instructions appear in several different modern editions, and finding English translations is not difficult. You are encouraged to look up instructions by Nicolas LeBègue and Jacques Boyvin in particular, because they give not only suggestions for registrations, but also instructions for choosing an appropriate tempo and realizing ornaments. 127 Additionally, some builders left instructions for registration. The eighteenth-century organ in Gimont is a case in point. It was built in 1772 by Godefroy Schmit, a German builder working near Toulouse, in south France. There are suggested registrations written by the builder and posted on the rear of the case. A description of this organ is included as a separate page of this tutorial.

As with other organs of the seventeenth century and later, the instruments themselves are the most important surviving documentation of building practices of the period. Unfortunately, virtually all French organs of the seventeenth-century have been modified, so that there is no one place where we can visit an instrument of the period in its original state. Several instruments of the eighteenth century do survive, however, and they provide us with solid examples of both the construction and sounds of these organs. Several instruments are described on separate pages of this tutorial, most of which date from late in the period:

  • Paris, St. Gervais (Pierre Thierry, 1650)
  • Gimont, Église paroissiale (Godefroy Schmit, 1772)
  • Souvigny (François-Henri Clicquot, 1782)
  • Poitiers (François-Henri Clicquot, 1787)
  • St. Maximin-en-Var (J.E. Isnard, 1772-3)

Origin |
Later Developments | Documentation | Review Quiz

© 1999, 2000 James H. Cook