Oti Draga

Orgues de l'église Saint-Andéol

The organ in the church of Bourg Saint-Andéol, classified as historical monument, is being well preserved thanks to the decree of 6 August 1987 for the instrumental part and the decree of 11 June 1992.

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"Ordered by the collector of the cathedral of Viviers, the pipe organ was built in 1609 by the postman Pierre Marchand. During the Revolution the instrument was painted in the three colours of the Republic. The pipe organ and the case were sold to the parish of Bourg-Saint-andéol on the 27th of May 1842. The case was then gilded with gold leafs and installed in the church. Around 1860, the instrument was entirely modified by the factory Merklin and Schütze. What remained of the former pipe organ of Marchand was its case and the no longer functional pipes at the frontside. In 1867, the factory hand the work over to Vincent Cavaillé-Coll who continues to repair it. Merklin again intervenes in 1889, following up the renovation work of Eugène Rochesson in 1931, but still the pipe organ keeps degrading.

Renovation again, this time by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles of Rhône-Alpes, from 1993 to 2009. They decided to move the pipe organ and to reinforce it. It took a long time to decide to renovate the case into its current state, and not in the original Renaissance style with its polychromical parts. The instrumental component was entirely broken down before starting the reassembly of the wind regulation system, the entirely new construction of the sweepers and a very thorough renovation of the reservoir. The length of the wooden pipes was then re-adjusted, its metal feet and the keyboard Grand-Orgue renovated.
Text of Didier Foucaut

In the seventies and eighties during the renovation works in het church, the pipe organ was dismantled and boxed. To prevent this from happening a request was made to classify the instrument in 1987 and so the pipe organ became the label of Historical Monument « manufactured by P. Marchand, de Cavaillé-Coll and by Merklin ». The decission to renovate was made by DRAC of Rhône-Alpes (Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles) and after a long period of misfortune (bankruptcy of co-workers, etc) and was finally renovated by Robert and Brothers for the instumental part and by Pascal Quoirin for the case. Hence, the original composition. We can nevertheless appreciate the power and elegance of this beautiful romantic pipe organ.
Text of Pierre Castinel, Président of Friends of the Church (Amis de l’église)

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