In a dramatic piece of liturgy, the organ at Notre Dame in Paris was “reawakened” on 7 December 2024. Eight times Archbishop Laurent Ulrich addressed the organ, calling it to perform its different liturgical functions amidst the people of God gathered in celebration:
Éveille-toi, orgue, instrument sacré: entonne la louange de Dieu, notre Créateur et notre Père.
Orgue, instrument sacré, célèbre Jésus, notre Seigneur, mort et ressuscité pour nous.
Orgue, instrument sacré, chante l’Esprit Saint qui anime nos vies du souffle de Dieu.
Orgue, instrument sacré, élève nos chants et nos prières vers Marie, la mère de Jésus.
Orgue, instrument sacré, fais entrer l’assemblée des fidèles dans l’action de grâce du Christ.
Orgue, instrument sacré, apporte le réconfort de la foi à ceux qui sont dans la peine.
Orgue, instrument sacré, soutiens la prière des chrétiens.
Orgue, instrument sacré, proclame gloire au Père, au Fils et au Saint-Esprit.
Awake, organ, sacred instrument: intone the praise of God, our Creator and our Father.
Organ, sacred instrument, celebrate Jesus, our Lord, who died and rose for us.
Organ, sacred instrument, sing of the Holy Spirit who animates our lives with the breath of God.
Organ, sacred instrument, raise our songs and prayers to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Organ, sacred instrument, bring the assembly of the faithful into the action of Christ’s grace.
Organ, sacred instrument, carry the comfort of faith to those who are in pain.
Organ, sacred instrument, support the prayer of Christians.
Organ, sacred instrument, proclaim the glory of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.
Each time the organ responded with an improvization by one of the Titulaires of the cathedral (Vincent Dubois, Thierry Escaich, Olivier Latry annd Thibault Fajoles) which took up and interpreted the words of the Archbishop’s command. Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) once commented, “Every composition is a glimpse into the divine, a revelation of the mystery which lies within us all” – these invocations are maybe every organist’s prayer.
Why eight invocations? For the same reason that many fonts and ambos have eight sides – eight is the number of the new creation (the seven days of creation in the book of Genesis plus the new day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ). The liturgy, and the organ’s part in it, is a celebration of the new creation in Jesus Christ.
The Grand Organ survived the fire of April 2019 with minor water damage but with extensive soot and lead dust contamination from the collapse of the cathedral roof. The organ has been completely disassembled, cleaned, restored and revoiced over the past five years.
A new organ (1730-33) for Notre Dame by François Thierry was renovated and extended in 1783-88 by François-Henri Clicquot. The Clicquot organ was transformed into a symphonic organ by Cavaillé-Coll in 1864-68. In the 1960s, the instrument was electrified , extended and revoiced under the direction of Pierre Cochereau and lost its symphonic character. A large-scale restoration was carried out in 1990-02 by Boisseau & Cattiaux, Emeriau, Giroud, returning the organ to its symphonic character of the 19th century. In 2012-14, the organ was enlarged by Bertrand Cattiaux and Pascal Quoirin with some digital control installed also. Following the 2019 fire, the 8,000 pipes were decontaminated and have been renovated by the Cattiaux-Chevron workshop. After the completion of the restoration of the organ at the end of 2022, the reassembly of the instrument in the west gallery of the cathedral began in early 2023. The organ was “reawakened” on 7 December 2024.
Watch the reawakening of the Notre Dame organ here (YouTube/France 24)