Sainte Odile
2, avenue Stéphane-Mailaumé, 75017 Paris
Orgue de tribune
Vers 1925 - Abbey
1950 - Rochesson
1961-1962 - Beuchet-Debierre
1995 - Birouste
Orgue de la chapelle de semaine
183x - John Abbey
I/3 - mechanical traction
Clavier (C-f
3
)
Bourdon 8’, Dulciane 8’, Prestant 4’
Pédalier C-d
1
)
En tirasse.
Organiste titulaire
Bruno Guilois
Famous organists in the past: Naji Hakim ,
Joachim Havard de la Montagne.
Concerts
seldom
Masses with organ
Saturday at 6pm, Sunday at 9.30am
(extraordinary form), 11.15am and 7pm.
Vidéos
-
The church was built by Jacques Barge (1904-
1979)from 1935 to 1946 at the initiative of Bishop
Eugene-Edmond Loutil (1863-1959) to pay tribute
to the patron saint of his native Alsace. With three
domes reminiscent of the Cathedral of Périgueux
and the famous Basilica of St. Sophia of
Constantinople, Jacques Barge opted for a mix of
Roman-Byzantine style and Art Deco elements.
The building is made of reinforced concrete
covered with Saverne sandstone and pink bricks.
On the left of the nave, the three side chapels -
very stripped down - are fortunately illuminated
by the large glass roof of 300m2 of François
Décorchemont (1880-1971). This canopy, divided
into three bays, is regarded as one of the
masterpieces of glass art in the 20th century. For
a long time Sainte Odile was the Alsatian Catholic
parish in Paris.
The tribune organ was originally an Abbey from the 1920s,
bought in 1949 from the composer François Ninnin: it was
then reputed to come from a Parisian cinema (either the
Imperial cinema, the Capitol or the Luxor). The installation
work, unsatisfactory, was completed by Louis Eugène-
Rochesson who installed a new console. The harmonisation
was done by Maurice Gouaut. The installed organ was
inaugurated by Gaston Litaize on May 7, 1950.
In 1961-1962, Beuchet-Debierre carried out a major
renovation work on the instrument (in particular the wind
chests and expressive boxes).
In 1988, the salon organ of Mme Dujarric's mansion in
Boulogne-Billancourt was donated to the parish of Sainte-
Odile. Given the financial budget, the piping was not
reinstalled, but preserved.
In 1995 the instrument was enlarged by Daniel Birouste, with
some stops from the Dujarric organ, in particular the
beautiful Voix humaine and the reed stops.
In 2021, the bell set from the Dujarric organ, which was
located in Saint-Joseph-des-Nations (11th arrondissement)
was bought by the parish and incorporated into the organ.
Currently an ambitious project to reconstruct the instrument
to rebuild the Dujarric organ, respecting its 1930s aesthetics,
is being studied.
Organ of the week chapel
In 2021, the parish received a small John Abbey organ that is
said to date from the 1830s. It is one of the first organs of
this builder who was then still established at 319 rue St
Denis.
The instrument is entirely expressive, but the expression
seems to be later than its construction.
The keyboards are retractable when closing the console.
Photoseries of the church and the organs: Victor Weller