Sainte

Madeleine 1 2

Place de la Sainte-Madeleine, 75008 Paris Orgue de tribune

1846 - Cavaillé-Coll

1927 - Mutin

1957 - Roethinger-Boisseau

1971 - Danion-Gonzalez

1983 - Gonzalez

1988/2002 - Dargassies

III/58 - electrical traction - stoplist

Photo GO: Jeroen de Haan Other photos: Victor Weller & facebook

The construction La Madeleine started in 1764 according to a design by architect Pierre Constant d'Ivry, similar to that of the Invalides church. When he died in 1777 his successor, Guillome-Martin Couture, started with a new design, based on the Panthéon. In 1806, Napoleon decided to build a temple in honor of his army on this place and he appointed Pierre- Alexandre Vignon who started with a new design again: a temple based on the 'Maison Carrée', an ancient Roman temple in the French city of Nîmes. With the construction of the Arc de Triomphe, which honored the French Army, the new temple was looking for a new function. After the fall of Napoleon King Louis XVIII determined that it would be used as a church dedicated to Mary Magdalene. The July Monarchy rededicated as a monument of national reconciliation, and the nave was vaulted in 1831. In 1837 it was briefly suggested that the building might best be utilized as a train station, but the building was finally consecrated as a church in 1842. The Madeleine is built in the Neo-Classical style. 52 Corinthian columns surround the temple, each of them twenty meter high. The pediment sculpture of the Last Judgement is by Lemaire, and the church's bronze doors bear reliefs representing the Ten Commandments. The temple's facade acts as a great architectural counterbalance to the colonnaded facade of thePalais Bourbon across the river. Inside, the church has a single nave with three domes over wide arched bays, lavishly gilded in a decor inspired as much by Roman baths as by Renaissance artists. At the rear of the church, above the high altar, stands a statue by Charles Marochetti depicting St Mary Magdalene being lifted up by angels which evokes the tradition concerning ectasy which she entered in her daily prayer while in seclusion. The half-dome above the altar is frescoed by Jules-Claude Ziegler, entitledThe History of Christianity, showing the key figures in the Christian religion with — a sign of its Second Empire date — Napoleon occupying centre stage.

This organ was built in 1845-1846 by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and inaugurated by Louis-Nicolas Séjan and the organists of La Madeleine Fessy and Saint-Saëns. The buffet-style "Italian Renaissance" was designed by the architect Huvé. The instrument consisted of 48 stops over 4 keyboards and a pedal. Its free standing console was a novelty (for Cavaillé-Coll). The Voix Céleste was the first ever built worldwide. During the past centuries, various modifications were realized, among which an electrification of the traction in 1971 and the addition of two chamades in 2002 (as already intended by Cavaillé-Coll in 1846). It has now 60 stops and still includes 95% of the original pipes of Cavaillé-Coll.

Organiste titulaire François-Henri Houbart Olivier Périn (titulaire adjoint) Organiste suppléant: Jean-Louis Vieille-Girardet Famous organists in the past: Fessy, Lefébure-Wély, Saint-Saëns, Dubois, Fauré, Dallier, Mignan, Jeanne Demessieux, Odile Pierre. Concerts Monthly on Sunday 4p.m.

Masses with organ

Saturday 6p.m., Sunday 11a.m., 12.30a.m., 6p.m.; Videos François-Henri Houbart Hendrik Burkard

The organs of Paris

Sainte

Madeleine 1 2

Place de la Sainte-Madeleine, 75008 Paris Orgue de tribune

1846 - Cavaillé-Coll

1927 - Mutin

1957 - Roethinger-Boisseau

1971 - Danion-Gonzalez

1983 - Gonzalez

1988/2002 - Dargassies

III/58 - electrical traction - stoplist

Photo GO: Jeroen de Haan Other photos: Victor Weller & facebook

Masses with organ

Saturday 6p.m., Sunday 11a.m., 12.30a.m., 6p.m.; Videos François-Henri Houbart Hendrik Burkard

This organ was built in 1845-1846 by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and inaugurated by Louis-Nicolas Séjan and the organists of La Madeleine Fessy and Saint- Saëns. The buffet-style "Italian Renaissance" was designed by the architect Huvé. The instrument consisted of 48 stops over 4 keyboards and a pedal. Its free standing console was a novelty (for Cavaillé- Coll). The Voix Céleste was the first ever built worldwide. During the past centuries, various modifications were realized, among which an electrification of the traction in 1971 and the addition of two chamades in 2002 (as already intended by Cavaillé-Coll in 1846). It has now 60 stops and still includes 95% of the original pipes of Cavaillé-Coll.