Sainte Elisabeth
195, rue du temple, 75003 Paris
Orgue de tribune
1853 - Suret
19xx/41/55 - Gutschenritter
1976 - Philippe Hartman
1985 - Haerpfer
1994-99 - Michel Giroud
Orgue de choeur
~1890 - Merklin
1959 - Gutchenritter
Photos: Jeroen de Haan
The ‘traditional’ and the ‘augmented’ organ
The organ of Suret is an organ with on one side
many characteristics of the past centuries (reeds,
cornet, plein jeu) and on the other side many
innovations charateristic of the first half of the
19th century (with the exception of Barker
machines, which were never installed). This
'traditional' organ is demonstrated by Christophe
d'Alessandro, organiste titulaire de la Ste
Elisabeth, in works by Louis Couperin (1626-
1661), Auguste Bazille (1828-1891, first Titulaire
of Sainte Élisabeth) and Félix Foudrain (1880-
1923, former titulaire of Sainte Élisabeth).
The organ of Ste Elisabeth is equipped with
microphones inside the five works of the organ
and loudspeakers behind the organ to enable a
mix of the traditional organ sound with live
electronical sounds. New technologies of
processing audio and Vidéo real time are thus
used to increase/modify the sound of an organ.
The sound of the organ is captured, modified,
and distributed in space in real time. The real
and the virtual are mixed in the acoustic space of
the church. The augmented organ is played by
the organist (Christophe d’Alessandro, the
organist titulaire of Ste Elisabeth) and by the
musician that controls real-time processing and
dissemination of the sound of the instrument
(Markus Noissternig, computer music composer
and electrical and audio engineer). This
‘augmented’ organ is demonstrated by three
improvisations.
Explanation of the augmented organ
Explication de l’orgue augmentée
Erklärung über die Klanginstallation
The organ of Sainte Élisabeth is built by Antoine
Suret in 1852-1853 and was showed on the word
exhibition of 1855 as an example of fine Parisian
organ building. It won a first price, as is indicated
on the organ case, which itself is very impressive. It
is one of the few organs of this builder still present
in Paris. The organ is charateristic for this (pre-
romantic) period, with many reed stops (16 on 39),
of which three are free: Euphone, Cor Anglais and
the (nowadays missing) Hautbois of the Swell. It
also houses a new stop: the Kéraulophone,
invented by Gray & Davison (London, 1843). The
organ was severly altered by G. Gutschenritter at
the beginning of the 20th century (towards a more
symphonic style) and in 1941-1955 (towards a
more neo-classical style), but recontructed again
into its original style in 1994-1999 by Giroud.
The original choir organ was built by Daublaine-
Callinet or Abbey around 1840. This organ was sold
around 1890. The current instrument was built by
Merklin at the end of the 19th century and was
modified by Gutschenritter in 1955.
Site of the organ
This former Franciscan convent chapel was dedicated
to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in 1646. It was
constructed by architect Paul de Gonde. Its classic
facade has both Doric and Ionic elements. During the
reconstruction of the City under Napoleon III, the
church lost its Chapel of the Virgin to make room for
the Rue Turbigo. In the choir is a panel of Flemish wood
sculptures from the beginning of the 17th century,
coming from the former abbey of Saint-Vaast d'Arras.
Organiste titulaire
Christophe d'Alessandro
Concerts
Irregularly
Masses with organ
Saturday 6.30p.m., Sunday 11a.m.
Vidéo
Christophe d'Alessandro
The old console
(Facebook Xavier Lebrun)
Organiste : possibly Felix Fourdrain