Aristide Cavaillé-Coll facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Aristide Cavaillé-Coll

Born	(1811-02-04)4 February 1811 Montpellier, France
Died	13 October 1899(1899-10-13) (aged 88) Paris, France

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (born February 4, 1811 – died October 13, 1899) was a famous French organ builder. He is known as the best organ builder of the 19th century. He created new ways to build organs that changed how organs were made, played, and composed for, even into the early 1900s.

Aristide also wrote scientific articles about how organs are built. He shared his research and experiments. He invented the "symphonic organ". This type of organ could change its sound smoothly and quickly, just like a symphony orchestra. He achieved this by:

Inventing new types of organ pipes, like the flûte harmonique (harmonic flute) and trompette harmonique (harmonic trumpet).
Creating special air systems (divided windchests) with different air pressures.
Making groups of organ sounds (called jeux d'anches and jeux de fonds) that allowed organists to change sounds quickly without taking their hands off the keyboards.
Planning organs based on an "orchestral quartet" idea, meaning they could sound like a whole orchestra.

Some of his most famous organs are in Paris. These include the organs in Saint-Denis Basilica (1841), Église de la Madeleine, Sainte-Clotilde Basilica (1859), and Saint-Sulpice church (his biggest organ). He also built organs for Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. After Cavaillé-Coll passed away, his business was continued by Charles Mutin.

In the 20th century, some organ builders wanted to go back to an older, more Baroque style. But today, Cavaillé-Coll's organ designs are popular again.

His Life and Work

Cavaillé-Coll's grave in Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was born in Montpellier, France. His family had been organ builders for generations. He showed a great talent for inventing and building things from a young age. He was an amazing artist when he designed and built his famous instruments. People say there was a "before" and "after" Cavaillé-Coll in organ building.

His organs are called "symphonic organs" because they can sound like many different instruments and combine those sounds. His largest and most impressive organ is in Saint-Sulpice, Paris. This organ has 100 different sounds (called stops) and five keyboards (called manuals). It is still mostly in its original state and might even become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cavaillé-Coll was very focused on his art, but he wasn't as good with money. His amazing handcrafted organs, which were the best at the time, weren't enough to keep his company from having money problems. His business was taken over by Charles Mutin in 1898, shortly before Aristide died. Mutin continued building organs, but by the 1940s, the company almost disappeared.

Cavaillé-Coll died in Paris on October 13, 1899. He is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery.

How He Changed Organ Building

Cavaillé-Coll made many new inventions that completely changed how organs were built, played, and how music was written for them.

He changed the layout of the organ keyboards. He put the main keyboard, called the Grand-Orgue, at the bottom. He also added couplers, which allowed the organist to play all the sounds of the organ from this one keyboard.
He improved the "swell box". This is a part of the organ that can make the sound louder or softer. He designed a special pedal that allowed the organist to open and close the swell shutters easily, giving the organ more ways to express emotion.
He changed how organ pipes were made and "voiced" (adjusted to make their sound). This led to a whole new group of "harmonic" sounds, like harmonic flutes and trumpets. He also created stops that sounded like orchestral instruments, such as the bassoon, oboe, and English horn.
He made the harmonic flute stop very popular. Along with other stops like the montre (principals), gambe (strings), and bourdon (flutes), these formed the "foundations" (fonds) of the organ's sound.
He came up with the "orchestral quartet" idea. This meant designing organs to have four main groups of sounds: principals, flutes, strings, and reeds, just like an orchestra.
He introduced "divided windchests". These allowed different parts of the organ to use higher air pressures. This meant that groups of reed stops (anches) could be added or removed quickly using a pedal. Higher air pressures also allowed for more 8' (normal pitch) stops in each section, so full sets of foundation and reed sounds could be layered on top of each other. Sometimes, he even made the higher notes louder than the lower notes to make melodies stand out.

The famous composer Charles-Marie Widor said that Cavaillé-Coll invented many things, like different air pressures and special pedal systems. He also said that Cavaillé-Coll made the organ mechanics so perfect that every pipe, no matter its size or sound, would play instantly when a finger touched a key. This allowed for smooth changes in loudness, clear beginnings of notes, and a wide range of beautiful sounds.

For larger organs with higher air pressures, Cavaillé-Coll used a device called the Barker lever. This made it easier to play all the keyboards together and use the full organ without too much effort. He also invented a special system for changing sounds on his five-manual organ at Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris. All these inventions allowed the organ to go from very soft (pianissimo) to very loud (fortissimo) smoothly, which was new for organs.

His organ at the Basilique Ste-Clotilde, Paris was one of the first to have many of these new features. This organ greatly influenced César Franck, a famous composer who was the organist there. Franck's organ music has inspired many organist-composers who came after him. Cavaillé-Coll kept developing his idea of the symphonic organ throughout his career, inspired by the organists of his time.

His Lasting Influence

Marcel Dupré, another famous musician, once said that writing music for an orchestra is different from writing for an organ. But he added that for Cavaillé-Coll's symphonic organs, you have to be very careful, as they are like orchestras themselves.

Almost a century before, César Franck was thrilled by a smaller Cavaillé-Coll organ in Paris. He famously exclaimed, "Mon nouvel orgue ? C'est un orchestre !" which means, "My new organ? It's an orchestra!" Franck later became the organist for a much larger Cavaillé-Coll organ at St Clotilde in Paris.

In 1878, Franck played a concert on the four-manual Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris. This organ was later moved and rebuilt several times, and it is now in the Auditorium Maurice Ravel in Lyon. Franck's famous "Trois Pièces" (Three Pieces) were first played on the Trocadéro organ.

Film About His Work

A documentary film called The Genius of Cavaillé-Coll was released in 2012. It celebrated 200 years since Cavaillé-Coll's birth and 150 years since his organ at St Sulpice was built. The film won an award from the BBC Music Magazine in 2014.

Where You Can Find His Organs

For a full list of all organs by Cavaillé-Coll, see: List of Organs by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll [de]

In Europe

In France

Bergerac: Saint Jacques
Bonsecours: Basilique Notre-Dame
Caen: Abbey of Saint-Étienne (50 stops, 3 manuals)
Carcassonne: Cathedral
Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds: Saint-Martin
Dreux: Chapelle royale
Épernay: Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul
Lavaur: Cathedral
Luçon: Cathedral
Lyon: Saint-François-de-Sales
Orléans: Cathedral
Mazamet: Saint-Sauveur
Nancy: Cathedral (65 stops, 4 manuals)
Paris: American Cathedral (72 stops, 4 manuals)
Paris: Saint-Roch
Paris: La Madeleine (58 stops, 3 manuals)
Paris: Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix (26 stops, 2 manuals)
Paris: Notre Dame
Paris: Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption
Paris: Pentemont Abbey
Paris: Saint-Antoine-des-Quinze-Vingts
Paris: Sainte-Clotilde Basilica (71 stops, 3 manuals)
Paris: Saint-Sulpice (102 stops, 5 manuals)
Paris: Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (66 stops, 3 manuals)
Paris: Sainte-Trinité (61 stops, 3 manuals)
Paris: Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre (28 stops, 2 manuals)
Paris: Sacré-Cœur (78 stops, 4 manuals)
Paris: Val-de-Grâce
Courbevoie (near Paris): Saint-Maurice de Bécon
Perpignan: Cathedral
Rabastens: Notre-Dame-du-Bourg Church (smallest, with only 20 stops)
Rouen: Church of St. Ouen. (64 stops, 4 manuals)
Saint-Denis: Basilica (47 stops, 4 manuals)
Saint-Germain-en-Laye: Saint-Germain church
Saint-Omer: Cathedral (49 stops, 4 manuals)
Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche: Collégiale du Moustier
Toulouse: Saint-Sernin Basilica (51 stops, 3 manuals)
Trouville-sur-Mer: Notre-Dame des Victoires
Vimoutiers: Notre-Dame
Yport: Eglise saint-Martin

In Spain

Alegia: San Juan
Azkoitia: Santa María
Azpeitia: Basílica de Loyola
Bilbao: Santa María de Begoña
Getaria (Guetaria): San Salvador
Irún: Santa María
Lekeitio: Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora (Lekeitio) [es]
Madrid: Basílica de San Francisco el Grande
Mutriku (Motrico): Santa Catalina
Oiartzun: San Esteban
Pasaia (Pasajes)
San Sebastián (Donostia): Résidence de Zorroaga
San Sebastián (Donostia): San Marcial d’Altza
San Sebastián (Donostia): Santa María del Coro
San Sebastián (Donostia): Santa Teresa
San Sebastián (Donostia): San Vicente
Urnieta: San Miguel
Vidania (Bidegoyan), San Bartolomé

In the United Kingdom

Channel Islands, Jersey: Highlands College
Cheshire, Warrington: Parr Hall
Hampshire, Farnborough: St Michael's Abbey
Hampshire, Isle of Wight: Quarr Abbey
Manchester: The Town Hall
Renfrewshire, Paisley: Paisley Abbey

In the Netherlands

Amsterdam: Augustinuskerk
Amsterdam: Joannes en Ursulakapel Begijnhof
Haarlem: Philharmonie

In Belgium

Brussels: Royal Conservatory of Music
Gesves : Saint Maximin (50 stops, 4 manuals)
Ghent: Saint Nicholas' Church, Ghent
Hasselt: Sacred Heart Church
Leuven: Jesuit Church Heverlee
Leuven: Saint Joseph's Church

In Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal: Igreja de São Luís dos Franceses
Lisbon, Portugal: Igreja de São Mamede

In Italy

Rome, Italy: Chapel of the Casa Santa Maria of the Pontifical North American College

Cavaillé-Coll also designed a very large organ for Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, but it was never built. A small model of it is still kept there.

In Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark: Jesus Church (1890)

In Russia

Organ of the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory

Moscow, Russia: Bolshoi Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Russia (installed by Charles Mutin)

In Latin America

In Venezuela

Caracas: Iglesia de la Parroquia San Francisco. Still used regularly.
Caracas: Iglesia de la Parroquia Altagracia (Not working)
Caracas: Iglesia de la Parroquia Santa Teresa. Still used regularly.
Caracas: Iglesia de la Parroquia San José (In a delicate state)
Caracas: Parroquia La Encarnación del Valle. After many years of silence, it has been played regularly since 2011.
Los Teques: Catedral (Not working)

In Brazil

Belém: Catedral da Sé (1882)
Campinas: Catedral Metropolitana (1883)
Campo Largo: Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Piedade (1892)
Itu: Igreja Matriz Nossa Senhora da Candelária (1882)
Jundiaí: Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Desterro (1895)
Lorena: Catedral Nossa Senhora da Piedade (1889)
Rio de Janeiro: Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Lapa (1898)
Rio de Janeiro: Capela do Colégio Sion do Cosme Velhos (Mutin)
Rio de Janeiro: Igreja de Nossa Senhora de Bonsucesso (Mutin)
Rio de Janeiro: Capela da Santa Casa (1882)
Salvador: Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo (1888)
São Paulo: Igreja de São José do Ipiranga (1863)
São Paulo: Igreja do Senhor Bom Jesus do Brás (1875)

In Mexico

Mazatlán, Mexico: Catedral Basílica de la Inmaculada Concepción

In Chile

Valparaíso, Chile: Iglesia de los Sagrados Corazones (French Fathers Church) (1872)

In Argentina

Most of the organs listed here were sold and installed by Mutin-Cavaillé Coll. This company took over Cavaillé-Coll's business after he died in 1899. Argentina bought many pipe organs in the early 1900s. The company even opened two shops in Buenos Aires.