The church of Notre-Dame de Vimoutiers has two organs: the large Cavaillé-Coll organ and the Clergeau choir organ. They both have a manual blower that works. The large organ was refurbished during the full restoration in 2019, and includes two huge bellows operated by two large pedals.
One of the most beautiful romantic organs in all of France, the great organ of Notre-Dame de Vimoutiers is, along with that of the great hall P. Tchaikovsky of the Moscow Conservatory, the last in 1899 to have been designed by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, the greatest organ builder of the 19th century. This large organ was designed with two buffets, so as to leave the magnificent rose window visible from the nave of the church.
A demonstration will explain how such an instrument works. The open doors of the buffets will allow you to see the bellows, the conduits, the pipes and all the linkage components. You can also put yourself in the blower to supply air to the pipes… as at the beginning of the 20th century (more details with the corresponding page on this site).
Before the electrification of the organs, we often had recourse to people begging at the entrance of the masses, who for a good meal, or even a «drink», were charged with this quite sporting labour...
Take advantage of this unique opportunity to put yourself in the place of the blower, as was done at the beginning of the 20th century! Few organs in France have such a functioning system.
Why such a large organ, equipped with an operational blower station?
Come discover and admire this heritage for all, historical, cultural and cultural!