The Aubertin organ in St Louis’s Church (France).


LAST NEWS.
Salmons at the bottom 
of the pedal towers.

The Aubertin organ ready for Christmas!


(The Aubertin workshops repaired the bellows and the wind-chest during 3 weeks, for about 36000 euros paid by the City. For Christmas, all is ready!)


L'orgue Aubertin prêt à Noël.
Remontage.
36000 euros de réparation.

Text and picture of "La Montagne" on Dec. 21, 2007.



The St. Louis Aubertin organ care.

NEW BREATH
The St. Louis Aubertin organ had a short breath. For several years, because of the heating of the church, leaking roofs, fatty acid fumes of the candles, this remarkable instrument has suffered the insult: destruction of the skins of the blower, infiltration damage. With the association "Renaissance de l'Orgue à Saint-Louis" and the city, the bellows and the top six largest pipes were removed on last Wednesday (November 14, 2007). They will be restored: the skins changed by the factor, the saltpeter removed from the walls by the city, while the candles were replaced by less smoke lights.
The organ will be operational again for Christmas.


Text and picture of "La Montagne" on Nov. 16, 2007.



Bernard Aubertin organ builder manufacture
will begin the partial restoration of the organ
(bellows and repair of the 32' which had been flooded)
on October 15, 2007, to finish it before Christmas.


Letter from the Municipality :

I inform you that M.AUBERTIN has the contract concerning the partial restoration of the organ of St Louis church. Its intervention should begin in the second fortnight of October and finish before the festivals of Christmas. M.AUBERTIN promised to me that the organ would be operational for the festivals of Christmas. The intrument will be unavailable from October 15 to December 15.

Best regards...

Communal Buildings Director.


Very good news!!!

otherwise, it should have happened:


"The bellows burst once again..."
(Drawing published in a Dutch review)

Publication on this site: October 8, 2007.


The Mayor of Vichy gives following information to the Association, in a letter of July 9, 2007:

  • The parish will seek to give in function the extraction of the smoke of the little votive candles which already replaced the long candles, on the existing hood.
  • The parish will take care of the more frequent replacement of the filters of the boiler of heating of the church.
  • The town of Vichy will make repair the bellows and the 32 feet pipes.
  • The town of Vichy will make install a filter on the air intake of the turbine of the organ.
  • The town of Vichy will better protect the organ against the risks from water leakage coming from the roof.
  • The town of Vichy will install a water supply for the humidifier envisaged by the Association.
  • The town of Vichy does not call into question the warm-air heating of the nave of the church.
  • There will be invitations to tender for all this work.
The Association warmly thanks the Mayor for Vichy for all these envisaged works. It regrets however that the basic problem, the warm-air heating which stirs the dust and the acid smoke stored in the building, is not called into question. The woodworks and the piping of the organ will remain exposed as in the past. More particularly, there is only one hood while several other points of devotion remain without evacuation of the smoke.

Publication on this site: August 8, 2007.



Since February 1, 2007,
no smoking in the public places in France.

But we can always breathe in Saint-Louis.

The filter below was white at the beginning. It was placed at the air intake of the turbine of the organ, for 6 months in period of heating, from November 2006 to May 2007. It collected black particles of the atmosphere of the church, only during the operation of the organ.


Publication on this site: June 15, 2007.



Municipal bulletin of the Town of Vichy.
Publication April 2007.



Extracted from the Bulletin “It is in Vichy”, page 15,
in the heading WORK.

"To come: between April 10 and the end of June
Public places :
- Organ of the Saint-Louis Church, repair work following diagnosis (first phase)."



Compromised record.
April 14, 2007.

Celebrating the 250 years death's anniversary of Domenico Scarlatti this year (1685-1757), Aline d'Ambricourt is producing a film documentary on his keyboard work. She would wish to film and record a sonata of Scarlatti on the Aubertin organ of Vichy, of which Jean Michel Renard praised qualities.

A boxed CD/DVD would be edited for summer 2007 at Integral Classic (Paris). This production is realized mainly with Danish sponsors: Fondation Obel, Musiciens solistes du Danemark, banque Spar Nord...

Considering the state of the organ, this record is compromised for the moment, except if all is done for a fast return to a normal situation, otherwise it would be a pity for the town of Vichy.

Aline d’Ambricourt
Extracts from the site http://www.clavecin.com/:
"Since the year 2000, Aline d’Ambricourt has lived in Denmark. In May 2002, the town of Aalborg invited her to play for Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark and Her Mejesty the King of Belgium at the Brussels Parliament. As a result Aline d'Ambricourt was invited to give a recital at the Royal Palace of Fredensborgon 20 October 2004. In the same year, the French Ambassador to Denmark gave her the opportunity to play two fundraising concerts in the Palaias Thott."

Jean Michel Renard
http://www.renard-music.com/
Expert of musical instruments:
National Room of the Specialized Experts.
European Confederation of the Experts of Art.
American Association of Independent Appraisers...



In the 2007 New Year Honours, M. Chirac invested Bernard Aubertin, organ builder, as Chevalier, Legion d’Honneur (red ribbon) – the highest accolade given in France by the President of the Republic.

Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur

Doctor Honoris Causa
of the University of Aberdeen.


Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Aberdeen.



M. Michel COLIN, consulting technician, came on Tuesday March 20, 2007 to Saint-Louis. It will submit his report to the Town hall during the first fortnight of April.



The roofer (requested since July 2006) finally repaired on March 6, 2007.... So, it does not remain any more but to purge the wall, to remove the rubble fallen into the pipes of the 32' , to repair the feet etc etc...



During the night of Friday March 2, 2007, it rained very much in Vichy. In the morning, a new important leak appeared on the ceiling above the 32’pipes.

Until now “only” 4 feet had been spoiled. It might become necessary to repair (or replace) the whole range.



Extract of the answer of the Mayor of Vichy,
Dr. Claude Malhuret,
sent at the end of February 2007
to the people who wrote to him.

"... I requested from the departments of the Town to urge a consultation in order to obtain opinions of experts on the problems involved in the organ and his environment. That was done on December 1.

Today, the totality of the answers of the consultation arrived at the services who selected the expert. The study will be carried out mid-March and the results will be communicated to the City at the beginning of April. Then we will consider what it is possible to do in order to have this organ functionning again under the best conditions.




This mark of goodwill does not hide uncertainties and interrogations. For the moment, it is only about opinion of experts, whose results will be communicated at the beginning of April, and not about engagements in concrete measures.


It is important to continue
safeguarding this noble instrument.

contact@orgue-vichy-st-louis.com

Dec 24, 2007
Jean Convert, Valence, France.