TUNING THE ORGAN AT ST GERMAIN L’AUXERROIS

Just lucky, I guess.

From the street, one can make out on the blue and gold barometer decorating this tower that the weather today is quite ideal, but frankly, you’d have to be pretty dumb to need that indicator. This was another beautiful day in a glorious week of “high atmospheric pressure,” meaning clear skies and stable temperatures across most of the country.

Ideally, this will last till the end of September, but that’s wishful thinking; on the other hand, maybe another week.

Today, as I shuffled by this famous church which faces the main façade of the Louvre, I saw that the doors were flung wide open. I also heard an unusual rumbling, reminding me of my upstairs neighbor who is having the parquets sanded…for several hours every morning!

But I was drawn to the interior, which was bathed in sunlight, and realized that the grand pipe organ was being tuned (experts are free to correct me on this). On my little video, you can hear the inspiring, deep sounds of this 18th century organ (1757), truly moving like at the end of a dramatic piece of exit music for a Mass.

This was in fact where I attended Midnight Mass last Christmas, as it was designated as the temporary place of worship for Notre Dame’s congregation, and their choir. It’s the former place of worship for the King, and it also houses, temporarily, the great Medieval ‘Madonna and Child’ statue that was usually right near the altar in Notre Dame, but providentially removed for cleaning just before that fateful day last year…

Maybe I’ll take some pictures of that statue next time!

 

Posted by Gregory Reinhart on Thursday, May 28, 2020

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