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Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris France -- and it now seems a *survivor* of the tragic fire there

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    Posted 5 years ago

    AnythingOb…
    (1778 items)

    /me is still sobbing slightly right now with today's news that Notre Dame Cathedral has suffered a devastating fire...any of y'all that's had a radio/TV/computer on today no doubt knows that already. Also no doubt forever lost with it (and SO MANY MORE priceless treasures of various other sorts of historic artwork, at the least?) was a monumental pipe organ, itself with its genesis only 300 yrs or so ago, though more familiar (and revered) lately more like it was roughly 150yrs ago instead, at least in its sound...

    https://www.organsparisaz2.vhhil.nl/ND%20paris.htm

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y5xeq9aURY

    The music there is "Carillon de Westminster" composed by (Frenchman) Louis Vierne who premiered it himself in 1929 at Notre Dame Cathedral, though played here by the current titular Organist Olivier Latry on the instrument as it existed until today. This music is particularly meaningful to me personally for numerous reasons, including the fact that it is one of the very few pieces of organ music I once attempted to learn to play...though not really ever being completely successful at that attempt, my fingers/feet can indeed still sorta make some of those finger/feet twisting movements to the keys and pedals that it takes to pull it off...

    https://www.google.com/search?q=notre+dame+cathedral+organ+pictures&tbm=isch&source=hp&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4zIjc0NPhAhVDPq0KHTKuBN8Q7Al6BAgIEA8&biw=1252&bih=579#imgrc=7blQbKCjaDR0QM:

    DISCLAIMER: the pic here isn't mine nor the YT video which only runs ~7mins total, the org all gets wound up to maximum noisy @about 5min into that...]

    RIP, good and faithful servant...

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    Comments

    1. Watchsearcher Watchsearcher, 5 years ago
      Terrible tragedy. Unthinkable loss.
    2. fortapache fortapache, 5 years ago
      Yes tragic.
    3. yougottahavestuff yougottahavestuff, 5 years ago
      I pray it wasn't Arson!!! Our Religious divide is bad enough now!!
      Stuff
    4. AnythingObscure AnythingObscure, 5 years ago
      Thanks much for the kind words and <love> to Watchsearcher, fortapache, Brunswick, yougottahavestuff, Newfld, aura, & valentino97.

      Now 24hrs later, reports from Paris are indicating that the devastation is not nearly as tragic as would have been expected by watching the fire, collapse of the spire, and in fact the early pictures of the destruction as the fire was being extinguished. Much of the building's structure, the 3 absolutely glorious rose windows, and the most important religious artifacts and works of art were reportedly successfully saved/preserved.

      Even HAPPIER news (to me, anyway) is that the Grande Orgue did *not* actually burn (or drown) during the fire, as I guessed it would have. Due to its physical location at the extreme back of the Cathedral nave immediately in between the twin towers (which firefighters made a concerted effort to preserve) it was likewise mostly protected from the conflagration going on around it. Even the Chaire (choir) Orgue (a somewhat smaller and newer 2nd complete instrument located at the extreme *front* of the room) is being reported as "not burned, just bathed".

      With, apparently, so much having been practically "saved"...I'll now predict that indeed NotreDame Cathedral will rise anew from the ashes, as President Macron has promised...if *anything* positive can be said of such a still enormous tragedy, surely that'd be it...?? :-) :-) :-)
    5. mikelv85 mikelv85, 5 years ago
      Such a sad day and a horrible loss. I also was glad to hear the organ will live to play again. Even minor damage will cost a huge amount of money to restore either of these instruments back to their former glory. The integrity of the remaining stone structure is the biggest worry now. Hopefully they will be able to stabilized the remaining portions.
      The Vierne piece you mentioned is one of my favorites too. I have a large folio copy of this piece I bought back when I was a seminary student and taking lessons (a lifetime ago). I loved following the score but could barely play even the right hand let alone all three parts. A friend of mine at the school ( a senior and quite an accomplished organist) could play it flawlessly. I was his page turner....lol. Kudos to you if you could play it. -Mike-
    6. AnythingObscure AnythingObscure, 5 years ago
      More THANKS to keratango, and especially mikelv85 for your kind and thoughtful comment. You are perfectly correct that even though the GrandeOrgue has survived nearly intact, it will nonetheless require considerable, long, and very co$tly work before it will sing again -- even if a matter of magnitude lesser 0verall than the total cost of rebuilding NotreDame itself in whatever form that ends up happening. Certainly the instrument will need to be largely dismantled (if not removed entirely) for its own safety while the entire reconstruction takes place, when that process is complete and it is reinstalled, it will be essentially "rebuilt" itself in one form or the other, for the 4th (? 5th?) time in just its own ~300yr history, whether or not any changes are made to it during that whole process or not.

      As to the Vierne, I bought my own copy of the music, unfortunately, shortly after I actually first quit taking lessons as a late teen, then could never convince my next teacher (for only a short period of time a couple yrs later) to teach me to play it, she mostly thinking I should learn little Bach and Pachelbel chorales (etc) instead...she never quite picked up on the idea that I much more, then, wanted to *play it LOUD*...?? <LOL> Anyway, I eventually did spend many an hour trying to 'teach myself' to play it back then anyway, and *did* eventually sorta get my RH fingers to be able to make those also admittedly *most unnatural* (apparently) movements...to play the entire piece start to finish, not so much... ;-)

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