Eglise Américaine

The American Church in Paris is the first American church established on foreign soil. Begun in 1814, it was officially chartered and the first sanctuary built in 1857. In 1925, the church acquired the land of the Quai d'Orsay and entrusted the architect Carrol Greenough with the construction of a new neo-Gothic building. Construction of the building was completed on March 6, 1931, although a groundbreaking (laying of the first stone) took place on March 1,er 1926. The church has an iconography of great richness. The north stained glass windows and those of the narthex all have the same dimensions. Some stained glass motifs pay tribute to American soldiers who died during the First World War.

1988 - Von Beckerath

III/47 -

traction mécanique (claviers) -

transmission électrique (jeux)

composition

D1 The former organ of Abbey Until 1988, the church had an electric action instrument, built by Abbey in 1931, with 48 stops spread over 3 manuals of 61 notes and a pedalboard of 32 notes. This organ was placed in several places in the church. The GO and the Récit were placed in a flat case located on a side gallery near the choir. The Positif and the Pedal were placed on the floor, behind the left arch of the choir. The division of Echo (playable on the 3rd keyboard) was located in an antiphonal on a small tribune at the back of the nave. Finally, the independent console was placed in the chancel, on the right. Unfortunately, the organ building firm went bankrupt before the organ project was over. Hastily, the instrument was completed and installed but the instrument had design problems. The pipework was housed in an adjacent room that opened onto the chancel. This location, considered appropriate by the organ builder, proved to be harmful for the sound of the instrument. In fact, it was difficult for the sound to reach the church is spite of high wind pressure that fade the beauty and brightness of tone. n addition, the console was located on the opposite side of the church. The electro-pneumatic action proved to be extremely delicate, adding a delay in sound emission and causing many breakdowns and costly repairs. The console was replaced by Casavant and a restoration was carried out in 1968 by Jean Jonet. Around 1987 the pipework was sold to help finance the Beckerath. The keyboards are at Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours. The case of the old Abbey organ is still in place on the side gallery, above the choir. The Beckerath organ In 1988, the instrument was replaced by a new organ in Germanic style by the Von Beckerath House of Hamburg. Learning from past experiences, it was decided that the new instrument would be located against the front wall in the rear of the chancel. Gerhard Scharenberg designed the instrument based on the « Werkprinzip » where each division has its own organ case and inserted into a single large Gothic organ case. The Swell division (3rd manual) is located immediately above the manuals and its pipework is located inside an expression box except for the 8' Violprincipal that is located in the façade hiding the shutters. The Great division (2nd manual) is located in the middle of the organ case with the small pipes from the 8' Principal in the façade. On top of the organ case, the Positif (1st manual), with the 4' Principal pipework in the façade. The Pedal division is divided into two cases, on each side of the main organ case, with the 16' Principal in the façade. Work in the workshop began in July 1987 and last nine months. The instrument, Beckerath's opus 208, arrived in Paris on April 7, 1988 to be erected under Klaus Schmekal's supervision. Six large bellows, made of Oregon pine, hold the 3328 hand-made pipes of which 116 are made of wood (bass notes of 16' Gedackt, 16' Bordun and 8' Rohrflöte; 8' Violprincipal and 8' Gedackt stops). Metal pipes are made of tin-lead alloy at 78% of Zn for the Montres, 56% for the Principals, 46% for reed resonators, and 36% for the flues. Hans Ulrich Erbslöh's pre-voicing was finished by Rolf Miehl and Timm Sckopp. Gunther Hamann designed the organ case. Source

Organiste titulaire Fred Gramann Concerts Seldom Services with organ Sunday 9:00 and 11:00 AM Videos Didier Matry Source photos