LDV113-4

55 MICHEL BOUVARD Cavaillé-Coll’s plan for the organ of Saint-Sernin was not created from scratch, but a reconstruction from the earlier instruments that had succeeded one another in the basilica. First of all, the Delaunay organ (1672), of which parts of the case remain, and above all the instrument by Daublaine-Callinet-Barker (1845): Cavaillé-Coll reused nearly half of its stops, as well as a pneumatic lever by Barker himself, modifying and revoicing them as necessary to adapt them to the new sound aesthetic known as ‘symphonic’. This new conception still included stops from the classical organ, thus making it possible to produce the venerable and clearly identified French mixtures (Fond d’orgue, Grand Plein-jeu 16', Grand-jeu d’anches and Cornets), but these stops are here conceived and voiced in such a way as to be integrated into a symphonic grand tutti , mirroring the Berlioz orchestra with its immense sections of ‘strings’ (the equivalent on the organ being a multiplication of Gambes and other 8' basses, underpinned by Violoncelles and Contrebasses), ‘woodwind’ (Flûtes traversières, Hautbois, Clarinettes, Bassons etc.), ‘brass’ (Trompettes harmoniques, Clairons harmoniques, Bombardes enhanced by Cornets) and ‘percussion’ (mixtures, Carillons etc.). Add a touch of typically organistic colours (Voix célestes and other tremulants, romanticised Voix humaines) and of course some 32' stops for ‘mystical depth’, and you have (on paper!) the organ of Saint-Sernin.