LDV113-4

58 FRANCK The organ of Saint-Sernin, which had remained relatively intact in its superb original design and coherence, was restored to its original state in 1996 by the organ builders Jean-Loup Boisseau, Bertrand Cattiaux and Patrice Bellet. Twenty years later, in 2017, it was again renovated and cleaned and its voicing equalised by the late Olivier Robert and his brother Stéphane, associates with the firm of Pesce, with the precious assistance of the organist Jean-Claude Guidarini, our friend, who also died all too young . . . Nowadays, this instrument enjoys an international reputation, its exceptionally pure symphonic aesthetic serving the music of the great composers of the time to marvellous effect. Organists from all over the world come to play works by Franck, Widor, Vierne, Dupré et al., to rediscover the original colours and effects closely associated with this instrument. In any case, these works draw from it their most perfect expression. The beautiful ascending harmony of the foundation stops, but also the balance of the tessituras, with deep basses favouring the reed stops, and trebles favouring the mutation stops: all of this explains the type of writing of Franck and his successors. And what can one say of the majesty, the sonic perfection of the grand tutti , as powerful as it is perfectly balanced in its colours (‘the most beautiful tutti in the world’, as Jean Boyer used to say like the adopted son of Toulouse he was)!