THE RE-DISIGNING OF THE ORGAN OF THE METZ CATHEDRAL
This rater peculiar situation presented two different problems. A new organ had to be designed and built from remains of the case that had undergone some twenty successive repairs and alterations over four centuries. It was necessary to re-utilize an existing material bearing witness to the artistry and craftsmanship of another period. After considerable thinking and questioning we decided to preserve carefully the original location happily selected as early as 1536, as being the privileged spot for the extraordinary acoustics of the cathedral. Here we installed a new instrument in a restored, rebuilt, reconstituted case. The distinctive feature of this undertaking lies in the reconstructing of an organ from the late XVIth century from a few external elements of the original design, and doing so after an elapse of five hundred years. In carrying out this project, we have been guided by instruments built contemporaries of Johann von TRIER (the actual builder of this organ), which can steel be seen in the Brabant, the Netherlands, and all along the Rhine valley. My most earnest wish is that this type of new and eventually very modern (!) organ will stimulate the enthusiastic rising generation of keyboard performers and specialist into giving voice to their talents in the concrete from of a long-lasting music, in order that our generation should not be content with producing organs without the music for them! When all is said and done, it is this combination of my aims as an organ-builder and of my wish to contribute to the propagation of culture that constitutes the main-spring of this work.

Compass of the keyboards: Manual: CDEFGABH….c’’’
                                         Pedal: CDEFGABH….d’
These two keyboards have a short octave; spring soundboards.

Pitch: A – 467 Hz
Mean-tone temperament: eight perfect thirds (c, d, e flat, e, f, g, a, b)

COMPOSITION

Principal manual:
Montre
Prestant
Quinte
Fourniture
Cymbale
Trompette
Grosse Flute
Traversine
Tiercelette (c’-c’’’)

Second manual:
Regale

Pedal:
Trompette
transmission from manual

Contrivances:
Manual coupler
First manual to pedal coupler
Tremulant in the wind