Notre-Dame de Vimoutiers

The Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Église Notre-Dame in Vimoutiers, Normandy, France, was built in 1899. It is, along with the organ at the Moscow Conservatory, the last organ built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll whilst he was still alive. It was inaugurated by Alexandre Guilmant and has also been played by other famous organists, notably Louis Vierne and Pierre Cochereau.

The town was bombed in WWII, luckily sparing the organ, although the stained glass windows needed to be replaced. The organ underwent a few modifications over the years, including the addition of stops to the Positif and the Récit, but was faithfully restored to its original state in 2019 by the Pesce and Robert organ building company.

The organ has a divided case, allowing the rose window to be seen. The Positif and Grand-Orgue are on the left side (when facing the instrument) while the Récit and the majority of the pedal pipes are on the right.

The Grand-Orgue is assisted with a barker lever, making the otherwise heavy action easier to play.

In the sample set, a stereo pair of mics recorded the organ roughly from around 20 meters away, which includes a large amount of the church acoustics. In the future, I plan to revisit the church and record in more surround channels to capture a more close impression of the instrument.

By purchasing this sample set, you are also supporting the future of the instrument and 'Les Amis des Orgues de Vimoutiers'.