Other organ builders

of the 20th century

1- 2 - 3 - 4

Pierre Sarelot

Louis Benoist (1931-2022) and Pierre Sarelot (1930-2010) were organ builders in Mans (Laigné-en-Belin) from 1968-1995 and were doing mainly restoration works. They worked on the organ of the Chapelle des pères Franciscains and the Eglise de L'immaculée conception . The firm was taken over by Jean-Pierre Conan (1952-2023). who had entered the firm in 1974. It closed in 2010. He worked sometimes with Thierry Lemercier, Alain Léon and Olivier Chevron. Pierre Sarelot's son, Charles-Emmanuel Sarelot, organ builder and harmonist, trained in the Benoist/Sarélot workshop, is managing director of the Manufacture Languedocienne de Grandes Orgues since 1998.

Georges Schwenkedel

Georges Schwenkedel (1885-1958) first worked for the Maison Roethinger, then for the short-lived Maison Zann located in Strasbourg-Bischheim. In 1924, he set up his own factory in Strasbourg-Koenigshoffen. He acquired a very personal vision of "neo-classicism". Aware of the aesthetic arguments put forward by the Alsatian Organ Reform (Emile Rupp, promoted by Albert Schweitzer and put into practice by Roethinger), he asserted his style from the first opuses, by practicing a very personal evolution of romanticism. His son Curt joined the company, which he took over in 1957 where he quickly evolved into the Nordic style, practicing "full-wind" harmonization. Schwenkedel closed its doors in 1974, due to serious financial difficulties, after having delivered about 200 opuses (160 in 1960). A new organ built by Kurt Schwenkedel is located in Eglise Protestante Unie de Passy Annonciation (1973). More information (in French)

Yves Sévère

Yves Sévère (1929-2004) was the son-in-law and pupil of Pierre Chéron, whose studio he took over in 1963. Resolutely turned towards contemporary techniques of organ building, he put into practice innovative ideas that make these organs very original instruments. Chapelle des pères Franciscains ( 19xx).

Xavier Silbermann

Xavier Silbermann worked at Schwenkedel until 1958 and continued his activities on his own. He made 42 organs and restored or enlarged another 23 instruments. He worked on the organ of the Chapelle du couvent des Dominicains (1985).

Paul Simond-Côte

Paul Simond-Côte (1925-2007) No data on this organ builder available. L’orgue de la Chapelle de l'Agneau-de-Dieu.

Steinmetz

The brothers Steinmetz (??-2001) learned their skills at the Schwenkedel firm. They started their own firm in 1968. They maintained many instrument built by Kurt Schwenkedel. In Paris they built the organ of Saint-Gabriel (1982). Chrétien Steinmetz (1938-2023) was born in Weitbruch in Alsace. At the age of 14, he joined Curt Schwenkedel. Very gifted for voicing, he was voicer of this house after his apprenticeship and then went to perfect his skills with Muhleisen, before setting up his own business with his brothers Laurent and Antoine in Herrlisheim.

Tronchet

L’abbé Victor Joseph Henri Tronchet was born in 1861 in Saint- Ouen-de-Mimbré (Sarthe). Ordained a priest in 1885, he founded a youth organisation for working-class young people in Nogent-le-Rotrou, Eure-et-Loir, in 1887. It really began to flourish ten years later: this was the Œuvre des Ateliers Chrétiens, also known as the Œuvre Saint-Joseph, which specialised in building and repairing church furnishings. From 1893 onwards, the organisation also began working on organs. Not including outside suppliers responsible for tuning, voicing, pipes, and some cases, wind chests and mechanics, the company employed fifteen people. As far as its organ work is concerned, around 140 projects of various kinds have been recorded, including roughly thirty new organs, many alterations involving a few stops, overhauls, and restorations. The firm played a significant role in the organbuilding of Sarthe and the surrounding region. Abbé Tronchet died in 1945 at the age of 84. His nephew André Tronchet had succeeded him as early as 1935, after which the firm became independent. It appears not to have survived the Second World War. Based on a study kindly provided by Mr Robert Martin, entitled “Facture régionale, l’Œuvre des Ateliers Chrétiens”, extracted from the inventory Les Orgues d’Eure-et-Loire, Chambéry, Comp’Act, 1996, pp. 19–28. Victor Tronchet built the organ of N otre-Dame du Liban (1910).

Villard

Jean-Pascal Villard (*1954) learned his skills at the Boisseau, Walcker, Ismayer and Garhammer workshops and started his own company in 1986. He restores old organs and constructs new organs. He worked on the organ of Saint-Germain-de- Charonne .

Walker

J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd is a British organ-building company founded in 1828 by Joseph William Walker in London. After Walker's death in 1870, his son James John Walker took over, leading the firm into its golden age by the late 19th century. James's leadership earned the company a reputation for excellence, especially for its strong, rich diapason voicing. The firm's reputation remained strong through World War II, though the 1960s saw a shift toward eclectic and sometimes controversial designs. A revival occurred in the 1980s under Robert Pennells and his team. Today, the company operates as "The Walker Group," with separate divisions for restoration, tuning, supplies, and new organ construction. Notre-Dame du Lys

Wilbrand

Heinz Wilbrand was a German organ builder from Übach- Palenberg, north of Aachen, whose workshop built and intoned organs since the 1960s. His firm built organs with mechanical slider actions and wooden action mechanisms and restored historical instruments. Key features include the emphasis on traditional construction methods, wooden construction, and an intonation in the style of the neo-baroque. He built the choirorgan at Saint-Léon and the organ of the Eglise luthérienne du Bon-Secours .

Willis & Son

Henry Willis & Son was founded in 1845 by Henry Willis, who was nicknamed "Father Willis" because of his contribution to the art and science of organ building and to distinguish him from his younger relatives working in the firm. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of the firm until 1997 when Henry Willis IV retired and David Wyld was appointed as managing director. The Willis firm is regarded as the leading organ builder of the Victorian era. During the Industrial Revolution many towns equipped themselves with imposing town halls and churches, preferably with a Willis instrument in a symphonic style. Henry Willis IV built many ‘Junior Development Plan Organs’ which he designed to be economical initially, but with scope for expansion as funds became available. He worked on the organ of Saint-Joseph's Catholic Church.

Young & Sons

Alexander Young & Sons Ltd, a firm of organ builders based on Eldon St, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, and their worksplate was attached to it. Alexander Young was born in Glamis Forfarshire, Scotland, in 1809 and by 1837 he was living in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, where he was employed as an organ builder, and by the time of the 1871 census he had become a foreman. The 1871 census also records that his son, William Alexander, was employed as an organ tuner but in 1872 he founded the family business of Alexander Young & Sons Ltd, which was established in Vine St, off Stretford Rd, Hulme. His father joined him in 1873 and in 1875 the business moved to Eldon St, Chorlton-on-Medlock. The organ of the Chapel of the l'hôpital Saint-Joseph .