Rozay, 1737 [Hauptwerk]

A model of a French baroque instrument of XVIIth century. Little is known about the origin of the instrument. We know the names of some of the Rozay church organists in 16th and 17th centuries, but they almost certainly played the earlier renaissance instrument there. The traditions says that the present instrument is from the first half of the 18th century, perhaps 1723, with its builder being Louis-Alexandre Clicquot (1684-1760), but there are no documents to prove this assertion. In any case, parts of the instrument are clearly from 17th century, probably rearranged in 1737 at the latest. The preserved original 17th century stop jamb panel including the stop labels made it possible to restore the 17th century state of the instrument. The layout of its stop labels (providing hints for divided stops) corresponds exactly to the preserved state of the windchest. The core of the Grand Orgue comes from ca. 1680, but numerous parts are of an earlier origin, probably from 16th century.

The special feature of this instrument is the split point, which is between middle c and c# for the split stops (all the Cornets still start at middle c, though). It is also the only French organ of 17th century still having its original keyboards in a playable condition, the keyboards once touched by the members of the Couperin organ dynasty, whose home, Chaumes en Brie, is situated nearby.