St. Maximin, 1775 [Hauptwerk]

Jean Esprit Isnard organ (1775) - St. Maximin, Provence

Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

The town of Saint Maximin was the centre of early Christianity in Provence and, more broadly, in France.  The basilica itself is said to be the tallest in Provence at 33 meters, and it houses many treasures and pieces of art that attest to its history. Among these is the the large and magnificent "double sixteen feet" organ built by friar Jean-Esprit Isnard and his nephew Joseph in 1772-1775. It is one of very few French historical organs that miraculously survived the French revolution. Legend says that when the revolutionaries came to the basilica to destroy its furniture including the organ, the organist of that time, Mr. Forcade, played the revolutionary song "Marseillaise" in front of the revolutionary authorities. It saved the organ from demolition. However, the Dominicans were expelled and the place lost its importance for some time due to the secularisation of the French republic. However, being "just another organ" in a small countryside village during the 19th century, it was fortunately saved from all the modernising tendencies of that time.

As the result, this organ remains one of the few large French instruments in which the original material made by Isnard is preserved in its entirety: 2960 pipes, except that the original wooden pipes (the bass octaves of the bourdons) are used for display only, since they were replaced with metal bourdon pipes during the last reconstruction.