Fugatto

The Great Haerpfer Organ of St.Maurice Church, Freyming-Merlebach (France)

Freyming-Merlebach is a mining town of about 16,000 inhabitants. It lies in the heart of Lorrain's coal field and in the heart of Europe. This endearing town is turning the page of coal-mining and going over into new types of industry. It also enjoys an intense cultural life and has a dozen choral societies, a music conservatory, etc. Its heritage of organs rank second in the Moselle department as it can boast having five instruments. The most important one is the organ of St-Maurice's church built in 1930 by Frédéric HAERPFER; it is considered as being his masterpiece.
In the eighties, the instrument began to show worrying signs of tiredness . A Society of Friends of the Organ was set up and worked together with the people of the parish to restore it. Michel GAILLARD, an organ-builder of the Aubertin Factory, was entrusted with the task. The restoration he achieved was revolutionary as it gave back precision to the mixed (mechanical then pneumatic) traction. He made a remarkable harmonization of this fine testimony of organ-building in the thirties. As a result of his work, the sounds of the organ can now be heard to ring divinely in the fine, vast Baroque St-Maurice Church, transporting the listener into a world of acoustics worthy of a Cathedral. Numerous concerts are held there all the year round as well as an international organ contest.

FUG 001, FUG 002, FUG 009, FUG 010