Aristide Cavaillé-Coll was without doubt the most distinguished organ builder of the 19th century. He was the initiator of the orchestral style of French organ building and composing. He descended from a family of organ builders in the south of France and north of Spain. He went to Paris in 1833 and he was awarded a contract for a large organ for the basilica of Saint-Denis. This highly innovative instrument would become a model for the more than 600 organs which he would built until his death in 1899. He was a great innovator in the art and science of organ building and had a pronounced influence on the course of organ building and organ composing in the 19th century. He wrote many scientific journal articles and books on the organ in which he published the results of his researches and experiments. These innovations included: • the wind supply • mechanical innovations, first part • mechanical innovations, second part The work of Cavaillé-Coll can be distinghuised into three distinct periods*: - the ´ post-classical ´ period: the early works (eight organs in Paris) - the ' operatic' period: from 1851 to 1871 during the Second Empire (14 organs in Paris) - the ´ symphonic ´ period: the late works during the Third Republic (16 organs in Paris) More information: Hans Klotz & Kurt Lueders:Aristide Cavaillé-Coll

Inventions or innovations by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll 1834 Invention of the poïkilorgue (Toulouse) 1839 Windchests with two or three sections of different wind pressure (Temple des Billettes) 1841 Swell box with three stages level of opening (Cathédrale de Saint-Denis) 1841 Barker’s lever (Saint-Denis) 1855 Swell box for two sections Widening the keyboard scale: manual up to 56 tones, pedalboard up to 27 tones (Exposition universelle) 1841- 1868 New organ stops: flûtes harmoniques (Saint-Denis 1841), Voix Célestes (La Madeleine 1846). 1863 Advanced pneumatic system for switching the stops (Saint-Sulpice) 1868 Amplification of additional harmonic tones (sevenths in Notre-Dame) 1873 Widening the keyboard scale up to 61 tones (Albert Hall in Sheffield) Expression box for three of four manual sections (Albert Hall-Sheffield) Source : facebook page Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, October 19, 2022