Chapelle du Collège

et lycée Gerson

31, rue de la Pompe, 75016 Paris

The Gerson Private Catholic School was founded in 1884 by Father Dibildos. The chapel was built in 1895 by architects Claude Salleron and Eugene Homberg, in addition to the school built the previous year. The stained glass windows, made by Félix Gaudin, were donated by students at the very end of the 19th century.

C3 1892-1895 The organ was built by E. and J. Abbey in an oak case built into a niche. The instrument had never been completely rebuilt since it was installed in 1895 in the chapel that had just been completed. It is not known if the organ had a short life in another place before. 1928 Replacement of the Voix humaine by a Nazard 2 2/3 1953 Transformation in the neo-classical style by Pleyel-Cavaillé- Coll. 1960 Restoration by Barberis: replacement of the Flûte harmonique 8, Salicional 8 and Voix Céleste by a Plein jeu, a Doublette 2 and a Tierce 1 3/5. 1989 Overhaul by Barberis 2018-2019 The organ was restored by Olivier Chevron. Olivier Chevron’s work involved a complete dismantling and restoration in the workshop. In particular, all the leather was replaced after 120 years of good and faithful service! The instrument’s specification was modified to bring it back to a state close to its original stoplist. The 1953 alterations were therefore removed: the mixture and the tierce were taken out, and the doublette was replaced with a new one more in keeping with the instrument’s character. In their place, a harmonic flute was added to the Great and a voix céleste to the Swell. Finally, the console and the case were moved forward by about twenty centimetres, improving the instrument’s projection in the space and making future restoration work easier.