III/52+P Casavant – Dedicated to Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary – Based on the organ of the Basilica of Saint Anne de Beaupré

Hauptwerk View

Specification

Grand Orgue	Positif	Recit	Pedale
Montre 16	Principal 8	Bourdon 16	Flute ouverte 16
Montre 8	Mélodie 8	Principal 8	Bourdon 16
Principal étroit 8	Dulciane 8	Bourdon 8	Gedeckt 16
Flute harmonique8	Grosse flute 8	Viole de gambe 8	Flute 8
Gemshorn 8	Viole d’orchestre 8	Voix céleste 8	Violoncello 8
Prestant 4	Flute douce 4	Flute traverse 4	Bourdon 8
Flute bouchée 4	Nasard 2 2/3	Violon 4	Plein-jeu
Doublette 2	Octave 2	Octavin 2	Bombarde 16
Mixture IV	Flageolot 2	Mixture	Trompette 8
Fourniture	Fourniture	Cornet IV	Clairon 4
Cymbale	Cymbale	Trompette 8	Contrebombarde 32
Trompette 8	Clarinette 8	Hautbois 8
Clairon 4	Tuba 8
	Cromorne 8

Requirements

Casavant Demo (Sonus Paradisi), Brasov Demo (Sonus Paradisi), Caen (Sonus Paradisi)

Composite Information

This composite is based on the Casavant organ at Saint Anne de Beaupré Basilica in Quebec, Canada. The stoplist is primarily that of the original Casavant instrument (41), with minor additions from after the restoration of 1986, adding the complete stoplist to 50 (The bolded stops are the additions taken from the 1986 restoration). The composite is largely sampled from the Casavant demo, but there are also a little stops that use the Brasov Demo and Caen, which add to the basilica reverb and are similar to the eclectic nature of Casavant and the recent restoration and thus they blend in and suit the composite nicely. The short reverb of the Casavant is a downside though. All samples are with multi-release, and a custom console view has been created to enhance the organ and facilitate usage. There is a Extended version which combines the original and new organ, and an original version with the disposition of the 1945 version. The composite is available free of charge.

Basilica Information

The first organ was built by Casavant, as Opus 66, in 1896 and was installed in the first basilica. It was blessed by Bishop Louis-Nazaire Bégin on May 19, 1896. Revised in 1915, as Opus 606, it was badly damaged in the 1922 fire.

The actual organ, Casavant’s Opus 1793, was built in 1945. It is located in the rear gallery and its pipework is divided into two sections on either side of the large rose window. The Récit and Positif divisions are located on the south side and the Grand Orgue and Pédale divisions are on the north side. There is no organ case but just a screen in front of the pipeworks. Both L-shaped cases are identical. It was blessed on December 15, 1945 by Most Rev. Georges-Léon Pelletier, auxiliary bishop of Quebec City, and followed by the inaugural concert given by François-Xavier Nadeau, organist of the basilica.

The instrument remained unchanged until 1985 when the Redemptorists Fathers were briefed about the leather deterioration state. They commissionned Marcel Bertrand Organs Inc. to repair the organ. This firm has been, for years now, responsible for the organ maintenance.

Then came the idea about bringing a few modifications to the organ in order to achieve better performance from the instrument. Convinced that the basilica needed an adequate organ, the authorities and the organbuilder agreed to enlarge the instrument from 39 to 44 stops and to completely revise the tonal structure of the instrument. Eventhough it is a relatively small instrument for the large building and it is discreetely located, every effort was made in order to obtain rich and brilliant sonorities so that organists will have access to large range of colorful registrations. Besides the fact that almost all the pipeworks has been revoiced, some winchests had been moved, some were modified and even new ones have been built. All wind pressures have been lowered.

The organbuilders took care to reuse all the existing material while adapting it to the new tonal structure and adding new pipeworks only where it was necessary.

Download Link

Composite Organ of Saint Anne – Extended

Updates

1.02 – Cromorne tuned – will be out soon