Eric Shepherd has just drawn my attention to a fascinating recital coming up, in a fascinating place. Eglise Notre Dame de France is an unassuming post-War building in a side street off London’s Leicester Square – an area known for its slightly seedy nightlife, with Chinatown to the north and Theatreland all around. The church is run by the Marist Fathers for the Roman Catholic francophone community in the West End of London, looking after refugees and the homeless in particular: when I visited yesterday there were a quite a few weary people using the church as an opportunity for rest away from the hustle and glitz outside. However of particular interest to us is the organ – as Eric told me “There will be a rather special organ recital at Eglise Notre Dame de France on Wednesday 9th July. It will be given by Thomas Monnet from Saint-Maurice de Becon, near Paris, and it will be the first time for nine years that there has been an organ recital at the church, and the first recital after our work on the organ in 2011.”
This organ happens to be the first organ built by August Gern (in 1868) after he left the employ of Cavaille-Coll, and it was an inspiration to Ralph Downes when he visited it in the 1930s as he formulated his theories of organ design – which culminated in the Royal Festival Hall organ and ultimately the British Organ Reform movement. Sadly both the church and organ were badly damaged by bombing during the War – bits of the organ were rescued, and the current organ is a mixture of original pipework and secondhand French stops (including some Cavaille-Coll) – all voiced in the French style. The work referred to is BC Shepherd & Son‘s latest refurbishment – read more about it, and see the specification of the organ here:
BC Shepherd Notre Dame de France
Note: this recital has already taken place, in 2014
RECITAL DETAILS:
Eglise Notre Dame de France, (The French Catholic Church in London), 5 Leicester Place, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7BX
Wednesday 9th July 2014, at 7.30pm
Thomas Monnet (Saint-Maurice de Becon, near Paris)
Programme: In Memoriam Jean-Louis Florentz 1947-2004, and will comprise his complete organ works.
(Thomas appears on the Genius of Cavaille-Coll DVD set issued by Fugue State Films)
Notre Dame de France also houses some extraordinary artworks – including murals by Jean Cocteau dating from the restoration of the church in the 1950s after the bombing – well worth a a visit if you are around Leicester Square. (If you’re interested, Niall McDevitt writes on some of the wilder theories behind the symbolism in Cocteau’s murals – Da Vinci Code and all – here.)
