Kuhn Organ Builders Ltd, 2001
New organ
www.orgelbau.ch/ope=113900
II/P/25
Switzerland, Valais
Eglise paroissiale St-Sigismond
Perfect conditions
It's a stroke of luck for the building of a new organ when the situation is as ideal as in St. Maurice: adequate space on the gallery, for once a window which may be covered with the aim of achieving optimal presentation of the instrument, and an enthusiastic organist, whose efforts over a number of years enabled the required funding for the organ to be raised.
For a musician or orchestra it is indisputably more inspiring to perform in a room where the acoustics are good. However, even in the best acoustics, for a concert to be outstanding, the quality of performance must be high. This situation is comparable to our work as organ builders. When the conditions are as stimulating as in St. Maurice building an organ is a wonderful task: the careful precision, craftsmanship and experience of the voicer in scaling, voicing and tuning the over 1500 pipes contained in this organ could be exploited without compromise.
Without attempting a copy, we allowed the design and architecture of 18th century organs of the Valais region to be an inspiration to us. In cooperation with the architect and committee for the preservation of ancient monuments we were able to design a façade which fits harmonically within this church, which itself was built in 1717.