The medieval music organ at saint Michel abbey in northern France

he Saint-Michel Abbey of Thiérache in France's Aisne Department dates from the XII century. Since 1714, the Benedictine abbey is home to Jean Boizard's French classical organ - a truly remarkable instrument. Relatively little is known about the organ builder JEAN BOIZARD. We do know that he was established in the town of Sedan in northern France and that he built the organs in Donchery (1702), Avioth (1715), and Stenay (1716).
       It is almost a miracle that the instrument and its original system of pipes have survived down through the centuries. It escaped unscathed from fires in 1715 and, more recently, in 1971. It even managed to survive the French revolution, thanks to the sale of the abbey and its outbuildings to a certain LALOUETTE on May 4th 1791. It was spared once again during the First World War, even as metal was being requisioned on every side to be melted down.
      In 1885, the organ was completely revised by the organ builder RENAULT (established at Signy-le-Petit). In 1919, choir and orchestra director Felix Raugel began to draw the public's attention to the organ's existence, and it was placed on France's list of historical monuments in 1950. Following the disastrous 1971 fire, the organ was dismantled and stored in the workshops of organ builders HAERPFER and HERMAN. In 1980, the two builders were commissioned to do a complete restoration true to original.
      For the restoration, the composition of the stops was kept identical to that of 1714, and the original quality of sound preserved; however, the temperament chosen was LAMBERT CHAUMONT. In 1990, organ builder GEORG WESTENFELDER was appointed to service the instrument. He replaced the keyboards in 1992 and carried out a complete revision of the pipe system in 1996, including restoration of the wedge-shaped bellows.
      Since then, the temperament has been Rameau (C).