Dame of organs falls silent

– Workers started dismantling Notre-Dame’s grand organ to let experts restore it in time for the fifth anniversary of the fire that damaged the cathedral.

The organ – the biggest musical instrument in France – was not burned by the flames that destroyed the cathedral’s roof and spire on 15 April 2019. But it was covered in soot and damaged by humidity.

“It is an absolute miracle that it has survived. An organ like this is enormous and looks indestructible, but it is actually very fragile,” Olivier Latry, one of Notre-Dame’s official organ players, said.

Workers will dismantle its five keyboards, pedalboard and the 109 stop knobs that control airflow to its 8 000 pipes, some as high as 10m.

The organ, which sits under the Gothic cathedral’s huge rose window, was completed in 1867, shortly after the spire, which crashed through the roof during the devastating fire.

“We can’t wait for Notre-Dame and the organ to be restored. There is some kind of magic between this instrument and the place ... it makes the stones sing,” Philippe Lefebvre, another cathedral organist, said.

President Emmanuel Macron promised to rebuild it within five years. Church officials hope it will be open for mass by 2024 for the Olympic Games. –