Dom Bedos organ of the Church of the Holy Cross, Historical pipe organ in Church of the Holy Cross, Bordeaux, France.
The Dom Bedos organ in the Church of the Holy Cross is a large musical instrument housed in an oak case built into the church's walls. It features five keyboards and a pedalboard controlling forty-five stops, which govern wooden and metal pipes arranged within the ornately carved structure.
In 1730 the monks of Sainte-Croix decided to build a larger organ, and Benedictine monk François Bedos de Celles completed it in three years: a sixteen-foot instrument with 45 stops on five keyboards and a pedalboard. In 1811 the archbishop requisitioned the instrumental part for Saint-André Cathedral, where it stayed until 1970; that year the case, still in place, was classified as a monument historique. Pascal Quoirin restored the instrument from 1984, and it was inaugurated on 23 and 25 May 1997.
The organ is one of only two in southern France mainly attributable to Dom Bedos de Celles, the Benedictine author of L'Art du facteur d'orgues. Its 1997 inauguration at Sainte-Croix featured Francis Chapelet, Jean Boyer, Jean-Pierre Leguay and Michel Chapuis. The brown paint covering the case was removed in the early 1990s, revealing its original polychromy.
The organ can be heard during church services and special musical events held regularly at the venue. Visitors should check in advance about concert times, as these vary and may differ depending on the season.
The case stayed in the church throughout the instrument's absence, and it was classified as a historical monument in 1970, the same year the pipes were brought back from Saint-André. In the early 1990s brown paint was stripped from the case, revealing its original polychromy.
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