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COVER FEATURE ... EGLISESAINTE-FAMILLE BOUCHERVILLE, QUEBEC CASAVANTFRERES LTEE. Among the many wonderful treasures BoucherviUe, founded in 1667 by Vicar Generalof the Dioceseof Quebec, found in Quebec, ecclesiastical archi- Pierre Boucher,is located on the south who drew upon the best artists, tecture ranks high on anyone's list. In shore of the St. Lawrence River just painters, and carversof the time to cre- recognition of the many beautiful across from the city of Montreal. The ate this magnificent church. Unfortu- churches,Andre Croteaupublished in early history of the church beginswith nately, there was a disastrous fire in 1996a two-volume photographicstudy the arrival of missionary JacquesMar- Boucherville on June 20, 1843, which entitled Les belles eglises du Quebec. quette in 1668. (Somefive years later, destroyedmost of the buildings of the One volume featureschurches in Mon- JacquesMarquette, together with Louis town and gutted the church. Through treal and the other, churchesin Quebec Jolliet, discoveredthe Mississippi Riv- the courageousefforts by membersof and the St. LawrenceRiver Valley. er. Little known is the fact that Jolliet the parish, the pulpit, high altar (1801, Since there are so many truly incred- was a musician and taught music at the in the style of Louis XV), tabernacle ible buildings, it is a special honor for seminaryin Quebecand was organistat (1734, in the style of Louis XIV), and any church to be included in this study. the QuebecCathedral.) Two yearslater, three large and significant oil paintings Somechurches are well known because there is mention of a wooden chapel by Roy-Audy were savedfrom destruc- of their high profile and history, Notre- measuring50 by 35 feet, and in 1712,in tion. Fortunately, the thick stonewalls Dame Basilica in Montreal being one keeping with the population growth in withstood the devastation of the fire such example;while others,such asthe this community, this edifice was re- and soon plans were under way to re- parish church in Boucherville, are per- placed by a larger structure. build the church inside the venerable haps less well known but nevertheless The present stonechurch was conse- walls. worthy of both inclusion in the publi- crated on October26, 1802,and is a re- The architectural commissionfor the cation and a pilgrimage. ' sult of the efforts of Pierre Conefroy, project was given to Louis-Thomas 42 THE AMERICAN ORGANIST Berlinguet, who is recognized today as one of Quebec's master architects of the 19th century. His talent for integrating carving, decorative painting, and archi- tecture is quite evident in this architec- tural jewel, which was designated a his- toric monument in 1964. The successful restoration of the interior of the church in 1969 was further recognized with the Prix d'honneur national d'Heritage Canada in 1976 for the superb quality of the work carried out under the direction of architect Claude Beaulieu. Louis-Thomas Berlinguet is said to have been inspired by the Opera royal de Versailles for the conception of the sanctuary of the Boucherville church. Classical balance and attention to prop- er scale and proportions are in evidence throughout the room in the structure, as well as in the furnishings. Fluted pi- lasters, Corinthian capitals, and three- part classic entablature are combined with multicolored painting and gold leaf accents to produce a feast for the eye. The thick plaster walls above the wood wainscot rise to the classic cor- nice with dental molding, which is topped by the vaulted ceiling made of wood. The beautifully proportioned room is also striking for its live acous- tic, which varies little from empty to full occupancy. Although the ceiling is wood, there is virtually no interruption in its surface, save for some very shal- low ribs and the narrow moldings and carvings that frame and highlight the re- ligious paintings. The first organ,which was destroyed in the 1843 conflagration,was ordered portance, principally because of a in 1823 from George Zingraff and The new organis installed inside the sketchand measurementsmade in 1930 magnificent Berlinguet case,which is, JosephBourdon of Montreal and subse- of the original instrument by Charles without doubt, among the best extant quently delivered in 1827. In 1847, Chapais of Casavant Freres showing examplesof its kind in Quebec.Because Samuel R. Warren built an organ of that the casework had been moved. of the somewhat fragile nature of the some19 stopsthat was housed in case- Through these documents, we were woodwork, the new instrument is struc- work designed by Louis-Thomas able to show church officials and the turally independentof the old case.The Berlinguet and executed by his son, diocesanorgan committee that the case- important question of reconstructinga Louis-Flavien.Warren, who was one of work had been moved almost five feet historical copy of the original instru- Canada's first professional organ- towards the rear gallery wall in 1903, ment to reside in this historic casewas builders, had cometo Montreal in 1837 presumablyto provide additional space addressedin a 1989report by the mini- following an apprenticeship with for the choir. Subsequentinvestigation sterede la Culturedu Quebec,which in- ThomasAppleton in Boston. of the gallery floor confirmed this fact, dicated that it was practically impossi- The Samuel Warren instrument was which negativelyaffected both the aural ble to find any original indication of the in all probability rebuilt twice, the last and visual presenceof the organ in the tonal or mechanicaldesign of the War- significant rebuilding occurring around church. ren instrument due to lack of records 1935by Odilon Jacques,when the orig- In February of 1995, following some and the subsequentrebuilding of the or- inal mechanical action and key desk years of extensive study, the parish gan. The only original parts remaining were replaced with electropneumatic council of Sainte-FamilleofBoucherville included the case,a reservoir, and two action and a detachedconsole, at which awardeda contractto build a new organ stops in the Recit. These two stops, a time the area containing the keydesk to CasavantFreres. Taking into account Bourdon 8' and Flute 4', were restored was replacedwith simple wood panels. the historic situation of the church, for use in the new instrument, together It is from this sameperiod that discus- classifiedas a heritagebuilding, and the with an Oboe8' dating from the time of sion regardingthis church and organ is expressedneeds of the congregation,we the Casavantbrothers that had beenin- found in a file presently in the archives proposed an instrument of French aes- stalled in 1978. of CasavantFreres. Although the com- thetics, capableof supporting congrega- Because a historic restoration was mission for the work on the organ was tional singing, accompaniment of neither desiredby the parish nor possi- not given to Casavantat that time, the soloists and ensembles,and interpret- ble due to lack of completeinformation, complete file was placed in storageto ing a large corpus of organ literature. it was decidednot to copy someperiod await discovery and investigation dur- This 25-stop, mechanical-actionorgan instrument for the specification or for ing the most recentproject. The value of is divided between two manuals and the missing keydesk, pedalboard,and this information cameto be of greatim- pedal for a total of 32 ranks. stop controls. However,new wood pan- FEBRUARY1998 43 els were fabricatedto match the existing dance. Since then, the organ has been Pastoraleen mi majeur CesarFranck heard regularly in recital, as well as in style of the moldings, and all new Trois Piecesen style libre Louis Vierne woodwork and details havebeen paint- weekly Masses,weddings, and funer- als. In the summerof 1997, Olivier La- Lied ed to match the colors of the existing Carillon casework.Maple keycheeks,the bench try performed the final recital of the Berceuse top, and music rack finished in natural McGill University Summer Organ wood tones have been used to contrast Academyto a full house. Final de la PremiereSymphonie Louis Vierne with the painted surfaces,as well as to It has been a pleasure to work with provide a more durable and practical membersof the parish, organ commit- surfacewhere wear soon would be evi- tee, and diocesan consultants to EGLISE SAINTE-F AMILLE dent, should they havebeen painted. In achieve such a splendid instrument, BOUCHERVll.LE.QUEBEC keeping with the musical instrument one that delights the eye as well as the CASAVANTFRERESLIMITEE motifs found on the face of the balcony ear. In particular, we wish to acknowl- SAINT-HYACINTHE, QUEBEC edge the excellent collaboration of railing and on the decorativetops of the GRAND aRGUE (I) case towers, the new music rack fea- Claude Molin and Normand Rodrigue, 16 Bourdon tures a number of historical musical in- architectsat the ministere de la Culture (Nos. 1-12, stopped wood, 50% tin) strumentscarved into its surface. et des Communicationsdu Quebec,di- 8 Montre (70% tin) Within such a historical context, it rection de la Monteregie;of the Comite 8 Flute a cheminee (15% tin) was natural that the new organ would d'art sucre of the Diocese Saint-Jean- 4 Prestant (70% tin) havemechanical action, ashad the orig- Longueuil, in particular Germain Casa- 4 Flute a fuseau (50% tin) inal. The consoleis attachedto the case- vant, architect, and Mrs. Diane 2% Nazard (50% tin) work and the internal layout of the di- Leblanc, historienne de l'art; Pierre 2 Quarte de nazard (50% tin) Grandmaison,consultant and organiste 1% Tierce (50% tin) visions and pipework recalls the 1~ Fourniture IV-V (70% tin) common practices of most builders of titulaire de la basilique Notre-Damede Montreal; I' AQbe Slavoy Pryt, cure of 8 Trompette (50% tin) the period with the Recit behind and Tremblant raised above the Grand argue and Pe- paroisse Sainte-Famille; members of the Conseil de fabrique and its presi- dale.