Work on the Notre-Dame organ has begun, donations still possible

There's still time! For what ? To make a donation to help restore the organ of the Notre-Dame de Ham church to the Heritage Foundation. If you made it before December 31 at 11:59 p.m., your donation will even allow you to benefit from an income tax reduction of 66% of the donation (up to the limit of taxable income) for the year in question. course. And the collection will continue in 2025…

Unsubsidized organ work

Because, let us remember, the renovation work on this 70-year-old organ, “too young to be classified” notes Patrick Delarue, organist since “almost 40 years old” and president of the Friends of the Organ of Notre-Dame, are not subsidized. The municipality covers the entire cost of the work, amounting to approximately €93,000 excluding taxes, “to maintain Hamois heritage” underlines for his part, the mayor of the city, Eric Legrand. Hence the fundraising from the Hauts-de-France Heritage Foundation. And the mayor continued: “We started collecting donations a little over a year ago. At some point, you have to go there: the organ is part of the heritage, it allows the region to shine through concerts… And it plays every Sunday.“

For the moment, the amount collected is around €13,000, over the past year. “I take my hat off to the community” comments the organist, happy to see this beautiful instrument getting a new lease of life.

Work began at the beginning of December

Indeed, work on the organ built by the Ateliers Beuchet-Debierre in 1950 (replacing an instrument from the Cavaillé-Coll company destroyed during the war, on which only the case was kept) began almost 'a month in the Notre-Dame de Ham abbey church. The Pascal organ builder company, located in Saint-André-lez-Lille, is now at the head of the enormous machinery that makes up the Ham organ. Three specialized craftsmen work on site, in the instrument's den. “The organ is made of 80% wood. To repair such an instrument, you must first be a manual worker, a carpenter, a cabinetmaker… The harmonization of the organ only happens at the end of the renovation” explains Antoine Pascal, manager of the organ builder company. “An organ is first a huge machine and then a musical instrument.“

1400 membranes replaced on the organ

Concretely, what operations will be carried out on the organ of Notre-Dame de Ham? According to the Heritage Foundation, “the objective of the restoration work is to carry out the raising of the large organs, to replace all of the membranes (numbering 1400 according to Antoine Pascal) as well as lifting the instrumental part (either the pipes). It is also planned to deal with bringing the entire console up to electrical standards.“Interior and exterior pipes”which will be dismantled and cleaned, particularly those outside because they are soiled by bat droppings, which causes whitish stains to appear on the pipes, then reshaped and harmonized” specifies Antoine Pascal. “Each pipe is unique. The ensemble is called a forest of pipes and with one objective: that they all sing together. This is the work of harmonization. Then, the buffet will regain its color and the pipes on the facade will allow the instrument to shine again. Then we'll move on to tuning the instrument last. “

At the organ bedside until May

The project should last until May 2025. Then there will be a break-in period for the instrument, which will be adjusted gradually by the organ builder (Pascal company) according to feedback from the organist (Patrick Delarue). Then an inaugural concert of the renovation of the instrument should take place in October.

Also read:

Somme: In Ham, the Notre-Dame Institute helps a disabled student on October 20 during a sponsored race

East of the Somme: The town of Ham reiterates its requests for subsidies for its heritage in 2025