Day two in France
 
The second day in Rouen we set to work around 9:00 AM. After grabbing a quick goat cheese sandwich I walked over to St. Ouen to meet the organbuilder Denis LACORRE . I got the chance to climb around the organ and take some photos in this extremely important pipe organ. While Denis was tuning the organ, Chris Frommen and I set up some deflectors for the chamade. These can be seen in the photos of the organ I took that day. They are big pieces of cardboard which we hung from the triforium. The idea was to prevent the “ping pong” effect of the chamade on the recording. After that there was much work to do, setting up all of the recording equipment and running all of the cables hundreds of feet from the sacristy in the front of the church. Chris is using 11 microphones for the SACD recordings he is doing here for Stephen Tharp. He is recording Volume Two of the complete works of Demessieux for Aeolus. Daniel Roth’s CD will be recorded the same way for JAV. There was much testing and adjusting to be done to get the sound just right. I was charged with watching the equipment since the church is open to tourists all day. The church has been decommissioned and Mass is only celebrated once a year on St. Ouen’s day, which is the last Sunday of August.   In the early evening I went back to the hotel to check email and lay down for a little bit. I then stopped for dinner at a wonderful Café next to my hotel and had some wonderful Salmon and had to bring back a take-out dinner for Chris. The French found it strange that I asked them for a dinner "to go!" They happily did it, but told me that it was not "normal" as in “my country."   When I got back to St. Ouen at 8:00 PM, I volunteered to sit on the right side of the console to pull stops. My counterpart is Daniel MAITRE who knows the organ very well, does not play the organ, but knows the literature and loves the organ. Daniel does not speak much English and I speak next to no French! I was mainly charged with turning the Positive and Grande Orgue reeds on and off and stay out of Stephen’s way when he played the high notes on the pedal board. What a feeling it is to sit at this console knowing all of the famous composers/organist that have sat here before me. After pulling stops for 3 pieces I finally went back to the hotel around 2:00 AM French time and Stephen stayed till about 5:00 AM. (He recorded Veni Sancte Spiritus, and Les Eaux from the Meditations on the Holy Spirit and Reponse de le temps de Paques that first night).   To be in St. Ouen gives me a very odd feeling. It is a thrill to be here. It is an organ I have known about for years and one of the most famous in the world.  There is an extra thrill in the architecture of this 14th century church building. When I look out into the church I have in my mind’s eye where the vault (ceiling) should be but my eyes are always drawn higher. The building dimensions are more spectacular than any other church I have ever been in and that includes many of the biggest. Photos just do not reproduce the dimensions of this church.   I walked back to the hotel, checked email and went to bed thinking how wonderful it will be to be here until Saturday/Sunday recording in this remarkable church. Joe Vitacco
Recording St. Ouen & St. Sulpice
Wednesday, May 3, 2006