Rodez Cathedral (FR)

This card shows the interior of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Rodez, France. The facade of the organ is barely visible near the left edge of the card. There is a large instrument in the north transept of the cathedral. This does not seem to be that instrument. There is a less renowned choir organ, which is what I suspect appears on this particular card. The third picture below shows the choir, with the choir organ and its console showing at left.I have not been able to find information about the choir organ; the information below is about the gallery instrument.

 

The cathedral was begun in the late 1200's and completed in the 16th century. It has Romanesque features. The transept gallery organ was begun in 1629 by Antoine Vernholes, with Raymond Gusmond assisting. The organ stands on a gallery in the north transept. The 1629 instrument itself used wooded features from a pre-existing Gothic era instrument by an un-named builder. The organ underwent work every few years for most of its existence. There was a "complete repair" in 1839, but a lightening strike in 1880 made the instrument completely unplayable. Beginning in 1975 Paul Manual began a complete rebuilding of the instrument, culminating in 1986 with a re-dedication of the instrument by Michel Bouvard. The goal in this restoration was to return the instrument to a tonal language of the 17th century, removing alterations made over the centuries. Though in French, this page gives a specification including composition of the mixture stops. This site gives more detail and has slightly different information. The instrument has four manuals and pedal.