History

 Questembert Saint Peter's Church Organ

                                             Historical Background

             The organ of this church was built in 1892 by Louis Debierre organ builder in Nantes.

            The organ is composed of 9 organ stops :

            At the beginning, the organ case ( where the pipes are) was installed just above the entrance lobby on the north side, so it could be seen nearest possible the Choir. The console with its too keyboards and its pedal board was set in the nave. Next to the second pillar, it was opposite the Choir. So, the otganist could easily follow the mass.

           Towards 1930 in Canon Niol's days, General Koënig's brother the organ builder, brought changes to the instrument. They added a pneumatic ontrol to the machanical control. Koënig had the wall excavated to put in the console close to the organ case.

            Mister Jean de Kerangat, the mayor of Questembert, who had been a member of the town council for 44 years and also the organist for many years, wished to have the organ moved to another place so that the acoustics were better. In those days there wre two galleries at the bottom of the church : one for the boys and the other for the girls. Mister de Kerangat  had the boys gallery which was high up pulled down and had the organ case and console on to the girls gallery.

            In the 1860's, the old church had to be replaced, and the people of Questembert whished to have a church built up the size of a cathedral. But the « prefecture » refused the project because of the cost. However, we must admit that it is a well-proportionned building. The acoustics are very good due to the important sound of reverberation.

             The town council have askes Nicolas Toussaint, the organ builder in Nantes to see to the upkeep of the organ twice a year.

              At the moment, the organ seems to be a little worn away and shows signs of distortions . Even though the main parts of the organ dating baxk to its origin seem to the high quality products, the existence of the organ teaching school, and the associations quoted hereafter are ready to promote this heritage resonant with emotion in unisson with the heart of the Parihshoners'life should justify the upkeepand the improvement of this organ in increasing the quality of its potential acoustics.

              If so, this organ belonging to the living musical heritage of this community could enrich hope in a better future through its either smooth or resounding sounds of the musical and culturel life in Questembert associations.