Eternal Notre Dame

Miraculously, the magnificent grand organ of Notre-Dame de Paris survived the catastrophic fire at the cathedral in April 2019. Its 8000 pipes were affected by water from fire hoses and by lead dust, but the instrument, fully cleaned and restored, was back in action for the historic reopening of the great church in December 2024. Now Vincent Dubois, one of Notre-Dame’s four titular organists, has recorded a multi-faceted album of short pieces, Eternal Notre-Dame, showcasing the monumental organ’s technical, musical and expressive range while also saluting its heritage.

In an interview for BBC Music Magazine, Dubois – who grew up in Brittany, studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Olivier Latry (a titular organist at Notre-Dame since 1985), and took up his post at the cathedral in 2016 – spoke about the restored building and organ: “The sound of the high pitches has changed — they are brighter now. The big bass stops are clearer too. Because every surface in the cathedral has been cleaned we have won two seconds of acoustics when the cathedral is full — the reverberation is about four to five seconds when before it was just two to three.”