Regal Organ Bellelay/Porrentruy
Portable-organ at Abbey-Church of Bellelay and Jesuits-Church of Porrentruy - KUHN manufacture
The smallest organ in the former abbey church of Bellelay is a copy of the Ab Yberg family’s positive (made around 1600), now in the Basel Historical Museum.
In the course of its history, the positive had undergone several transformations, in particular the extension and replacement of the original reed stop. The rehabilitation process restored it to its final state, preserving all the alterations.
It was therefore an exciting challenge to go back to the original state with a copy. For the reed stop, Kuhn opted for a regal without resonators, based on models from around 1600. The harmonization of the whole organ was deliberately left a little coarser, which allowed it to retain a sound rich in harmonics. Thus, the small organ is also very well suited for accompaniment purposes.
The pipe-shades and painting of the case are the work of Hippolyte Pulcini. In collaboration with our apprentices, we have built a small musical instrument that is not without interest, which complements the rich organs of the great abbey church. The regal organ was donated to the Fondation Pro Musica-Orgue Ahrend in Porrentruy in 2014, the year of the tercentenary of the abbey church of Bellelay. As it is movable, this small instrument can be heard in both venues (source: Manufacture Kuhn).
This mobile small instrument can be heard in both places.
