Notre Dame Organ Waking

December 9, 2024 7:25 AM

On NPR, there was a story about the organ reawakening ceremony. The organist said that the archbishop would say something like "Organ, holy instrument get up! Awake!" repeated 8 times. I can't find a recording that includes this. Do you know whether or not the imperative came in the tu form or the vous form?
posted by plinth to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

Best answer: There's a video on X.

[apologies for linking to an infernal instrument]
posted by einekleine at 7:35 AM on December 9 [3 favorites]

Best answer: For posterity, since I don't expect that video to last: the answer is "tu" in the first few seconds I can hear "réveilles toi".

Now as to why this is the case, I don't know.
posted by plinth at 7:47 AM on December 9

You use "tu" for God, so perhaps that carries over to godly things?
posted by madcaptenor at 8:18 AM on December 9

The full text appears to be here (and it's "éveille-toi") - this appears to be a standard blessing for an organ, not unique to Notre-Dame. I can't figure out where this text comes from, though.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:42 AM on December 9 [1 favorite]

I can't figure out where this text comes from, though.

The page you've linked discusses this a bit:

Ce que peu de personnes savent, c'est que cette litanie n'a en réalité que quelques décennies d'existence. Elle fut pour ainsi dire inventée par le père Claude Duchesneau (1936-2003) pour le Livre des bénédictions de l'Eglise catholique. Il s'était, pour cela, inspiré de traditions diverses et les avait adaptées dans un langage accessible à tous les fidèles. Le Centre National de Pastorale Liturgique en avait transmis le texte à la Congrégation des rites et c'est ainsi que cette litanie écrite par un prêtre français a pris place dans un livre rituel à portée universelle.

Cela ne signifie pas qu'avant le Concile Vatican II, les orgues ne recevaient pas de bénédiction, bien au contraire, mais la forme en était différente.

Rough translation:

What few people know is that this litany is really only a few decades old. It was invented, so to speak, by Father Claude Duchesnau (1936–2003) for the Book of Blessings of the Catholic Church. He was inspired by many traditions and adapted them into a language accessible to all the faithful. The National Center for Pastoral Liturgy (?) sent the text to the Congregation of Rites, and so this litany written by a French priest took its place in a ritual book of universal use.

This does not mean that before the Second Vatican Council, organs did not receive a benediction, quite the contrary, but the form was different.

(The remainder of the article cites some texts describing the liturgies used at various times & places from 1895–1933.)

I should note that I am not a Catholic so I may have mistranslated the names of some of the various bodies within the Church in the text above.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:43 PM on December 9 [2 favorites]

I can't figure out where this text comes from, though.

The awakening of a pipe organ is certainly a thing; I found it in the text of this liturgy guide in English.

Because I was curious, I checked The Book of Blessings approved for use in the US (the newer version for those of you wondering). There is a blessing of an organ listed, but it follows the general form of the other blessings: greeting, short passage from scripture, some intercessory prayers, and the actual blessing which reads as follows:

Lord God,
your beaut is ancient yet ever new,
your wisdom guides the world in right order,
and your goodness gives the world its variety and splendor.
The choir of angels join together
to offer their praise by obeying your commands.
The galaxies sing your praise by the pattern of their movement
that follows your laws.
The voices of the redeemed join in a chorus oof praise to your holiness
as they sing to you in mind and heart.
We your people, joyously gathered in this church,
wish to to join our voices to the universal hymn of praise.
So that our song may rise more worthily to your majesty,
we present this organ for your blessing:
grant that its music may lead us
to express our prayer and praise
in melodies that are pleasing to you.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

The rubric then reads: Then the celebrant places incense in the censer and incenses the organ, as the organ is played for the first time. The rite then concludes with a blessing of the people. Compact and beautiful, but certainly not as dramatic as the awakening!

As it happens, I have a class this weekend with our vicar general who is, as luck would have it, a dedicated pipe organ nerd and the diocesan go-to for liturgical questions, so I am absolutely going to ask him about this. If anyone would know where to find this in the various Rituals, he would.
posted by jquinby at 7:43 PM on December 9 [4 favorites]

Now as to why this is the case, I don't know.

Tu is used to speak to inanimate objects. It's also used for children and animals. So aside from the general use of tu for familiarity, there's another linguistic side to tu for individuals and things that don't really meet adult/human societal status.
posted by donut_princess at 6:01 AM on December 10 [2 favorites]

There's a video on X.

What sad lack of curiosity and interest could have led the poster on X to post only the first 1:19 of the ceremony, and not the whole thing?
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:35 AM on December 12