The European Museums' Night

Each year, the Provinsand the Provinois Museum presents a unique programme as part of the European Night of Museums.

For this 20th edition, you'll have the pleasure of hearing Benjamin Alard on the John Byfield II organ, built in London in 1766!

Owner of the Bernard Aubertin organ in the church of Saint-Louis-en-l'Île in Paris since 2005, winner of major competitions and in great demand around the world, this renowned organist will be playing some of the great works:
- John Blow, Voluntary in C major, Voluntary in A minor, Morlake ground
- Henry Purcell, Voluntary in G major
- Georg Friedrich Handel, Concerto in G minor Op. 7 No. 4 HWV 309,
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita on the Chorale "O Gott, du frommer Gott in C minor" BWV 767.


About the instrument and its creator :

> This salon organ is one of the masterpieces of eighteenth-century European instrument making.
It was commissioned by James Grant, one of the most cultured aristocrats of his generation, for the ballroom of his imposing castle, Castle Grant, in the Highlands.
Having undergone no significant modification since its delivery in August 1767, the instrument retains its original pitch and temperament.

The organ has 6 registers: Stop Diapason (Bourdon), Open Diapason (Montre) cut bass and treble, Principal (Prestant), Flute (Flûte), Twelfth (Nasard) cut bass and treble and Fifteenth (Doublette). Byfield's instructions for their combination were handwritten by James Grant's secretary and can still be found above the pull-tabs.

> John Byfield (1732-1799) took over his father's workshop at the age of 24 in 1756.
His grandfather Joachim Biefeld, a native of northern Germany and himself the son of an organ builder, worked with the famous 'Father' Bernard Smith, the builder of the organ at St Paul's Cathedral (begun in 1694).

This exceptional concert is being offered in return for the City of Provins providing the premises of the Musée de Provins et du Provinois free of charge for the recording of the ninth volume of the complete keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach by Benjamin Alard, published on 3 May by Harmonia Mundi.

Due to the limited number of places available, booking is free but compulsory, by phone or e-mail.