Pipe Organ MapJ. Micot
| Founded/Born - Closed/Death | 1712 - 1784 |
|---|---|
| Still active? | no |
Jean-Baptiste Micot (born January 25, 1712, in Lyon - died May 15, 1784) was a renowned French organ builder of the 18th century, recognized as one of the "eight most skillful French organ builders of the 18th century." His two sons, Pierre (the elder, born 1735 in Lyon - died 1768 in Bordeaux) and Jean-Baptiste (the younger, born 1740 in Lyon - died 1815 in Toulouse), also worked as organ builders alongside him.
After working in Lyon for many years in various trades related to silk weaving (such as a comb maker, designer, and merchant) and learning carpentry, mechanics, metalworking, bone and ivory work, architecture, and commerce, Jean-Baptiste Micot became an instrument maker in 1749. Thanks to the mechanical expert Jacques de Vaucanson and the composer and violinist Mondonville, he moved to Paris, where he was accepted on August 16, 1751, into the guild of luthiers and instrument makers as a master without qualification (having not completed his apprenticeship in Paris).
His work as a maker was then focused on salon instruments, where he became a passionate inventor. Notably, he created table organs, one of which is currently preserved at the Musée de la Musique in La Villette. He worked for the most prominent figures of the court, especially Queen Marie Leszczinska, for whom he created a salon organ that is now in the church of Lammerville in Seine-Maritime, classified as a historical monument object for the instrument on April 28, 1982, and for the case on July 22, 1983.
After being widowed and then remarrying, he was found in 1755 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz for restoration and expansion work on the organ of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, where he also played the organ for a few years. In 1758, he moved to Toulouse, buying the workshop of the elderly François L'Epine, who stayed with him for three years until his death. For twenty years, he traveled throughout the Southwest of France and Languedoc.
In Aquitaine, particularly in Bordeaux, he built several new instruments, although only the cases remain: St-Seurin, St-Michel, and St-André (the latter originally from La Réole and significantly modified and expanded). In Toulouse, he primarily carried out repairs, restorations, and expansions of existing organs, but in Languedoc, he created several new instruments, two or three of which have fortunately survived in their original or restored states:
- 1761-1762: The organ of the former cathedral of Saint-Sauveur-et-Saint-Pierre in Vabres-l'Abbaye, Aveyron (restored by Jean-Georges & Yves Kœnig of Sarre-Union in 1977) with the help of his two sons, Pierre and Jean-Baptiste.
- 1771: The organ of the former cathedral of Saint-Pons de Cimiez in Saint-Pons-de-Thomières, Hérault (restored by Paul Manuel & Bartolomeo Formentelli in 1981-82), with only Jean-Baptiste the younger, as Pierre had died between December 1768 and January 1769.
- 1784: The organ of Saint-Chinian (near Saint-Pons-de-Thomières), built by his trusted collaborator Louis Peyssi, with experts noting the influence of the Micots; restored in 1994 by Jean-François Muno.
In 1777, he left the Toulouse workshop to his second son, also named Jean-Baptiste (the elder, Pierre, having died), and moved to Rouen to rebuild the organ of the church of Saint-Godard between 1778 and 1780. A bout of paralysis prevented him from completing it, and it was finished by the Rouen organ builder Louis Godefroy the Younger. He then returned to Lyon, where he died on May 15, 1784, after eight months of illness.
Jean-Baptiste Micot the younger built the organ of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Dax in 1785, with the case, created by the carpenter Caular, surviving to this day. During the Revolution, he shifted his activity towards appraising and relocating organs for the Toulouse revolutionary committees and the municipality, thus saving many instruments. He is also known for a small organ probably built for a salon, dated 1801 and now installed in Arreau in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, restored by Jean Daldosso of Gimont (Gers) in 2011. He died in Toulouse on June 28, 1815.
The Micots, father and son, are generally credited with standardizing the main keyboards (Grand Orgue and Positif) to fifty notes (C1 to D5 without the first C#) and with pioneering the concept of a device to vary the intensity of the Récit sound, which later led to the development of the expressive box.
After working in Lyon for many years in various trades related to silk weaving (such as a comb maker, designer, and merchant) and learning carpentry, mechanics, metalworking, bone and ivory work, architecture, and commerce, Jean-Baptiste Micot became an instrument maker in 1749. Thanks to the mechanical expert Jacques de Vaucanson and the composer and violinist Mondonville, he moved to Paris, where he was accepted on August 16, 1751, into the guild of luthiers and instrument makers as a master without qualification (having not completed his apprenticeship in Paris).
His work as a maker was then focused on salon instruments, where he became a passionate inventor. Notably, he created table organs, one of which is currently preserved at the Musée de la Musique in La Villette. He worked for the most prominent figures of the court, especially Queen Marie Leszczinska, for whom he created a salon organ that is now in the church of Lammerville in Seine-Maritime, classified as a historical monument object for the instrument on April 28, 1982, and for the case on July 22, 1983.
After being widowed and then remarrying, he was found in 1755 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz for restoration and expansion work on the organ of the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, where he also played the organ for a few years. In 1758, he moved to Toulouse, buying the workshop of the elderly François L'Epine, who stayed with him for three years until his death. For twenty years, he traveled throughout the Southwest of France and Languedoc.
In Aquitaine, particularly in Bordeaux, he built several new instruments, although only the cases remain: St-Seurin, St-Michel, and St-André (the latter originally from La Réole and significantly modified and expanded). In Toulouse, he primarily carried out repairs, restorations, and expansions of existing organs, but in Languedoc, he created several new instruments, two or three of which have fortunately survived in their original or restored states:
- 1761-1762: The organ of the former cathedral of Saint-Sauveur-et-Saint-Pierre in Vabres-l'Abbaye, Aveyron (restored by Jean-Georges & Yves Kœnig of Sarre-Union in 1977) with the help of his two sons, Pierre and Jean-Baptiste.
- 1771: The organ of the former cathedral of Saint-Pons de Cimiez in Saint-Pons-de-Thomières, Hérault (restored by Paul Manuel & Bartolomeo Formentelli in 1981-82), with only Jean-Baptiste the younger, as Pierre had died between December 1768 and January 1769.
- 1784: The organ of Saint-Chinian (near Saint-Pons-de-Thomières), built by his trusted collaborator Louis Peyssi, with experts noting the influence of the Micots; restored in 1994 by Jean-François Muno.
In 1777, he left the Toulouse workshop to his second son, also named Jean-Baptiste (the elder, Pierre, having died), and moved to Rouen to rebuild the organ of the church of Saint-Godard between 1778 and 1780. A bout of paralysis prevented him from completing it, and it was finished by the Rouen organ builder Louis Godefroy the Younger. He then returned to Lyon, where he died on May 15, 1784, after eight months of illness.
Jean-Baptiste Micot the younger built the organ of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Dax in 1785, with the case, created by the carpenter Caular, surviving to this day. During the Revolution, he shifted his activity towards appraising and relocating organs for the Toulouse revolutionary committees and the municipality, thus saving many instruments. He is also known for a small organ probably built for a salon, dated 1801 and now installed in Arreau in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, restored by Jean Daldosso of Gimont (Gers) in 2011. He died in Toulouse on June 28, 1815.
The Micots, father and son, are generally credited with standardizing the main keyboards (Grand Orgue and Positif) to fifty notes (C1 to D5 without the first C#) and with pioneering the concept of a device to vary the intensity of the Récit sound, which later led to the development of the expressive box.
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https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Micot