From the GRAVE…in 1899

EVERYTHING ends here…or rather EVERYTHING begins here, in this moment! Friday morning, October 13 1899 Cécile CAVAILLE-COLL took up her pen and wrote to Charles Mutin: "My father died this morning at nine o'clock without suffering, as peacefully as possible. I wanted you to be one of the first to know and ask you to tell all those around you who were devoted to him and for whom he had so much affection. In deepest sorrow…"

The newspaper, "l'Illustration" eulogised the deceased. "Aristide, CAVAILLE-COLL, one of the glories of French industry has passed away. To him alone, we owe the enormous progress made over more than sixty years in the manufacture of magnificent and powerful instruments sought by the whole world, and among which we will only cite the Saint-Sulpice organs, the greatest of all, and perhaps those in the Madeleine, Notre-Dame, Trinité not to mention the organs in most of the churches in Paris".

Friends and the authorities were notified by an announcement of death

Charles MUTIN had bought the Manufacture on June 18 1898. To him fell the duty of paying homage to the deceased, on October 16 1899 at his grave in the Montparnasse Cemetery (division 18, section 1, 1st row North - no 27 East) before the assembled friends and workers.

CAVAILLE-COLL is DEAD!

"Le Patron"… this name, when it referred to Mr. Cavaillé-Coll had nothing in common with the casual name employees give to the head of a company; it meant something more, and was also more affectionate. Cavaillé-Coll was the head and protector of the organ factory in its entirety; he alone, and no-one else, raised his craft to the level of a science and an art and, thanks to his genius, the Organ has become the marvellous instrument we possess today".

"And now, Master, sleep your last sleep peacefully, with your name and memory reverently preserved…The Works that sing for you will ensure your immortality!"