The organ from the former Predikherenkerk at Maastricht

Gerard Quaedvlieg

Het ORGEL 94 (1998), nr. 6, 21-23 [summary]

The organ in the St.-Servaasbasiliek at Maastricht contains some 17th- and 18th-century pipes. Recently a contract with organ builder Jean-Baptiste le Picard from 1734 was recovered in the archives of the city of Maastricht.
Study of this contract together with a plan of Joseph Binvignat from 1795 and an approval report from 1736, leads to clues in respect to the origin of these pipes. In 1804 the organ from the Predikherenkerk was moved to the St.-Servaasbasiliek. Parts of the present organ of the St.-Servaasbasiliek can be identified as belonging to the original organ of the Predikherenkerk. The plan of Binvignat gives the specification of this instrument in 1795. The recently recovered contract shows that Jean-Baptiste le Picard built this organ, together with his brother; so he is the maker of several older parts of the organ in the St.-Servaasbasiliek.