Installation of a pipe organ in the church of La Muraz

It all started on 29 July 2004 with a trivial email received at the town hall in La Muraz. His author, Stéphane Jacquemoud living in Menthonnex-en-Bornes, was congratulating the commune for the redoing of the church, also saying he liked our village for keeping its rural architectural character.

What a joy!

Stéphane was looking for a church to accommodate a “marvel of a pipe organ” sold by the German parish of Wuppertal. Further to a mudslide this disused church of the Cologne area had been demolished and the organ was looking for a roof. Father Tissot, the persons in charge of our community and the Saint-Antoine Association had been getting together on several occasions since 19 October to discuss the project presented by Stéphane in agreement with the commune.

Straight away our organist Laurent Chiorino had shared with Stéphane a similar passion for music, one for the liturgical repertoire, the other one for sacred music. A humble musician as he liked to describe himself Laurent had been excited by the project right from the start: “I had never dared dreaming playing such an instrument one day for the church animation of our communities”. From then on the organ had its place in our church. Let’s note in passing that Stéphane installed the organ and made it available free of charge to the community in exchange for an easy access outside the worshipping times.

On 23 November 2004 in the evening the instrument was unloaded –with difficulty – by a small team under the eyes of Father Tissot, very happy about this moment like every time a particular event showed the vitality within our communities. Stéphane will have spent numerous long days to put the organ back together again, sand it, cover it with mouldings, stain it, so that its appearance would go together better with the inside of our church. Just one month after its arrival on the evening of 23 December with each and every one of the 530 pipes in place Stéphane settled down at the desk and offered us the first notes out of the organ. The Christmas midnight service will have been the first celebration enhanced by the accompaniment of this instrument regaining a second breath in our church with Réjane Buchet at the keyboard.

A huge grief

Stéphane spent many more hours still in his left free time to put the finishing touches to the organ chest and the settings between his teaching hours in Ville-la-Grand and the continuation of his studies in Amsterdam; an uncompromising perfectionist he wanted that everything be perfect for the inauguration in June 2005. In the mean time the local community will have had the pleasure to welcome him as an organist on Epiphany on 2 January, then a second time for the celebration of Sunday 27 February.

On 21 March 2005 the sad news broke: Stéphane had just left us suddenly. The funeral service took place in a packed church in the presence of his family and all his grief-stricken reverential friends. As Laurent put it in his moving account:”Stéphane, I am addressing to you as a friend, even though I haven’t known you for a long time. I have experienced strong moments with you through the project you wanted to share... During these few months when we spent time together Father Tissot, the choir and the local community will remember the young man who was a music lover, loved his instrument and wanted a small church to benefit from a quality organ for the solemnity of its celebrations... I am dedicating to you this phrase by Jean-Sebastien Bach as a believer at the end of his life: I am leaving for other types of music, the ones I haven’t composed, the most beautiful ones”.