Jean-Esprit Isnard (1707–1781) was a French

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

builder.

Biography

Early life

Jean-Esprit Isnard was born in 1707.Orgues et Vitraux
/ref> He was baptised in the Église Saint-Laurent in

Bédarrides Bédarrides (; Provençal: ''Bedarrida'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Name The settlement is attested as ''villa Betorrida'' in 814, ''Biturrita'' in 898, ''Bistur ...

. He learned how to build pipe organs in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. His brother, Joseph Isnard, was also a renowned pipe organ builder, as was his nephew Jean-Baptiste Isnard.

Career

He became a renowned builder of pipe organs. Many of his pipe organs can be found in Roman Catholic churches in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. In 1742, as a

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choi ...

, he restored the pipe organ inside the Église Sainte-Marthe in

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Tara ...

. The following year, in 1743, he built the pipe organ inside the

Église de la Madeleine The Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (, ), or less formally, La Madeleine (), is a Catholic parish church on Place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was planned by Louis XV as the focal point of the new Rue Royal, leading t ...

in Aix-en-Provence. He went on to build the pipe organs inside the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, also in Aix. In

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, he built the organ inside the

Église Saint-Cannat The Église Saint-Cannat is a Roman Catholic church in Marseille. Location It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille. The exact address is 4, rue des Prêcheurs, 13001 Marseille. History The church was named in honour of Canus Natus, ...

in 1747. In, together with his brother Joseph Isnard, he built the pipe organ inside the Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in

Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (; ) is a commune in the southeastern French department of Var, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Located east of Aix-en-Provence, the town lies at the foot of the Sainte-Baume mountains. ''Baume'' or ''b ...

from 1772 to 1774.Michael I. Wilson, ''Organ Cases of Western Europe'', C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1979, p. 5

/ref> Additionally, he taught Jean-Pierre Cavaillé, the father of Dominique Cavaillé-Coll and grandfather of

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (; 4 February 1811 – 13 October 1899) was a French organ builder. He has the reputation of being the most distinguished organ builder of the 19th century. He pioneered innovations in the art and science of organ build ...

(1811-1899), how to build pipe organs.

Death

He died in 1781 in

, where he is buried.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isnard, Jean-Esprit 1707 births 1781 deaths People from Vaucluse People from Tarascon French pipe organ builders