The small village of Rumengol in Finistère has no amenities other than a bar and a church. However it’s no ordinary church, as twice a year it holds a pardon (religious festival with processions). The Assumptiontide pardon co-incided with our stay in the area and part of the festivities was an organ recital by Yves Cuenot, organist of Dijon Cathedral, which I went to.
The recital was a mixture of short pieces, transcriptions for organ, a couple of pieces where the organist accompanied a local singer, and, this being France, some improvisation, all on a Marian theme (rather loosely as it included the hymn to the Evening Star from Tannhäuser). The final piece on the programme was a ‘Suite pour Rumengol’ by M. Cuenot himself. The audience were invited to join in appropriate plainchant during the improvisations on the Magnificat (which I did) and to sing a locally well-known hymn in Breton at the end (which I didn’t).
I’d guess that Dijon is a mid-ranking Cathedral in the French organ world. So how did its organist come to be playing a rather rheumatic organ in a village church? I had the impression he was a regular visitor, so perhaps he usually spends his summers in the area. Or was it the prestige of the pardon?