2020.03

Étienne Delahay: The Tragic Fate of Organ Builder Charles Anneessens
Charles Anneessens (1835–1903) was the eldest son of organ builder Pierre-Hubert Anneessens from Ninove. Trained by his father, he later founded his own workshop in Geraardsbergen. He became a widower early in life and remarried Mélanie Meunier, who bore him six children, among them Paul (1870), Oscar (1873), and Jules (1876), all of whom were initiated into the craft of organ building.
In 1880, as Charles was preparing to present an important instrument at the National Exhibition in Brussels, his workshop was destroyed by fire. In 1891 he decided to relocate his organ-building activities to Halluin in northern France, near the Belgian border. The following year he opened a branch in Menen.
The arrival of the firm Anneessens et Fils in France did not go unnoticed and became the target of fierce criticism. Charles Anneessens refined the tubular pneumatic system, first introduced in 1893 in an organ for Fontenay-aux-Roses. A patent for this invention, however, was only taken out in 1898. The company’s intense activity was not without setbacks, such as in Lisieux (Saint-Jacques) and Poitiers (Sainte-Radegonde).
In June 1902, Anneessens received the commission to build an organ for Clermont-Ferrand (Saint-Joseph). The ambitious project—an instrument with three manuals and pedal, 73 stops, and a required completion time of only eight months—began encountering difficulties in early 1903. On 20 February, the Journal de Roubaix reported the disappearance of the organ builder. The same newspaper announced on 6 April that his body had been found in the sea at Cannes. The Clermont-Ferrand organ was eventually completed by organ builder Léon Daem of Appelterre.
Jos Vanderheyden on the Organ History of the Friars Minor in Sint-Truiden
Jos Vanderheyden outlines the organ history of the Friars Minor in Sint-Truiden, where several renowned organ builders, including Le Royer and Robustelly, once worked. After eight centuries of presence in the city, the friars were forced in 2019 to leave their church and monastery in the Trudo city. Financial constraints made it impossible for the shrinking and ageing community to continue maintaining the large complex.
The Rettler organ (1842–1844) in the monastic church was restored in 2006–2007 with support from the Flemish Community. The work, however, remained incomplete, and the instrument is currently entirely unplayable. Following the departure of the friars, the city of Sint-Truiden has taken the entire Friars Minor site on lease, with plans to convert the church and monastery into a new city hall.

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