Dom Bedos de Celles, OSB[]
- OSB - Order of Saint Benedict
- Dom - the formal title of a Benedictine Monk, equivalent to Mr., Father, Reverend, etc.
Biography[]
Francois Lamathe Bedos de Celles de Salelles was born on 24 January 1709 at Caux in the diocese of Beziers, of an old noble family.
He became a monk of the Abbey of Holy Cross (L'Abbatiale de Sainte Croix) in Bordeaux in south west France. He constructed several organs and wrote about organ building.
He was a member of the Acadamy of Bordeaux and a correspondent of the Acadamy of Science in Paris.
He died in 1779.
The Organs of Dom Bedos[]
A noteworthy organ by Dom Bedos survives today in the Abbey of Holy Cross in Bordeaux. It was constructed circa 1750. On the orders of the local Archbishop it was removed to Bordeaux Cathedral in 1812, where it served until 1970. It was then returned to the abbey, and was restored to working order in 1984 by Pascal Quoirin. Several commercial recordings of the organ are available.
Another large organ by Dom Bedos survives at the cathedral of Aire-sur-Adour which has been restored by Robert Chauvin.
He also built the organ of Notre Dame des Tables at Montpellier.
The Books of Dom Bedos[]
Dom Bedos wrote an exhaustive treatise on organ builing called "L'Art du facteur d'orgues" which was published in Paris between 1766 and 1768. This work deals extensively with all aspects of organ building, and the last part deals with mechanical organs.
Other works include "L'Art de Tracer les Cadrans Solaires" ( The art of designing sundials ) of 1760, and "L'Art du Relieur et du Doreur des Livres" ( The art of binding and guilding books.)