Abbey, John (York)

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Abbey, John (York)

Abbey, John (York), English organ builder; b. Whilton, Northamptonshire, Dec. 22, 1785; d. Versailles, Feb. 19, 1859. He settled in France in 1826. After building an organ for the Paris Exposition, he built organs for many French cathedrals. In 1831 he installed an organ at the Paris Opéra. His innovations in the English type of bellows were adopted by many French organ builders.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire