Philadelphia Man Scheduled To Play Notre Dame Cathedral's Pipe Organ Heartbroken Over Fire

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Notre Dame Cathedral's pipe organ appears to have been unscathed in Monday's massive fire. Eyewitness News spoke to a local man who has a personal connection to the cathedral.

Alan Morrison is chair of the organ department at the Curtis Institute of Music in Center City. He was preparing to give a recital at the cathedral until Monday's fire.

Quick work is being made to rescue the many treasures of Notre Dame. Arguably the largest, is the pipe organ -- a massive, hulking, magnificent instrument from the mid-1800s. Experts say it will have to come out piece or a pipe at a time.

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It's believed the organ was spared the wrath of the fire, but water and smoke damage are a major concern. Morrison's heart broke at the sight of the fire.

"Western music as we know it today, grew out of that church, the school of Notre Dame polyphony," Morrison said. "My thoughts went to the history of the place and what it has meant to what we know today."

Morrison, a renowned organist, has played the grand instrument inside Notre Dame many times.

"If you put a price tag, it would be in the multi-millions, but like fine art, you can't really put a price on it," Morrison said of the organ.

Morrison regularly travels with Curtis students to Paris to play the French baroque organ. It's an experience difficult to summarize, especially considering Notre Dame had a version of an organ from the 1300s, about 100 years before Christopher Columbus ever set sail.

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"I think the sonic power of the instrument and the expressiveness of the pipework, it has soul, and under the right hands, it can be fearsome, it can be thrilling," Morrison said. "It can bring you to tears, it can make you feel joyous."

Notre Dame was on Morrison's mind as recently as Sunday night. He had drafted his program for his recital in August and had sent it off to the music department. Now, of course, that concert is not going to happen.