CAVAILLÉ-COLL, ABISTIDE. — Organ builder, born in Montpellier on 12 February 1811, died in Paris on 13 October 1899. Descended from a family already specialized in the manufacture of organs, he introduced considerable improvements to this instrument, and highly esteemed organs came from his workshop in Paris.
He also wrote pamphlets on the technique of organ building: Etudes expérimentales sur les tuyaux d'orgues (Parigi 1849); De l'orgue et de son architecture (ivi 1856); Projet d'orgue monumentale pour le basilique de St-Pierre à Rome (ivi 1875).
BIBL.: A. Pechard, Notices sur A. C. et les orgues électriques, Parigi 1899. Silverio Mattei