In 2006, during renovation work on the Radio France building in Paris, the Diocese of Lille had the opportunity to acquire the large broadcasting organ from Studio 104. It is the fourth largest instrument in France after those at Notre-Dame, Saint-Sulpice and Saint-Eustache in Paris.
The neoclassical instrument was built between 1957 and 1966 by Danion-Gonzalez based on a specification designed by Gaston Litaize, and was inaugurated by Litaize himself in 1967. It gained relative fame due to the organ concerts that were regularly held there between the 1970s and 1990s.
From 1987 to 1989, Bernard Dargassies and Georges Danion reworked the organ. In the course of this work, the scale of the foundation stops was extended by raising the pipework on the windchests by several semitones. According to organ builder Bernard Dargassies, this required the manufacture of around 500 new large metal pipes in the bass register – a considerable expense in terms of materials and costs, but one that greatly improved the sound volume of the organ, which had been the subject of some controversy up to that point.
In 2007, the instrument was purchased for the symbolic price of one euro. The Bonn-based company Johannes Klais was commissioned to reinstall the organ in Lille Cathedral, which required a major restructuring of the organ's design to adapt it to the spatial conditions there. The instrument's tonal aesthetics were fully respected and the voicing was left practically unchanged.
On 1 April 2008, the organ was officially presented to a group of organists, including Jean Guillou and the cathedral's titular organist, André Dubois. The instrument was then blessed by the new Archbishop of Lille, Mgr. Laurent Ulrich, according to traditional rites.
Winfried Bönig, titular organist at Cologne Cathedral, and Jean Guillou, titular organist at the Church of Saint-Eustache in Paris, officially inaugurated the organ on 7 and 8 June 2008 with two concerts.