Organ of the Cathedral of La Serena church
Louis Debierre organ (1842-1920), Nantes (ca. 1908).
Two keyboards. Mechanical action.
(Note from the author of this article: Mr. Luis Glonzález Catalán)
"Unfortunately I don't remember when we made the
recovery work on that organ, which had
place before Mgr. Piñera handed over the diocese to his
successor Francis Joseph Cox Hunneus, who
unfortunately rejected the repair project of the
Carlini organ of the sanctuary of Our Lady of the
Rosario of Andacollo.
The last time I touched the
organ of the Cathedral was on August 10, 1996, day of the
episcopal ordination of the current archbishop Manuel
Donoso.
I read on the internet that this instrument was tuned
recently with a baroque temperament (!) for a
Argentine organ builder.
Some history.
In relation to the organ of the Cathedral Church of La
Serena, Don Miguel Castillo Didier affirms the
following:
"Before referring to the (organs of Aristíde)
Cavaillé-Coll, we will remember the largest organ in the
northern Chile and one of the most beautiful, built at
beginning of the (20th) century by the organ builder Debierre,
Nantes.
The destiny of this instrument has been
singular.
Commissioned to Debierre for the cathedral of
Ancud, on the island of Chiloé at the southern end of the
country, in 1908, for reasons unknown to us, it was
installed in the Cathedral of La Serena, 1,500
kilometers north of its original destination.
It was the most beautiful instrument in the northern area, with its 21
registers, and pride in the city and its
Cathedral.
In 1928 Oreste Carlini placed a
electric fan.
Pipe conservation
It was extraordinarily good and is still remembered
its beautiful sound.
This wonderful organ was
victim of the most incredible act of barbarism, among the
many that have been committed in the country against the
organs.
In 1953 (as bishop D. Alfredo Cifuentes), with
reason for the restoration of the cathedral of La Serena,
The architects discovered that their walls were made of
ashlar stone and decided to expose the
two first columns, on which the
organ loft.
This was made of wood and was
added to a small semicircular stone choir.
The organ was brutally massacred for the sake of
intended restoration and without the authorities
ecclesiastics will raise their voices.
The beauty was torn off
console destroying its mechanics because, by reducing
the surface of the tribune, it would have been
floating in the air.
The great bellows were torn off
reservoir and the two smaller bellows that fed
that. Today they lie abandoned on the scales of the
tower.
The console was lowered into the sacristy, where
remains to this day, showing the splinters of the
were its mechanical transmissions, beautiful and patient
work of craftsmanship.
Other elements of the organ, such as
the sides of the expression box and the doors of
access, they also lie scattered in the hallways of
tower.
The beautiful flat façade of the instrument,
quite well preserved, it could hide the crime,
if it weren't for the fact that a
large loudspeaker corresponding to the "organ"
electronic installed below.
Here is what was the composition (registers) of the
instrument:
N.R.(The composition of its regitrers is omitted because it is what
appears in the technical sheet).
Don Miguel Castillo follows:
It is worth highlighting the battery of 16, 8 and
4 (feet) on the Récit (second keyboard), which could
transmitted to the Bottom Bracket through the Tirasse
(coupling) respective.
Of his 21 games
(registers), 5 belong to the pedal keyboard, which
which constitutes an important proportion in relation to
the generosity of the pedal keyboards that exist
in the country.
Furthermore, among those games there is one of
four feet, which is also rare.
In the same Cathedral of La Serena, next to it
left of the altar, lie the remains of an organ
Carlini from a manual, also destroyed with similar
barbarism (N.R. Taken to Huamalata?)."
Organic Panorama in Chile - Organs Section
French in Chile - published by the Magazine
Chilean Musical, Number 131, year 1975, pp. 21 and 22).
In the Guide to the Church in Chile 2006-2007,
find this interesting quote:
"The archdiocese of Our Lady of the Rosary of
Andacollo de La Serena was erected as a bishopric by
the bull 'Ad Apostolicae fastigium', by Pope Gregory
XVI.
By the Bull 'Quo Provinciarum', of May 20,
In 1939, Pope Oius XII elevated her to the rank of
Archdiocese.
In 1946 Copiapó was dismembered as
apostolic administration, today a bishopric, and in 1960 he was
created the prelature of Illapel, ceding the
archdiocese what was the department of Illapel de
the (former) province of Coquimbo.
It has had 7 bishops and 4 Archbishops; their shepherds have
been: (several names follow). Mr. Ramón Ángel Jara
Ruz* (1909-1917). Mr. Bernardino Piñera Carvallo
(1983-1990). etc."
(Guide to the Church in Chile 2006-2007, page 70).
*Don Ramón Ángel Jara was bishop of Ancud since 1898
until 1909 (Guide cited, page 304). A chronicle
confirmed indicates that originally the organ
Dèbierre was commissioned for the cathedral of Ancud, but
upon being notified of his appointment as bishop of La
Serena, Don Ramón Ángel Jara would have taken the
instrument with him.
Another scope that needs to be done: The instrument
has 16 true pipe rows, and not 21, as my
Dear friend and colleague Miguel Castillo Didier.
To the
write his article Don Miguel, he only had his
reach the information that appeared on the console, and
could not verify that in fact the registers that
listed as belonging to the pedal keyboard were
actually transmission of registers corresponding to the
first keyboard.
The Dèbierre organ has 6 real registers and 392
pipes on the first keyboard called the Great Organ. He
second keyboard, called expressive because its
pipes enclosed in a box with blinds that the
organist manipulates at will by means of a
lever on the console, it has 9 registers, which
account for a total of 14 rows of pipes, and a
theoretical total of 736 pipes.
The calculation of the pipes is done by multiplying the
number of rows of pipes times the number of notes in
keyboard. The result of this operation gives 392
pipes for the first keyboard (seven rows of pipes
for 56 notes). In the case of the second keyboard you must
deduce an octave (12 pipes) in the register called
Voix Céleste, and we must deduce from the mixture the
pipes that do not exist, from the factory, in the first two
octaves. According to my red notebook, the mixture is
progressive, from 3 to 5 rows. If so, the mixture
It does not have 56 x 5 pipes (280 pipes) but only 244
pipes since in the first octave 24 pipes are deduced
of the five rows, and in the second octave
they deduce only 12 pipes (560 minus 36 equals 244). In
Consequently, the total number of pipes in that organ is
392+736= 1,128 pipes. The pedalboard has no registers
own.
From now on I tell you that I have made these calculations
based on the notes in my red notebook,
which was revised by John Moir, organ builder
American who lived in Chile between 1971 and 1978.
An effective count would allow us to verify what
following:
- If the Voix Céleste is indeed two-row
of pipes, and
- If the mixture is effectively progressive from
three rows.
I hope that these data, which are part of my
doctoral dissertation called "Pipe Organs in Chile: An
Historical Overview and a Catalog", which I hope
finishing soon at Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, Texas, are useful for your work.
I wish to give credit to Don Miguel Castillo Didier
for his pioneering work.
Luis González Catalán PhD.
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Builder .... |
Louis Debierre, Francia |
Built .... |
1908? |
City .... |
La Serena |
Class .... |
Cathedral Organs |
Location .... |
Catedral de La Serena |
Photograph .... |
Eduardo P. Pérez E., Hinrich Huber (2003) |
Restauration .... |
Dr Luis González y sus hermanos, 1985-1986 |
Information .... |
Miguel Castillo Didier -- Dr Luis Gonzalez Catalán |
(I) Grand Orgue (56 Keys)
1 -
|
Violone
|
16'
|
2 -
|
Bourdon
|
16'
|
3 -
|
Montre
|
8'
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4 -
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Flûte Harmonique
|
8'
|
5 -
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Flûte Harmonique
|
8'
|
6 -
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Prestant
|
4'
|
7 -
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Doublette
|
2'
|
(II) Recit Expressif (56 Keys)
1 -
|
Violoncelle
|
8'
|
2 -
|
Voix Celeste II
|
8'
|
3 -
|
Flûte Traversiére
|
8'
|
4 -
|
Cor de Nuit
|
8'
|
5 -
|
Octavin (segun M.Castillo
|
2'
|
6 -
|
Cor de Nuit
|
8'
|
7 -
|
Plein Jeu
|
III-V
|
8 -
|
Bombarde
|
16'
|
9 -
|
Trompette
|
8'
|
10 -
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Clairon
|
4'
|
(P) Pedalale (27 Keys)
1 -
|
Violone
|
16' (del G.O.)
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2 -
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Bourdon
|
16' (del G.O.)
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3 -
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Basse
|
8' (Montre G.O.)
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4 -
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Dolce
|
8' (Bourdon G.O.)
|
5 -
|
Flûte
|
4' (Prestant 4´ G.O.)
|
Couplers:
I Super - I
I - II
I - P
II - P
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