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The organ located in the central gallery of the Cathedral of Santiago operates from
Easter of the year 1850, when it was inaugurated.
Its construction is due to the more... |
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Flight & Son House in London. Don Eugenio Pereira Salas, in his work "The origins of musical art in Chile", Santiago, 1941, pp. 152-153, It gives us details of the instrument acquisition and installation process. The initiative to commission a large organ arose from a commission appointed to study and solve the existing problems in the Cathedral Music Chapel: "In one of the sessions, Mr. Navarro expressed that "to remedy the lack of instruments in the Music Chapel, he had meditated the factory of a large organ with several registers, corresponding to the magnificence of a Cathedral, placing itself in a new choir immediately to the main door of the temple". The idea launched by Mr. Navarro prospered, and the Archbishop-elect addressed a service to the Ministry of Worship on the subject. The Architect Don Andrés Gorbea arranged the choir in waiting for the organ. After many studies, its manufacturing was contracted on October 1, 1847, with the Flight & Son House of London, for the sum of $3,700, at the exchange rate of 44 pence. The magnificent instrument was exhibited in London, eliciting phrases of admiration from illustrious organists. Mr. Potter, President of the Royal Academy of Music in London, opined as follows: following: "The tone is superb, very powerful, without being boisterous, really harmonious, the power being legitimate; The fingerboards are very nice and the general amalgamation of the registers very well maintained. Mr. Samuel John Noble added that it was "one of the most powerful instruments and wonderful that have never been built..." The magnificent instrument arrived in Valparaíso two years later, on December 5, 1849. in charge of the intermediary, Mr. Essex. It was tested by the organist Damián Donaire, in the presence of the tenor González and professors Alzedo and Zapiola. The minor damage from the transfer was fixed by the German organist Schultz, who was in charge of tuning the pipes every eight days and having temperates and currents the registers. To honor the new organ, the services of the English professor were hired. Mr. Howell, a refined musician who brought with him a repertoire of modern authors." The instrument has not had a general renovation, but rather partial repairs. And naturally, despite the nobility of its mechanical transmissions and the quality of its sound elements, after almost a century and a half of services, today presents a series of problems, which, in the opinion of Dr. Luis González, "they cry out to heaven." |
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Builder ....
Flight & Son (Londres)
Built ....
1850
City ....
Santiago
Class ....
Cathedral Organs
Location ....
Catedral Metropolitana de Santiago
Plaza de Armas N°444 Santiago de Chile
Fono:671 8105
Photograph ....
Miguel Castillo
Restauration ....
John Moir, 1972
Information ....
Miguel Castillo
(I) Choir (54 Keys)
1 -
Principal
8'
2 -
Viola
8' (divid)
3 -
Bourdon
8'
4 -
Principal
4'
5 -
Flauta
4'
6 -
Clarinete
8' (divid)
(II) Great (54 Keys)
1 -
Principal
8'
2 -
Principal II
8'
3 -
Bourdon
8'
4 -
Octava
4'
5 -
Flauta
4' (wood)
6 -
Flauta
2 2/3' (1972)
7 -
Decimoquinta
2'
8 -
Larigot
2' (1972)
9 -
Pleno
III - V'
10 -
Trompeta
8' (divid)
11 -
Clarín
8' (divide)
(III) Echo (54 Keys)
1 -
Diapason
16'
2 -
Principal
8'
3 -
Bourdon (a Chimenea)
8'
4 -
Celestial
8'
5 -
Octava
4'
6 -
Decimoquinta
2'
7 -
Larigot
2' (1972)
8 -
Lleno
IV'
9 -
Trompeta
8'
10 -
Oboe
8'
(P) Pedal (24 Keys)
1 -
Contras (Principal)
16'
2 -
Bourdon
8'
3 -
Principal
8'
4 -
Octava
4'
5 -
Piccolo
2'
6 -
Lleno
IV'
7 -
Bombarda
16'
Couplers:
I - II
III - II
I - P
II - P