The Chilean Pipe Organ Site
(preliminary english version)

organ listing by builder

This instrument, which previously belonged to the French Nuns, It is one of the 10 Cavaillé-Coll organs that were installed in Chile, according to the catalog that appears at the end of the biography of the great artist French written by his children, and of the 9 that appear in the printed catalog by the Maison A. Cavaillé-Coll, Paris, 1889.   more... ARISTIDES CAVAILLÉ-COLL is considered the most notable organ builder of the 19th century, not only in France, but also throughout the world. True masterpieces emerged from his workshops that still deliver their wonderful sounds. Cavaillé-Coll is considered the creator of the symphonic organ, an instrument that inspired the creation of a new repertoire of organ music; Among its most prominent representatives are Widor, Franck, Vienie, Tournemire, Gigout, Guilmant, etc. Chile was lucky enough to be able to import a dozen instruments from this great craftsman. Only one of them, however, is large, that of the French Fathers of Valparaíso, which has 24 registers. The organs that we have in Chile have, in general, 10 or 12 registers, with two exceptions: that of the Buen Pastor nuns on Mac Iver Street in Santiago, with four registers, and that of the Capuchin Fathers, with 6 and half registers. The organ of the Church of the Capuchin friars of Santiago was built in 1870 in Paris and installed in 1878. It has a single 54-note manual keyboard of ivory and ebony and a 20-note pedal keyboard that is permanently attached to the manual keyboard . However, due to its small dimensions, we find all families of pipes represented in it, viz. Principals, Strings, Flutes and Reeds. It suffers from compound registers such as mixtures or cornees, and from mutations. The instrument is "expressive", that is, its pipes are closed in a wooden box with a wall formed by shutters that, when opened and closed by means of a lever, allow a greater number of sounds. Only the pipes that form the façade, corresponding to the register called Montre, that is, the pipes that are shown, and some wooden basses are left outside the expressive box. The composition of the registers is as follows. 1 - 9 foot mount, 2.Voix Celeste of 8 feet from C 13 or second C of the keyboard)- m l 3.8-foot Bourdon (Basse) and 8-foot Harmonic Flute (dessus). 4.Prestant 4 feet. 5.2ft doublette. 6.9ft Trumpet. 7.Hautbois (Dessus) 8 feet. 8.Appel Trumpette reversible Registers 1, 4 and 5 form the main chorus. Register 2 is called Heavenly Voice because it is normally tuned slightly out of tune in relation to another 9-foot register, producing an undulation similar to the vibrato of stringed instruments. I have preferred to leave it in volume with the others, given the small size of the instrument. The Bourdon and Harmonic Flute registers form a whole together; but with the advantage of having separate handles, the sophistical part of flute or oboe can be used interchangeably, accompanying the first two octaves with Bordón's basses. The Trumpet register has the brilliance and power characteristic of the Cavaillé-Coll organs, The 'En Tirasse' pedalboard, that is, permanently attached, allows the organist to have an additional 'hand' that can sink one, two or three and four additional notes with his feet. Although it is true that the organ repertoire that can be performed on this instrument is limited, it perfectly fulfills its function as a singing accompaniment. The organ was restored by the González-Catalán brothers, organ builders, during the month of July 1997.

Site Map    Back Builder ....   Cavaille_Coll City ....   Santiago Class ....   Religious Organizations Location ....   Iglesia de los Capuchinos Catedral N°2345 Santiago de Chile 673 2278 Photograph ....   Miguel Castillo Restauration ....   Dr Luis González Catalán & Hnos, julio de 1997 Information ....   RP Victor Hugo Pozo Olivares (I) Manual expresivo (54 Keys) 1 -  Montre 8'    2 -  Bourdon 8'   (Bass) 3 -  Flûte Harmonique 8'   (Trebble) 4 -  Voix Céleste 8'    5 -  Prestant 4'    6 -  Doublette 2'    7 -  Trompete 8'    8 -  Basson et Hautbois 8'    (P) Pedal (Tirasse) (20 Keys)