by Susanna Ardigò
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ET ORGANO THEY ARE THE PROTAGONISTS OF CHURCH CEREMONIES THE WORLD OVER
“Laudate Dominum in chordis et organo” reads the inscription on the cases of pipe organs that we still admire in our churches today. A verse taken from Psalm 150, in which the faithful are taught that the best way to praise God is through music. In fact, the majestic pipe organ is still the most important instrument in Christian liturgy. An instrument that developed particular features and characteristics in Italy. In the Renaissance, the sound of the Principale and Ripieno, two fundamental registrations of the instrument’s stops, achieved “timbres which came to be known as essentially Italian and have remained a reference point for modern master organists (…). Ever since its origins, the Italian organ was the test by which artists and master craftsmen of the past proved their skill, because it was a very complex instrument. Even more so in its completely mechanical version, with the bellows pumping air into the windchest and pipes (several thousands in the larger organs) and tracker action
from each key. The art of building organs was developed and refined to such an extent that, over the course of time, it has been possible to build models very similar to those made in the past,” explains Giuditta Comerci in her essay Liuteria, published in Mestieri d’Arte e Made in Italy. Giacimenti culturali da riscoprire (Marsilio Editori, Venice 2009) by Paolo Colombo, Alberto Cavalli and Gioachino Lanotte. In the course of the centuries the area around Crema, lying halfway between the prosperous cities of Cremona and Brescia, became a centre of excellence for the creation and restoration of pipe organs. Starting from the Renaissance, some of Italy’s most important instruments were built in the workshops of organ makers in this area. To this day, skilled artisans who master this ancient craft build fine organs and perform accurate restoration works on historical masterpieces in Crema and its immediate surroundings. Like the Bottega Organaria founded by Ugo
IN SAECULA SAECULORUM Above, the mechanics of an eighteenth-century organ. Opposite page, Claudio D’Arpino during the delicate phase of regulating the mechanics; top, the Carolus Sanarica organ dated 1757 in the Oria cathedral, Brindisi. (www.bottegaorganariasoncino.it)
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