Brazilian Association of Organists and Organ Builders

James Wyly is an organ historian and holds a doctorate in music from the University of Missouri. He also holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, and practices psychotherapy in Chicago. He performs on the organ and harpsichord with Ars Musica Chicago.

It is paradoxical in the organ world that the most widely-researched and famous old organ type, the north European baroque, is represented by relatively few examples that have survived in unaltered condition, while the most widely-diffused and perhaps the commonest old organ type, the Ibero-American organ, remains relatively strange and unknown, even among organists and organ historians. In fact, organs in the style of Spanish and Portuguese baroque instruments were built throughout Latin America from the seventeenth to the first part of the twentieth century. No one knows how many of these organs survive today, but it is increasingly obvious that there are a great many. As of today, several hundred have been documented in Mexico alone, though many parts of that country remain to be investigated. Very old organs (some apparently from the sixteenth century) have been found in Perú and now instruments are appearing in Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, and other countries. Most of these organs are unplayable and in total disrepair; but on the other hand, a large number of the known examples appear never to have been significantly altered from their original states. The result is an immense repository of historic instruments which only now are beginning to be recognized as supremely important parts of their national patrimonies. Restoration projects are beginning to be undertaken, concerts are played, old music is discovered, and the history of the organ and its literature is turning out to be very different from what it was imagined to be even fifteen years ago. Naturally, with the increased attention comes increasing risk that precious instruments will be thoughtlessly altered in the name of restoration, while the urgency grows daily of saving important instruments in imminent danger of being junked or of succumbing irreversibly to decay.

It is against this background that nearly a hundred organ historians, organ builders, restorers, curators, organists, and officials of cultural institutions convened in the Mexican city of Oaxaca from November 29 to December 3, 2001, for a congress, "The Restoration of Organs in Latin America." Organized by the Instituto de Organos Históricos de Oaxaca (known as "IOHIO", pronounced "yo-yo") under the direction of Cicely Winter and Edward Pepe, the meeting centered around the old baroque-style organs of the state of Oaxaca, of which fifty-one have presently been discovered and six restored to playable condition.

The congress felt to all the participants like a very important event, both from the standpoint of defining issues and proposing solutions relating to preservation of this organ heritage and from the standpoint of establishing an international community of experts and interested parties concerned with the Ibero-American organ. Connections were made and projects discussed which will be influential in the preservation of organs all over the Americas. There follow some highlights and impressions from the congress's proceedings.

The congress

The congress opened at the IOHIO offices on Thursday afternoon, with welcoming speeches by representatives of IOHIO (Cicely Winter and Ed Pepe) and of the sponsoring Mexican cultural institutions. These included the National Institute of Anthropology and History and the Cultural Foundation of Banamex, which has underwritten a number of organ restorations and research projects. The remainder of the sessions were held in a beautifully restored hall of the Biblioteca Burgoa, which houses an enormous collection of Oaxacan colonial archives in a former Dominican convent next to the spectacularly decorated church of Santo Domingo (the two organs of which disappeared in the last century). Everywhere careful planning, attention to detail, and concern for the comfort and enjoyment of the participants were evident; clearly this congress was a major item on the agendas of all the sponsoring institutions, which were fully aware of the cultural importance of its concerns.

Friday, Sunday, and Monday were devoted to presentations and discussions while Saturday was given over to an all-day field trip in two luxuriously appointed buses which took us to five villages with five organs--three restored and two derelict but reasonably complete. Evenings were given over to concerts, while the midday breaks involved long lunches and a crash course in the justifiably famous Oaxacan cuisine. There was plenty of time at meals, on the buses, and in the delightful cafés that surround Oaxaca's main square for intense informal discussion. It is hard to imagine that any participant could have left Oaxaca without a lot of new friends and a head spinning with music and new information--and an enormous sense of gratitude to IOHIO and all its hard work in putting together such a congenial, successful and glitch-free event.

The participants

Participants came from thirteen European and American countries and included many internationally-known names among the organ builders, performers, and experts. Among the foreign organists, organ builders, and organ scholars were Federico Acetores (Spain), Michael Barone (U.S.A.), Guy Bovet (Switzerland), Lynn Edwards (Canada), Henk van Eeken (Netherlands), Elisa Freixo (Brazil), Roberto Fresco (Spain), Cristina García Banegas (Uruguay), Enrique Godoy (Argentina), Gerhard Grenzing (Spain), Laurence Libin (U.S.A.), Christoph Metzler (Switzerland), Piotr Nawrot (Bolivia), Pascal Quioirin (France), Susan Tattershall (U.S.A.), and your reporter. Our Mexican colleagues included Eduardo Bribiesca, Gustavo Delagado, José Luís Falcón, Horacio Franco, Mercedes Gómez Urquiza, Daniel Guzmán, Eduardo López Calzada, José Suárez Molina, Aurelio Tello, Victor Urbán, María Teresa Uriarte, Alfonso Vega Núñez, Alejandro Vélez, and Joaquín Wesslowski.

The official languages of the congress were Spanish and English, and simultaneous translation of the presentations made them accessible to speakers of either. While many of the participants' names were known to one another, it was new to realize that all brought to the congress major expertise in Ibero-American organs. It was possible to perceive for the first time the full scope of understanding of a topic that had always previously been relatively obscure and difficult of access.

The organs

Dispositions of the three restored organs used for the five evening concerts appear below. The reader should bear in mind that the original chest of the cathedral organ does not exist and there is doubt as to whether the old parts of the chest at La Soledad are original. Thus, both dispositions are reconstructions, and neither is entirely typical of what might be called the Oaxacan style. The Soledad disposition is especially unusual, though the restorer points to evidence for its almost bizarre-seeming pitches on the surviving old parts of the windchest.

The Tlacochahuaya organ, on the other hand, with its breaking high-pitched stops and duplications of 4' and 2' principals in the right hand, seems to conform more closely to a style in which a fair number of Oaxacan organs appear to have been built. (More extensive research on the many unrestored organs will be necessary to confirm this theory.) It was originally a 4' organ, the reeds and 8' stopped register having been added in 1735.

Current research suggests that eighteenth-century Oaxacan organ dispositions did not stress color-stops and mixtures to the degree that, for example, Pueblan or Castilian organs did, but instead were dominated almost exclusively by a plenum made of separately-drawing, virtually identically scaled principal ranks, within which breaks and duplications of treble octave pitches gave each of the four octaves of the keyboard its own tone color. Quint-sounding ranks were few in relation to octave- and unison-sounding ones.

When polyphony is played on such an ensemble it can sound as though each voice were being played on a different registration. Nevertheless, there are possibilities for solo-accompaniment sounds between treble and bass halves of the keyboard, which facilitate the playing of Iberian medios registros. As in Spain and Portugal, in Oaxaca façade trumpets were almost universally added to extant organs of any size in the first decades of the eighteenth century. At the same time, the Tlacochahuaya organ was given its 8' foundation stop, composed of covered pipes.

Chestnut roasters selling their aromatic wares on the avenues of Lisbon and the cobbled streets of Evora, as well as the slightly guttural sounds of Portuguese, spoken all around me, signaled decisively that I was not in Texas during the third week of October 2000. Warm, sunny fall weather greeted travelers to Portugal October 24-29, the week of the fourth annual organ festival in the Alentejo region, 100 miles or so southeast of Lisbon. Organized by organist and historian João Paulo Janeiro, the programs took place in Evora, Vila Viçosa, Serpa, Alvito, Estremoz, and Arraiolos. Featured works this year were from the time of Portuguese monarch Dom João V (1706-50); four of the concerts utilized distinctive 18th-century organs.

The first events took place in the municipal museum of Evora, where eminent musicologist and Iberian music specialist Gerhard Doderer led a late-afternoon seminar on the little-known composer Jaime de la Te y Sagan (d. 1736). Being decidedly Portuguese-challenged, I decided to continue my recovery from the rigors of a long trip, and join the festival-goers later that evening for the first concert, a revelatory recital by Professor Doderer's wife, Cremilde Rosado Fernandes (Professor of Harpsichord at the Escola Superior de Musica in Lisbon). Playing a triple-fretted clavichord in a program of four sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, six by Carlos Seixas, and three by Antonio Soler, Mme. Fernandes played with grace and authority. Tastefully ornamented repeats, musical and skillful, banished any thoughts of boredom. It was especially good to hear, successively, two possible solutions to the tremulo "problem" in Scarlatti's scores: Fernandes gave us both mordent and repeated note trills in K. 208.

Concerts beyond Evora took place in smaller towns, difficult (if not impossible) to reach by public transport. Since I had no desire to drive a rental car (there were enough musical thrills without adding death-defying negotiation of tiny alleys and highway acrobatics), it was only through the good graces of Senhor Janeiro, who drove the not-inconsiderable distance from Lisbon for each program, that I was able to attend most of the programs. Wednesday's recital in Vila Viçosa was set in the chapel of the Ducal Palace, a marble building of imposing grandeur. The organ, in a side gallery, is an unsigned instrument, perhaps the work of an 18th-century German builder (Janeiro suggests Ulenkampf because of the non-Iberian Cromorne and Sesquialtera registers included in this one-manual instrument of eleven stops). Organist Jesus Martin Moro (Professor of Organ in the Conservatory at Pau) played a suitable and vigorous program of works by Cabanilles, Mestres, Casanoves, Frei Jacinto do Sacramento, Seixas, Domenico Scarlatti (the first time I had ever heard his "Cat" Fugue, K. 30 played on the organ), ending with an exhilarating Sonata de Clarines by Soler. The drive back to Evora was made memorable by the sudden appearance of four wild pigs, crossing the road very sedately directly in front of us.

I did not attend the Thursday concert for viola da gamba and organ, given by Hille Perl and Michael Behringer (Freiburg-im-Breisgau). According to reports from listeners the temperament of the organ in Igreja Matriz, Serpa, was quite astringent for the advanced modulations of the Bach Sonatas in G and D. Other works on the program were by Corelli, Poglietti, and Bononcini. On this day I was driven from Evora to Alvito (in the car of the Regional Minister of Culture), booked into a five-star pousada, the Castello of Alvito (a renovated historic building now run as a luxury hotel by the government), and introduced to the glorious 1785 organ by Pacali Caetano Oldovini, in Igreja Matriz, where I would play the next recital in the series.

Oldovini, an Italian who built organs in Evora and throughout the Alentejo, was the link which first brought me to Portugal several years ago. The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University owns the unique Oldovini organ to be found outside Europe. Our 1762 instrument, purchased in 1983 from Dutch musicologist M. A. Vente, was originally in the Cathedral of Evora. Senhor Janeiro, who has made an inventory of surviving instruments by Oldovini, had written me to ascertain details of our instrument, and since has guided me in visits to other instruments from this builder's hand.

The organ in Alvito, built in the last year of Oldovini's life, is a magnifcent single-manual instrument of nine registers (with an extended compass to D5 and bass short octave). Especially beautiful are the Flautado (8-foot Principal), stopped flute (4-foot), an Italianate Voz humana (celesting rank), and the Clarim (a brilliant en-chamade reed, from middle C-sharp up). The church interior, richly adorned with ceramic tiles and gold-inlaid altars, provides a warm, resonant space.

I divided my program into two halves: first, music of the "Iberian Heritage"--works by Valente, Pablo Bruna, an anonymous Obra de falsas cromaticas (to show the Voz humana), and three works by Cabanilles. Then, as requested, music from the time of Dom João: two sonatas by Seixas, alternating with short pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, two Scarlatti sonatas, and finally a rip-roaring Seixas Fugue in A minor, with the Clarim blaring away on the repeats of A and B sections.

Another beautiful organ (post-Oldovini, 1791) was heard in the recital by Rui Paiva (Professor of Organ at the National Conservatory in Lisbon) on Sunday evening in Igreja San Francisco, Estremoz. His program, largely comprising galant music from Italy, proved to be exciting due to intense, energetic playing of works by Zipoli, Paganelli, Padre Martini, Galuppi, Domenico Scarlatti, and Handel (Fugue in B-flat Major, Concerto in F "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale").

A very late-night trip back to Lisbon, with an unforgettable approach to the city over Santiago Calatrava's Vasco da Gama Bridge (the longest in Europe), an early morning arrival at Lisbon Airport, and the shock of flight cancellations (the worst storms in a decade had hit western Europe), led to an unscheduled extra day in Lisbon. Not, however, a long enough delay to allow attendance at the final concert of the festival, a harpsichord recital by Ana Mafalda Castro (Professor of Harpsichord at the Escola Superior de Musica in Porto), on Friday November 3 in Arraiolos (music of Pedro de Araujo, Francesco Durante, Zipoli, G. B. Platti, Seixas, Scarlatti, and Soler).

The IV Jornadas de Orgão Alentejo was a festival which met its artistic goal:   the presentation of a specific Iberian keyboard repertoire on treasured instruments of the region, with enough additional music from non-Iberian composers to establish context and provide further 18th-century compositions for comparison. Funding from the Culture Ministry, the Archdiocese of Evora, and the Foundation of the Casa de Bragança supported the engaging of artists from four countries--making this truly an international effort. Although attendance was less than in former years, thanks to the artistic vision and organizational skills of festival director João Paulo Janeiro, those who attended the programs heard, once again, a rich and colorful selection of baroque music played on instruments for which it was intended. Well-restored organs in picturesque historic sites, the lure of memorable food and those outstanding local wines, as well as a reason to spend time in Portugal: what could be better? And there was the smell of chestnuts roasting . . .

May 23-30, 2005, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Bynum Petty is an organbuilder whose essays on organs, organbuilding and organ music appear regularly in American journals. Presently he is writing a history of the M. P. Möller Organ Co.

Sym·po´si·um. 2. A conference at which a particular subject is discussed and opinions gathered.1 Although advertised as an eight-day event, the third biennial symposium sponsored by the American Organ Archives of the Organ Historical Society (this year with co-host, the Music Department of the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University), consisted of four days of organ recitals, lectures, and panel discussions. The remainder of the eight days gave participants a generous amount of time to visit the Archives in Princeton, a short drive from New Brunswick.

From its modest beginning in 1956, the Organ Historical Society has grown and matured into an international organization promoting musical and historical interest in organbuilding,2 particularly those things American. The Society’s by-laws are explicit: “To encourage, promote, and further an active interest in the organ and its builders, particularly those in North America; to collect, preserve, evaluate, and publish detailed historical and technical information about organs and organbuilders, particularly those in North America; to provide members of the Society with opportunities for meetings and for the discussion of topics related to the organ; [and] to support its American Organ Archives.”

Almost as old as the OHS itself, the Archives is a closed stack, non-circulating collection available through appointment or through the reference librarian at Westminster Choir College, which houses the collection. That the Archives should sponsor a gathering of international organ scholars is entirely appropriate as it is the world’s largest collection of books and other materials related to the organ. James Wallmann, a member of the Archives’ governing board and co-chair of the symposium, reported that the Archives’ holdings currently include 14,550 books, 475 periodical titles, 2,000 publications by organbuilders, 4,000 organ postcards, 500 organbuilders’ nameplates, 25 collections of manuscripts, and over 7,000 pieces of ephemera.

Thus, about seventy organ lovers, scholars, organbuilders, organists, curators, and students gathered at Christ Church, New Brunswick, for an intensive study of the King of Instruments. Between papers erudite-to-entertaining, were panel discussions and concerts. Of the latter, Robert Clark opened the week’s events with an ambitious all-Bach recital on Christ Church’s new Richards-Fowkes instrument, completed in 2001. The last recital of the symposium heard on this thoroughly successful organ was played by Hans Davidsson, whose program was limited to music of the 17th and 18th centuries and included works of Bach, Weckmann, Bruhns, and Frescobaldi. Between the two pillars of Clark and Davidsson were solid performances by Shea Velloso and Cleveland Kersh, both graduate students of Antonius Bittmann at Rutgers. The musical offerings were completed with a concert at the Methodist Church by Antonius Bittmann (also co-chair of the conference) and the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra led by its director, Mark Trautman. Preceding Rheinberger’s Concerto for Organ and Orchestra in g minor, Antonius Bittmann played Gerard Bunk’s Sonata in f minor, op. 32.3 The church’s Jardine organ of 1896 proved itself the ideal medium for both pieces.

Panel discussions and papers were in abundance throughout the conference and ran the gamut from Walter Kreyszig’s “An unusual image of the organ in the juxtaposition of two disparate music theoretical systems: the graphic representation of the systema teleion and the Guidonian system of hexachords in the Theorica musice of Franchino Gaffurio” to Craig Whitney’s entertaining “Does the pipe organ have a future in the American concert hall?” Representative papers read were “A ‘Monster Organ’ at Rutgers University: Aeolian’s Op. 1580,” “Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier as organ music,” “Max Reger as ‘Master Organist’,” and “Images of Bach--the organ works performed by orchestra.” Other speakers were Christopher Anderson, Antonius Bittmann, George Bozeman, Louis Brouillette, Any Raquel Carvalho, Dorotéa Kerr, Gregory Crowell, Sarah Davies, Michael Friesen, David Knight, Nancy Saultz Radloff, David Schulenberg, Thomas Spacht, and Peter Williams.

Peter Williams was the keynote speaker and it was his address, “How do we come to have the organ and what difference has it made?,” that established the paradigm of intellectual inquiry at the symposium. Prof. Williams explored how the organ became a church instrument, how it developed, and how western music might have been different without it. While he speculated on these and other questions, he also attempted to give probable answers. In the end, however, he admitted that “. . . I do not really know the answer. . . nevertheless trying to ask in the right way what I believe are the right questions may give some focus to a field of study that often looks too wide to control.”4

“Asking the right questions and finding the right answers,” indeed, could have been the alternate title for the New Brunswick symposium. The 2007 symposium will be held at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester where certainly again scholarly inquiry will rule the day.

The Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca (IOHIO) offered a unique celebration of Oaxacan culture based on the historic pipe organs

Cicely Winter grew up in the state of Michigan, but has lived in Oaxaca since 1972. She studied piano and harpsichord at Smith College and the University of Michigan, where she obtained a B.A. in music and an M.A. in European history. She later studied piano performance at the post-graduate level in the School of Music at Indiana University. She presents organ, piano, and harpsichord concerts regularly, many of which benefit community service projects. In the year 2000 she co-founded the Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca A.C. (IOHIO) and since then has served as its director. The IOHIO focuses on the protection and promotion of the sixty-nine historic pipe organs known to date in the state of Oaxaca.

The ninth festival had barely finished before people were clamoring to know when the next one would be! Once again, the Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca (IOHIO) offered a unique celebration of Oaxacan culture based on the historic pipe organs. Over the course of five and a half days, participants could enjoy concerts on six Oaxacan organs; two choral concerts in splendid colonial venues; one harpsichord and flute concert in a village church; visits to eleven unrestored organs with guided tours of their churches, many of which are usually inaccessible to the public; a guided tour of the archeological site of Monte Albán; a guided tour of the colonial churches of Oaxaca City; the opportunity for organists to play some of the organs; a presentation about the Oaxacan organs; an exhibit of manuscripts related to the organs from local archives; and a chance to savor the famous Oaxacan cuisine in three villages.

The festival attracted more than 100 experts, students, and aficionados in fields related to organs, music, colonial art, and Oaxacan culture in general. The concerts were packed, and there were more local people in the audience than ever. Attendance was approximately 260 people in the cathedral, 150 in Huayapam, 380 in La Soledad, 230 in San Pablo, 150 in Tamazulapan, 150 in Yanhuitlán, 180 in Zautla, and 150 in Tlacochahuaya. The star performer was the internationally acclaimed Brazilian organist Elisa Freixo, who played the inaugural and final concerts. Twenty-five Mexican musicians were invited to participate as well: four organists, 14 singers, three guitarists, two percussionists (both Oaxacan), a flutist, and a harpsichordist, as well as a chorus of 14 singers. Also in attendance were 11 young Mexican organists and organ students from Guanajuato, Morelia, Mexico City, and Oaxaca. In addition to the musicians, we were honored to have with us Richard Perry, author of several books on Mexican colonial art, who guided the church tours.

Wednesday, February 15

The events began with the inauguration of the festival and reception in the Oaxaca Philatelic Museum (MUFI). María Isabel Grañen Porrúa, president of the Fundación Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca, and Eloy Pérez Sibaja, director of the Oaxaca Regional Center of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), offered words of congratulations and the support of their respective institutions, after which Cicely Winter, director of the IOHIO, spoke about the goals of the festival.

The first concert of the festival took place in the Oaxaca Cathedral. Elisa Freixo offered a program of 16th–
18th-century repertoire by composers of diverse nationalities, and her characteristically elegant style set the high tone for the musical events to follow. Because of the position of the organ in the choir loft, the organist’s back is to the audience, so the concert was projected onto a screen in the church. In this way it was possible to see how the registers were changed and watch Elisa’s hands as she played. The monumental organ (1712) retains its opulently carved and gilded upper case, but its lower case has been rebuilt several times and there is no evidence of its original appearance. However, one can assume that it was once as richly decorated as the upper case.

Thursday, February 16

The first full day of activities began with a visit to the church of San Matías Jalatlaco, located on the edge of the historic center of Oaxaca City. We ascended the first of the many winding stone staircases we would encounter in the days ahead, in order to view the organ from the front in the choir loft. This elegantly proportioned blue 8′ organ was built in 1866 by the distinguished Mexican (Oaxacan?) organbuilder Pedro Nibra and was recently evaluated by organbuilder Gerhard Grenzing (Barcelona) for a possible future restoration.

It is always interesting see how the group splits up when we enter a church, with the organbuilders scurrying up to the choir loft, the lovers of colonial art gravitating to the altarpieces (retablos), those with anthropological inclinations talking to the local people, and others just wandering around enjoying the overall experience.

Our next stop was in San Juan Teitipac, where Richard Perry and art historian Janet Esser offered an explanation of the famous 16th-century Dominican mural at the entrance of the former convent. Inside the baroque-style church, we viewed the empty 18th-century organ case, which was painted light blue and converted into a confessional in the 1970s. It was later abandoned in a storeroom, where the IOHIO found it some years ago and moved it back into the church.

We proceeded to the church of San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, considered to be one of the loveliest in Mexico, with its exuberant interior floral decoration and exquisite baroque altarpieces, all recently restored. The focus of the visit was the church art rather than the organ, since there wouldn’t be time to view it calmly after the upcoming concert on Sunday.

Mexico City artists Santiago Alvarez (harpsichord) and Jazmín Rincón (baroque flute) presented the second concert of the festival, entitled “A musical voyage through 18th-century Europe,” in San Andrés Huayapam on the outskirts of Oaxaca City. Their delightful program was enhanced by the main altarpiece behind them, one of the most beautiful in Oaxaca, whose intricate carving is referred to as “gilded lace.”

The 4′ table organ (1772), originally painted bright red, has been evaluated for a restoration, since it is nearly intact. We were refreshed by a drink of tejate, of pre-Hispanic origin and a specialty of this community, followed by a delicious meal of mole amarillo in the atrium of the church.

That night Cicely Winter presented the third concert of the festival in the Basílica de la Soledad, accompanied by Oaxacan percussionist Valentín Hernández. Joel Vásquez and Andrea Castellanos were indispensible in pulling the stops, since this music required many changes of registration. The huge church was packed and the crowd most enthusiastic, even singing along and swaying in time to a program of well-known Oaxacan folk music, played on a Oaxacan historical treasure. The case of this monumental 8′ organ is elaborately decorated and bears the earliest date of any Oaxacan organ: 1686. The interior components were rebuilt during the 18th century, and the organ was restored in 2000.

Friday, February 17

Participants could choose one of three options for the Friday morning activity: a visit to the archeological site of Monte Alban with Marcus Winter (INAH), the opportunity to play the organs in the Basilica of La Soledad and the Cathedral, or a guided tour by Richard Perry of the most beautiful colonial churches in Oaxaca City.

That afternoon, Cicely Winter presented a talk in the Francisco de Burgoa Library about “The Historic Organs of Oaxaca and the Work of the IOHIO.” Although the title of the talk does not change from year to year, the content does, and the images of the organs and of the various IOHIO projects spoke for themselves. The talk was followed by a spirited discussion among the organists and organbuilders about conservation and restoration issues.

This was followed by an exhibit of documents related to music from various Oaxacan archives. Entitled “Musicógrafos y Melómanos,” the exhibit included 16th–20th-century printed documents and manuscripts from Europe, Mexico, and Oaxaca.

The fourth concert of the festival took place in the newly restored Centro Académico y Cultural San Pablo. The baroque ensemble Melos Gloriae, directed by Juan Manuel Lara, offered a captivating program of “Polyphonic Music—Francisco López Capillas (1614–1674),” the most prolific Mexican composer of baroque Masses. The acoustics were splendid as the choir sang from the second story of the former convent.

Saturday, February 18

Our caravan of seven vehicles journeyed through the mountainous Mixteca Alta region to Santa María de la Natividad Tamazulapan for the fifth concert of the festival. Organists Laura Carrasco and Elisa Freixo played charming pieces appropriate for this 2′ processional organ, situated in a high side balcony overlooking the huge nave of the church. They were joined by IOHIO organist Joel Vásquez and his young student Isaí Guzmán.

As in years past, we have featured music on other instruments to alternate with this small organ. Oaxacan percussionist Gabriela Edith Pérez Díaz and the Terceto Cuicacalli guitar ensemble from Mexico City (Diego Arias Ángel, Miguel Ángel Vences Guerrero, and Eduardo Rodríguez de la Torre) added variety to the program with pieces by J. S. Bach transcribed for marimba, and by Vivaldi and more modern composers for guitars. Afterward, we admired one of the most splendid altarpieces in Oaxaca, which includes paintings by the renowned 16th-century Spanish painter Andrés de la Concha.

No matter how carefully we try to plan the schedule, there are always “surprises” beyond our control. This time it was the highway construction that detained us for an hour en route to Santo Domingo Yanhuitlan.

Luckily, the sixth concert of the festival by the choral ensemble Melos Gloriae had just started when we finally arrived, and we were able to savor the program of “Sacred Music from the Museo Nacional del Virreinato” in the vaulted stone space of one of the most imposing 16th-century buildings in the Americas. Organist Abraham Alvarado played a selection of French pieces to demonstrate the sound of the organ. Built around 1700 and restored in 1997, this magnificent 8′ instrument is decorated in a style closely resembling that of La Soledad.

As in years past, the Federal Road and Bridge Commission (CAPUFE) opened an entrance from the superhighway, allowing us direct access to San Andrés Zautla and saving us over an hour of travel time. The fiesta and concert in Zautla are always a highlight of the festival. We were received in the atrium of the church by the local band with mezcal, necklaces of bugambilia, and dancing. We then followed the band to the patio behind the church for a sumptuous meal featuring estofado de pollo, a delicious Oaxacan stew.

The seventh concert of the festival, presented by various Mexican musicians, took place in Zautla’s lovely baroque church. Organist Laura Carrasco played works from archive manuscripts in Morelia and Puebla, as well as a set of verses from the Notebook of Psalm Tones of Sor María Clara del Santísimo Sacramento (the 19th-century Oaxacan nun who compiled the pieces in the notebook) from the Oaxaca Cathedral.

As in Tamazulapan, the organ alternated with the marimba (Gabriela Edith Pérez Díaz) and the guitar ensemble Terceto Cuicacalli. The concert was projected on a screen, which allowed the public to watch the action in the choir loft: the bellows pumped by hand and the registers controlled by lateral slider tabs.

After the concert, interested local folks and visitors climbed up to the choir loft to hear an explanation of the organ’s history and construction and admire it up close. The case of this 4′ table organ (1726) is exquisitely painted with images of Saints Peter and Andrew and four archangels.

Sunday, February 19

The first stop in our second Tlacolula Valley tour was Santa María de la Asunción Tlacolula. Once again we experienced the exciting moment of reaching the top of the winding stone staircase to see yet another unique instrument face to face in the choir loft. Dating presumably from the 18th century, this stately 8′ organ is nearly complete and has the most elaborately painted façade pipes in all Mexico. A proposal for its restoration by Gerhard Grenzing is being evaluated by the INAH in Mexico City. We also viewed the little 2′ 18th-century processional organ, the smallest in Oaxaca, which was built for the baroque chapel of the Señor de Tlacolula, currently undergoing restoration.

This year for the first time, we programmed a visit to the church of San Miguel del Valle, whose bell towers are decorated with glazed pottery dishes imbedded in the stucco. The 4′ table organ appears to date from around 1800 and has neo-classic design features. Even though the pipes and keyboard no longer exist, the organ still retains its windchest and original bellows.

We then traveled to San Dionisio Ocotepec to view one of Oaxaca’s earliest and most important organs (the date 1721 appears on a label in the inside of the case). The lower case of this tall 4′ stationary instrument is narrower than the upper, an unusual design in earthquake-prone Oaxaca. The organ came close to being destroyed just around the time the IOHIO made its first visit in 2001. Its decorated doors had fallen off and were luckily retrieved, framed, and hung in the sacristy. The sacristans brought the former doors to the choir loft so that participants could see on one of them, King David playing his harp, and the other, Santa Cecilia playing the Ocotepec organ, with the bellows behind and the original façade decoration.

Elisa Freixo presented the eighth concert of the festival in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, which culminated the musical aspect of the festival. Her varied program highlighted the musical possibilities of the organ and projected rich sounds and tone colors rarely heard on this instrument. Built sometime before 1735 and restored in 1991, this is the most famous of the Oaxacan organs. The case and pipes are exquisitely decorated with floral motifs, and the organ harmonizes beautifully, both visually and acoustically, with the architecture of the church. As in some of the other churches, the concert was projected on a screen. In this way people could see how the registers were changed and watch the organist’s hands as she played.

We were delighted to have with us at several of our festival concerts Don Alfredo Harp Helú and his wife, María Isabel Grañen Porrúa, president of the
Alfredo Harp Helú Foundation in Oaxaca (FAHHO). The IOHIO is honored to be included among the many cultural projects of the Foundation and especially appreciates Don Alfredo’s interest in supporting organ restoration projects over the past years. These include five of the seven restorations in Oaxaca (though Fomento Social and Fomento Cultural Banamex) and the restorations of the two monumental organs in the Mexico City Cathedral (the second of which is in process) in collaboration with the organbuilder Gerhard Grenzing.

Monday, February 20

Our second all-day trip to the Mixteca Alta began with a visit to the unrestored organ in Santa María Tinú. The little stone church houses two baroque altarpieces and a disproportionately large organ (1828). Perhaps the organ was originally commissioned for a bigger church or perhaps the community simply wanted something grand. The organ, completely intact and played just a generation ago, still grunts and wheezes when the bellows located in the loft above are pumped.

Some years had passed since we last included a visit to the organ in San Andrés Sinaxtla in our festival tour, so it was of particular interest to our regular participants to see it this time. This instrument is neo-classic in design, richly carved but unpainted. Most unusual is the inscription across the façade of the organ including the date of construction (1791), the cost, and the name of the donor (a personal statement unthinkable a half century before).

Just up the road from Sinaxtla, the community of San Mateo Yucucui sits on a promontory overlooking the Yanhuitlán Valley. It is said that when this 8′ organ was played, it could be heard for miles around. The organ (1743) was never painted or gilded, probably because the parish ran out of money, but is richly carved and still has its original keyboard. The floor of the high balcony on which the organ sits is much deteriorated, but the custodian had laid down some planks so that participants could get a closer look at the organ.

Because of the delay on Saturday due to highway construction, we decided to change our plan so as not to venture beyond Yanhuitlán and unfortunately had to eliminate the visits to Tejupan and Teotongo. Instead we returned to the church of Yanhuitlán, since there hadn’t been adequate time to appreciate the church art and architecture after Saturday’s choral concert. Although the church was closed that day, our friend the custodian opened it for us specially. This church is one of the jewels of 16th-century architecture in all the Americas, and it was amazing to have this space all to ourselves.

Our final church and organ visit was in Santa María Tiltepec—for some, the crowning visual experience of the field trips. Built in the 16th century as an open chapel atop a pre-Hispanic temple, the 17th-century church has long been appreciated by art historians for its richly carved, asymmetrical façade. The organ is one of Oaxaca’s oldest (1703) and is unique in its technical design and colorful, whimsical carved (not painted) decoration.

We then walked down the hill and across the river to the home of the Cruz Martínez family for our farewell dinner. We feasted on barbacoa de borrego, lamb barbecued Oaxacan style, cooked in the ground over hot rocks and covered with maguey leaves. Mezcal from San Bartolo Yautepec flowed freely, and everyone had one last chance to relax and enjoy the festival company before returning to Oaxaca. 

Participants in the ninth festival were enthralled by their Oaxaca experience, and the village authorities, who always received us with ceremony and respect, were equally pleased by our attention to the organs in their communities. It is clear that the promotion of the organs during our festivals is one more step toward guaranteeing their preservation.

The IOHIO has many pending projects between now and the tenth festival (tentatively planned for February 2014), including organ concerts in city and village churches, more CDs of festival concerts, a book about the Oaxacan organs, continuing documentation and conservation work, and at least one organ restoration. By the time we meet again, there will be a lot to celebrate! n

Over one hundred people from six foreign countries and six different states of Mexico gathered in Oaxaca during February to revel in the tenth organ celebration of the Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca (IOHIO). The festival activities extended over six and a half days and included concerts on eight restored Oaxacan organs; visits to twelve unrestored organs with explanations of their churches’ art and history; guided tours of the archaeological sites of San Martin Huamelulpan and Santa María Atzompa; the presentation of a series of postage stamps depicting Oaxacan organs; “Oaxacan Organs and their Builders,” an exhibit of manuscripts from local archives; the opportunity for organists to play several Oaxacan organs; a Mass and concert to bless and inaugurate the recently restored organ in Santa María de la Asunción Tlacolula; delicious local cuisine, band music, and dancing in several communities.

Fortunately, the theme of historic pipe organs is increasingly familiar in those towns that still have instruments, and slowly but surely the idea of an organ, its sound, and its conservation has begun to penetrate public awareness. We were consistently received by the authorities with respect and often ceremony, the choir lofts and churches had been cleaned beforehand, and the local people were most appreciative of our attention to this previously unknown part of their cultural heritage.

Thursday, February 20  

The festival’s inauguration began in the Oaxaca Philatelic Museum (MUFI). Cicely Winter, director of the IOHIO, spoke about the activities and goals of the festival and was followed by María Isabel Grañen Porrúa, president of the Fundación Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca, Sergio Bautista Orzuna, director of the Oaxaca Regional Center of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), and Emilio de Leo, in representation of the Secretaría de Cultura y las Artes of the Oaxaca state government. They offered words of congratulations and the support of their respective institutions.

The IOHIO office has always been housed in the MUFI, and, during this festival, our two institutions were able to present a tangible product of our 14-year collaboration: a series of postage stamps depicting six Oaxacan organs and a special postal cancellation in honor of the tenth festival.

After a welcoming reception, everyone proceeded to the Oaxaca Cathedral for the first concert of the festival, offered by renowned Spanish organist Roberto Fresco, titular organist of the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. A long line wound out into the atrium to purchase tickets and attendance surpassed 350 people. Fresco’s elegant performance transfixed the audience and it was certainly one of the most beautiful concerts ever heard on this organ.

Because of the position of the organ in the choir loft, the organist’s back is to the audience, so this and all succeeding concerts were projected onto a screen in the church. In this way the audience could appreciate the changing of registers and watch Roberto’s hands as he played.

This monumental 8′ organ was built in 1712 and retains its opulently carved and gilded upper case, but its lower case has been rebuilt several times and there is no evidence of its original appearance. However, one can assume that it was once one of the most lavishly decorated organs in Oaxaca, based on the contract for its construction.

Friday, February 21

The day started with “The Historic Organs of Oaxaca and the Work of the IOHIO,” a bilingual presentation by Cicely Winter in the Francisco de Burgoa Library within the Santo Domingo Cultural Center. Although the title of the talk has not changed over the years, the content always does, and the images of the organs and the various IOHIO projects—protection, conservation, restoration, presentation of concerts, discoveries related to the organs, recordings, and publications—spoke for themselves.

This was followed by an exhibit of documents, “Los Órganos Oaxaqueños y sus Artífices” (“The Oaxacan Organs and Their Builders”), inaugurated by María Isabel Grañen Porrúa, director of the library, and explained by the curator, former IOHIO collaborator Ricardo Rodys, as well as the presentation of a book with the same title edited by Rodys and Lérida Moya Marcos. The theme was chosen to honor the recent restoration of the Tlacolula organ and featured organ contracts and references to builders from local archives.

We then climbed into the vans that would become so familiar to us during the days ahead for the field trip to visit three unrestored organs in the Tlacolula Valley. The first stop was in San Matías Jalatlaco, located on the edge of the historic center of Oaxaca City. We ascended the first of the many winding stone staircases we would face during the days ahead to admire the elegantly proportioned blue 8′ organ, built in 1866 by the distinguished Oaxacan organbuilder Pedro Nibra.

The choir loft looked neat and clean, but once we removed the keyboard cover, lo and behold, mice had invaded and left their droppings all over the keyboard! This did allow participants to see the ongoing challenge of organ conservation, since only a year had passed since our last visit to this church.

Though missing around 30% of its pipes, the Jalatlaco organ is still an excellent candidate for a future restoration. When the vans were ready to leave, three participants were missing and it turned out they had been locked in the choir loft, shouting for help, after the sacristan thought everyone had already come down!

We made a quick stop at the famous Tule tree and a local guide pointed out the images evoked by the gnarls of the trunk and branches. Around 1,500 years old, this Montezuma cypress (sabino or ahuehuete) has the stoutest trunk in the world.

Our next destination was San Miguel Tlalixtac, included for the first time in our festival tour. One of the later and larger organs of the Oaxacan school (built ca. 1860), it must have had an impressive look and a huge sound. Many components are missing and a complete reconstruction, though theoretically possible, would make little sense at this point. But for the time being the IOHIO assures its conservation and it was heartening to see our labels still in place from the previous visit some years back. The challenge posed to participants was to imagine how the organ might have looked, based on what remains.

We were received in San Andrés Huayapam, located on the outskirts of Oaxaca City, with a drink of tejate, traditionally served in colorful painted half gourds. A local specialty of pre-Hispanic origin, this delicious foamy drink is made with ground cacao, corn meal, the seed of the mamey fruit and the flower of a tree (rosita de cacao) that grows only in and near Huayapam.

This lovely village church has one of the most beautiful altarpieces in Oaxaca, whose intricately carved columns are referred to as “gilded lace.” Also famous is the collection of antique exvotos, petitions (usually to the Virgin Mary) that are painted on small tin plaques. This and succeeding visits were enhanced by commentaries about the church art by specialists Richard Perry (http://colonialmexico.blogspot.com) and Montserrat Galí.

The 4′ table organ (1772), simply carved and originally painted bright red but now a dark maroon color, is nearly intact and like Jalatlaco, an excellent candidate for a future restoration.

In Huayapam we savored the first of many exquisite meals prepared by the local women. We had mole amarillo served in the atrium of the church. 

That night organist Cicely Winter and percussionist Valentín Hernández presented the festival’s second concert, in the Basílica de la Soledad, featuring well-known regional folk music. Joel Vásquez and Andrea Castellanos were indispensible in pulling the stops, since the music required many changes of registration. The church was once again packed with more than 350 people and the audience had a chance to sing along to several pieces from the texts provided in the programs. The magnificent decorated case of this monumental 8′ organ bears the earliest date of any Oaxacan organ: 1686. The interior components were rebuilt during the 18th century, and the organ was restored in 2000.

Saturday, February 22

The all-day field trip to the Mixteca Alta began with the third concert of the festival in Santa María de la Natividad Tamazulapan and featured professional Mexican and foreign organists, who were delighted to have a chance to play the Oaxacan organs. The contrasting pieces selected by Warren Steel, Margarita Ricardez, Víctor Manuel Rodriguez, and Mary Jane Ballou showcased this little 2′ organ to best advantage.

The portative organ dating from approximately 1720–1730 is situated in a high side balcony overlooking the huge nave of the church and is exquisitely decorated with images of saints and angel musicians. The case and bellows are original but the pipes, keyboard, and interior components were reconstructed in 1996.

As in years past, we have featured music on other instruments to alternate with this small organ and enjoyed the contrast of its sound with baroque and contemporary marimba pieces played by Oaxacan percussionist Gabriela Edith Pérez Díaz and the three guitarists of the ensemble “Terceto Cuicacalli” (Mexico City): Diego Arias Ángel, Miguel Ángel Vences Guerrero, and Eduardo Rodríguez de la Torre. The church has one of the most magnificent baroque altarpieces in all Mexico and includes paintings by the renowned 16th-century Spanish painter Andrés de Concha.

The second organ in this church, an 8′ instrument built in Oaxaca in 1840, faces the small organ from the left balcony. Once a magnificent instrument, it has unfortunately been the victim of vandalism over the years and is missing most of its pipes. Its neo-classic, undecorated aspect contrasts with the baroque opulence of the portative organ.

Our next stop was in the neighboring town of Santiago Teotongo, in which the baroque altarpieces and organ all appear to date from the 18th century, offering a pleasing consistency of artistic style. The profile of the 8′ organ closely resembles that of San Mateo Yucucuí (1743), thus giving us a clue as to its more specific date of construction. Even though it lost all its pipes and keyboard during the Mexican Revolution, the magnificent gilded and painted case still exists.  

The fourth concert took place in Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán, the 16th-century Dominican base in the Mixteca Alta. With its soaring stone vault supported on the sides by flying buttresses and its magnificent altarpieces, it is one of Mexico’s most dazzling complexes of baroque art.

Organist Jesús López Moreno (titular organist of the Mexico City Cathedral), and trumpet player Juan Luis González offered a thrilling program that reverberated throughout the immense atrium. Located on a decorated lateral balcony, the 8′ organ was built around 1690–1700 and reconstructed in France in 1998. Its case is one of the most elaborately decorated in all of Oaxaca, with fantastic swirling imagery as well as Dominican symbols on the case and fierce faces painted on the façade pipes.

Thanks to the ongoing support of the Federal Road and Bridge Commission, a special entrance was opened from the super highway, allowing us direct access to San Andrés Zautla and saving us over an hour of travel time. The folk fiesta and friendly concert in Zautla, contrasting with the majesty of the preceding visit to Yanhuitlán, are always a highlight of the festival.

We were received in the atrium of the church by the elderly women of the town, dressed in their traditional skirts and blouses, and the local band, with fireworks, plenty of mezcal, necklaces of bugambilia, and dancing—and after all of this, a delicious meal of estofado de pollo (chicken stewed in almond sauce) served in the patio behind the church.

After dinner, we crowded into the lovely little church to hear the fifth concert of the festival, presented by organists Mary Jane Ballou, David Furniss, Lee Lovallo, and Tonatiuh González, in alternation with Gabriela Edith Pérez Díaz, percussion, and the guitarists of the Terceto Cuicacalli. Once again the organists presented wonderfully contrasting pieces, even without knowing how they would fit in with the rest of the program. There was a nice improvisatory feel to this concert, which was pleasant at the end of such a packed and exciting day.

It ended with a stirring rendition for vibraphone and guitars of the famous “Huapango” of José Pablo Moncayo.

The case of this 4′ table organ (1726) is exquisitely gilded and painted with images of Sts. Peter and Andrew and four archangels. The Zautla and Tamazulapan bellows are still hand pumped and the register sliders are on the sides, and the projection on the screen allowed people to appreciate the teamwork involved.

Sunday, February 23 

This year we arranged time for interested artists and students to play the organs in Tlacochahuaya and Tlaxiaco and 20 organists, about half foreign and half Mexican, took advantage of the opportunity. There was a delightful atmosphere of camaraderie and we all got to hear many new pieces on yet another organ.

The rest of the group joined us before the sixth concert of the festival in San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, played by Roberto Fresco. His expert touch lured rarely heard subtleties of sound out of the organ.

This church is one of the loveliest in Mexico with its exuberant interior floral decoration and exquisite baroque altarpieces, all recently restored. The organ was built sometime before 1735 and restored in 1991. The case and pipes are beautifully decorated with floral motifs, and the organ harmonizes perfectly, both visually and acoustically, with the architecture of the church.

We savored a variety of Oaxacan specialties in the “Donají” restaurant in Mitla before proceeding to Tlacolula, where we would spend the rest of the day.

The atrium and church were already bustling with people when we arrived in anticipation of the Mass and inaugural concert of the 8′ organ, built in Oaxaca in 1792 by Manuel Neri y Carmona for the community of Santa María de la Asunción Tlacolula.

Interested participants could climb up to the choir loft to see the newly restored organ up close, hear about its restoration (the case by Oaxacan restorer Eric González Castellanos and the musical and mechanical aspects by the Gerhard Grenzing Taller, El Papiol, Spain) and admire its gorgeous red, gold, and black case decoration. This organ also has very elaborately painted façade pipes.

Afterward, organ aficionados could see the unrestored positive organ, built around 1700 and the smallest in Oaxaca with just two ranks. It was built specifically for the recently restored baroque side chapel of the Señor de Tlacolula. Those who needed a break from organs were able to enjoy one of the most famous indigenous markets in Oaxaca and admire the women’s costumes and the stalls piled high with local produce.

At last the long-awaited moment arrived for the blessing of the organ in a special Mass celebrated by Monseñor José Luis Chávez Botello, Archbishop of Antequera Oaxaca. The Mass was enhanced with participation of the Oaxaca City Chorus, Lourdes Ambriz, soprano, and Rafael Cárdenas and Cicely Winter, organ.

Approximately 1,000 people attended: 500 people were in the church and another 500 were outside in the atrium, listening to the Mass and the music over a loudspeaker. We have been told that this is not a typical turnout for an organ concert in most countries! It was thrilling to hear the organ brought back to life, after so many years of silence and months of careful preparation. One expert characterized its sound as “vocal” and was amazed how perfectly it blended with Lourdes’s pure soprano voice. Rafael led the enthusiastic singing of the Mass with the organ and Lourdes sang several solos.

This was followed by the exciting inaugural concert, the seventh concert of the festival (Lourdes Ambriz, Rafael Cárdenas, and Roberto Fresco), which highlighted all the registrations of the organ. The organ looked stunning, and the community was quite proud of this previously unrecognized aspect of their local culture.

Monday, February 24

For the third time we included a visit to the Tlaxiaco organ and points in between. This trip is not scheduled regularly, because its three-hour distance from Oaxaca City requires an overnight stay.
This year for the first time we visited the Mixtec community of Santiago Ixtaltepec, which is farther away than any others we have included in past festivals, but the dirt road was in good condition and the scenery spectacular.

We included this village to celebrate the inauguration of its museum of musical instruments and colonial art in a small room next to the sacristy. An early 19th-century fortepiano sits on a table and was presumably used as a practice instrument.

There is also a variety of 19th-century band instruments on display. The community hopes that more people will come to visit their museum, and the IOHIO will promote it for anyone willing to make the trip.

The 2′ table organ is the only one of its category in Oaxaca that still has its pipes, although not all of them appear to be original. The keyboard is in excellent condition and the table and bellows are decorated to match the organ. Interestingly enough, the figures depicted on the sides and doors of the organ appear to be Jesuit rather than Dominican, and the church itself has a Franciscan look. We wonder if the organ could have been purchased from another community, since we are discovering that organs were moved around more often than previously imagined.

The community of San Mateo Yucucuí sits on a promontory overlooking the Yanhuitlán Valley. The organ (1743) was never painted or gilded, which would have been typical of the period, probably because the parish ran out of money. But it is richly carved and still has its original keyboard. As mentioned above, its case closely resembles the sumptuously decorated yet empty organ case in Teotongo. It’s too bad that these two organs couldn’t somehow be combined into one! It is said that when this 8′ organ was played, it could be heard for miles around. The floor of the high balcony on which the organ sits is much deteriorated, but the custodian had laid down some planks so that the more daring participants could get a closer look.

Our next stop was at the 16th-century Dominican architectural complex—church, former convent, and the famous open chapel—of San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula. The 8′ organ has a similar profile to that of Yanhuitlan but was painted a cream color rather than polychromed, probably because of lack of funds at the time of the construction. We refer to this organ as the “King Midas“ organ, because in 2010 a well-connected architect took the liberty of gilding (at great cost) all the carved pipeshades and moldings, even though they had only been minimally gilded historically; in fact the organ’s manufacture is not of the highest quality. Unfortunately one of the loveliest features of this organ—its delicate carving, which before looked almost like lace—now has a hard look and the shine of the gold obscures the fine work of the carving. So, besides accumulated filth from negligence, the intrusion of animals, and the ongoing risks of earthquakes or fires, we now must be on guard against the whimsical decisions of misguided “experts.”

After lunch in Teposcolula, we drove up into the pine forest to Santa María Tlaxiaco for the eighth concert of the festival. José Francisco Álvarez, organ, and Vladislav Badiarov, baroque violin, concluded the musical aspect of the festival with an elegant program featuring both solo and ensemble pieces.

This monumental 8′ organ, dating from around 1800, offers a broad palette of sonorous possibilities that were enhanced by the excellent acoustics in the church. All the altarpieces and the organ are stylistically matched in neo-classic design and painted white, gold, and red, creating an unusual visual coherence. The imposing, outwardly austere church, one of Oaxaca’s oldest, was the Dominican outpost for this strategic area of the high sierra in the 16th century.

From there we went to the nearby village of San Pedro Mártir Yucuxaco. The table organ here (1740) is complete and in excellent condition, even though its bellows no longer exist. It closely resembles the organ in Zautla, though without the painted decoration, the carved pipeshades include faces in profile, and the keyboard is exquisite.

Tuesday, February 25

Our Mixtec tour continued with a visit to the church and organ of Santiago Tejupan. The lovely polychromed organ case (1776) is the last extant Oaxacan instrument to exhibit religious imagery. The name of the donor, cost of the organ, and date of construction appear inscribed on decorative medallions on the façade. A complete reconstruction of this organ would not make sense, however, since the population has been drastically reduced over the past years, but we hope that the authorities agree to have the case cleaned and restored in order to appreciate the unique portraits.

The splendid altarpieces span from the 17th to the 19th century and highlight the stylistic changes over time.

Our final church and organ visit was in Santa María Tiltepec, for some the crowning visual experience of the field trips. Located in the Dominican sphere of Yanhuitlan and built atop a pre-Hispanic temple, this 16th-century church has long been appreciated by art historians for its richly carved, asymmetrical façade and carved stone interior arches. The unrestored organ, situated on a side balcony, is one of Oaxaca’s oldest (1703) and is unique in its technical design, whimsical decoration, and finely carved keyboard.

We then walked down the hill and across the river to the home of the Cruz García family for our farewell dinner. We feasted on barbacoa de borrego, lamb barbecued Oaxacan style, cooked in the ground over hot rocks and covered with maguey leaves.

Mezcal from San Bartolo Yautepec flowed freely, and everyone had one last chance to enjoy the festival company and dance to music from a local guitar ensemble before returning to Oaxaca.

Wednesday, February 26

Even after the closing ceremony in Tiltepec, this festival just would not stop! About 40 people chose to make the trek up to the recently opened late classic (500–800 AD) archeological site of Santa María Atzompa, part of greater Monte Alban, guided by Dr. Marcus Winter (INAH).

Our festivals create an atmosphere of joy and celebration around the organs and have proved to be the best way to promote and, as a consequence, preserve the organs. We are continually amazed when people ask when the next concert or festival will take place, as we look back on all those years when hardly anyone knew or cared about the organs. And the support and enthusiasm from this year’s wonderful group of participants still energize us as we face many challenges.

Richard Perry’s blogspot (http://colonialmexico.blogspot.com) provides  detailed information and excellent photos of the churches visited during the festival.

The IOHIO is grateful for the support of the following institutions: CONACULTA INAH; Arquidiócesis de Antequera Oaxaca; Universidad de Valladolid, España; Biblioteca Francisco de Burgoa; Museo de Filatelia de Oaxaca (MUFI); and Caminos y Puentes Federales (CAPUFE). We are also grateful for the support of the following Oaxacan businesses: Hostal de la Noría, Hotel Parador San Agustín, Hotel de la Parra, Color Digital. 

James B. Hartman is Associate Professor, Continuing Education Division, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, where he is Senior Academic Editor for publications of the Distance Education Program. He is a frequent contributor of book reviews and articles to The Diapason.

Organ enthusiasts who wish to learn about organs far outside their immediate vicinity have at their disposal a number of search engines to survey the Internet, such as Alta Vista, Google, InfoSeek, Lycos, WebCrawler, and Yahoo; however, these are neither easy nor efficient for this purpose. A particularly effective source is offered by the Dutch magazine, het ORGEL (the ORGAN), a publication of Koninklijke Nederlandse Organistenvereniging (KNOV, i.e., Royal Dutch Organists Association); this is Europe’s oldest magazine on organ art: <www.hetorgel.nl&gt;.

The organ links of het ORGEL are in three categories: Countries, Related Instruments (Carillons, Barrel Organs, Harmoniums, Theater Organs, Harpsichords), and General Information (General, Composers, Liturgies, Music Software, Organists Societies, Organ Music).

There are links to organ sites in 65 countries throughout the world: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldavia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, Uruguay, U.S.A., and Zambia.

The relevant information in each country is classified under six headings: General, Organ Builders, Persons, Churches and Concert Rooms, Conservatories/Music Schools/Universities, and CDs/Books. The form of the entries in the different countries remains largely the same throughout but with local content appropriate to the particular country. Many sites include photographs of organ pipe façades and consoles.

An overview of the Web sites of several selected countries follows (some locations have more than one Web site).

U.S.A. The General category, with 147 entries, includes the Web sites of the chapters of the American Guild of Organists, along with a listing of other miscellaneous organizations, societies, topics, and publishers (including The Diapason). It also contains a Web site devoted to the largest pipe organs in the world, but this matter is not easily resolved due to some debatable technical distinctions.1

In the Organ Builders category there are 175 Web sites, including those of such well-known manufacturers as Aeolian-Skinner, Fisk, Holtkamp, Keates-Geisler, Möller, Reuter, Schlicker, and Wicks.

Under Persons the 187 Web sites include familiar names of many organists and concert artists: E. Power Biggs (1906-1977)2, Virgil Fox (1912-1980)3, Edwin H. Lemare (1865-1934)4, Rosalyn Tureck (1914-2003)5, and others. A typical site in this category includes a biography, a résumé, church appointments, compositions, repertoire, concerts, tours, recordings, a discography, testimonials, reviews, writings, links to related sources, and sometimes audio clips.

The Churches and Concert Rooms category consists of an alphabetical list of 614 locations throughout the country. New York City has 23 sites, including Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, as well as Riverside, St. John the Divine, and St. Thomas churches, among many others.

There are 94 Universities and Music Schools, including Indiana University School of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and schools at many state universities.

In the CDs and Notes category there are 98 Web sites of music publishers, bookstores, catalogs, record companies, and music societies.

A small category, Music Programs, consists of nine sites, including a software distributor and other sources.

Canada. The General category, with 33 entries, consists of the Web sites of 13 local chapters of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, two branches of the Royal School of Church Music, and the sites of other organizations, societies, publishers, festivals, and miscellaneous topics. A particularly ambitious Web site, Organs of the United States and Canada Database, is intended to provide a single, consistent, accessible, historical source of the organs constructed or installed in the United States and Canada since the arrival of the first imported instrument in the colonies; this listing of about 90,000 instruments and 1,800 builders is accessible only by inquiry to the site originator in Seattle, Washington.

In the Organ Builders category there are 26 sites, including Canada’s leading builder, Casavant (three sites), along with other prominent firms like Guilbault-Thérien, Keates-Geissler, Létourneau, Wilhelm, and Wolff.

Under Persons 29 organists have Web sites; there is a historic entry for the Lynnwood Farnam (1885-1930) Society. A separate listing of Organists in Québec is also provided.

The Churches and Music Rooms category includes information on 70 locations in major cities across the country. A relatively new organ is the Davis Concert Organ, four manuals, 96 stops, in the Francis Winspear Music Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, installed in 2002 by Orgues Létourneau, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec.

In the category of Universities/Music Schools six are identified, all in eastern provinces.

Under CDs and Books there are seven publishers or distributors.

England. The General category, with 58 entries, includes the Web sites of organizations such as the Guild of Church Musicians, Royal College of Organists, Royal Society of British Organists, along with associations and societies in various cities, and other specialized organizations. Several magazines or other publications devoted to the organ or organists are also listed here.

In the Organ Builders category there are 39 names, including the Incorporated Society of Organ Builders, Harrison & Harrison, N. P. Mander, and Henry Willis & Sons.

Under Persons 68 organists are listed, including such notable players as David Briggs, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Christopher Herrick, John Stainer (1840-1901), Gillian Weir, Carol Williams, and Arthur Wills.

The Churches and Concert Rooms category consists of 290 locations in major centers throughout the country, some in universities such as Cambridge, and others in cathedrals such as Coventry, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Leicester, and Liverpool. Royal Festival Hall, St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, and Westminster Abbey are also found here.

In the category of Music Schools there are 12 sites, including the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Royal School of Church Music, and similar academies connected with educational institutions.

Under CDs and Books there are 43 Web sites of music publishers, bookstores, catalogs, record companies, and music societies.

France. The General category, with 79 entries, includes the Web sites of associations and societies--”Les Amis de l’Orgue”--in various cities, reports of organ festivals and seminars, and miscellaneous topics, such as French Organ Music and pages devoted to organ magazines.

In the Organ Builders category there are 49 sites, a few with historical significance: Jean-André [Johann-Andreas] Silbermann (1678-1734), Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1811-99), and Dom Bédos de Celles, L’Art du Facteur d’Orgues, in addition to present-day firms and the comprehensive Groupement Professionnel des Facteurs d’Orgues.

Under Persons 48 names are listed, including such familiar figures as Pierre Cochereau (1924-1984), Jean Guillou, Naji Hakim, Jean Langlais (1907-1991), André Marchal, Daniel Roth, and René Saorgin; there is a separate site for Parisian Organists that lists the organists who served at churches in Paris from the 13th to the 21st centuries.

The Churches category covers 414 establishments in the major cities. Paris includes Notre Dame, Sacré-Coeur, St. Eustache, St. Sulpice, St. Clotilde, St. Gervais, and Madeleine, all familiar on account of their associations with famous organists of the past; there is a separate site for organs of Paris. In the category of Schools, there are only three, led by the Conservatoire de Paris.

Under CDs, Books, and Sheet Music, there are 25 Web sites of music publishers, suppliers of music publications, and record companies.

Germany. In the Organ Builders category there are 234 names, some of which may be familiar to North Americans: von Beckerath, Gabler (1700-1771), Glatter-Götz, Klais, Laukhuff, Schnitger, Silbermann, and Walcker. Here, as in some other countries, there is a comprehensive Web site devoted to organ building; a number of entries are related to historic builders of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Entries in other categories--General, Persons, Churches, Conservatories, CDs and Books--are appropriate to Germany.

Australia. The General category has 10 Web sites that include several societies, including a branch of the Royal School of Church Music, England.

There are only two Organ Builders in the country; both are small firms that construct small organs and provide restoration and maintenance services.

In the Churches/Concert Halls category there are 51 Web sites. These reveal that several town halls have organs: Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. The activity of external makers is evident in the case of Melbourne, where the five-manual Hill, Norman & Beard instrument, acquired in 1929, was rebuilt by Schantz, U.S.A., commencing in 1999. A special Web site, Second Wind, reports that elegant furniture was made from timbers taken from the Melbourne Town Hall organ when it was renovated in 2001. A monastery library in Arcadia also has an English organ by T. Atterton: two manuals, 11 stops, 1893, later restored in Melbourne.

In the Schools category there are six sites, one for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the others connected with the music faculties of the major universities.

South Africa. The General category has five Web sites, including one of the Johannesburg Organ Society, which promotes all aspects of the organ, including recitals, workshops, concerts, and visits to significant instruments.

There are only two firms listed in the Organ Builders category, specializing chiefly in the restoration, rebuilding, and maintenance of existing instruments.

In the Churches category there are eight entries. One of these, St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, has an organ that originally was in St. Margaret’s Church in London, England (next to Westminster Abbey). In 1909 a later four-manual, 61-stop organ was donated to St. George’s by a London businessman who had connections in South Africa. The largest organ in the country is in Feather Market Hall, Port Elizabeth, with 5,508 pipes.

The two Universities/Music Schools are University of South Africa, and University of Cape Town where the Baxter Concert Hall has a three-manual, 49-stop von Beckerath instrument, inaugurated in September 1977 (von Beckerath died on 20 November 1976 before the installation was completed).

This survey will conclude with a few miscellaneous items concerning organs in several selected countries.

In Denmark the Frobenius firm has completed slightly more than 1,000 organs since it was founded in 1909; of these, five are in England, two in U.S.A., and five in Japan.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, has one organ in the Hong Kong Cultural Center.

In Ireland the Pipe Organ Site, in addition to providing information on organists, organ specifications, organ builders, and recordings, contains a section on organ jokes.6  

The Isle of Man Organists Association held an Organ Festival in 2002 that included recitals by Gillian Weir and others, workshops, and a gala dinner (£12 including wine!).

The independent state of Malta, consisting of three islands south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, has seven organ builders and restorers; a recent project was the restoration of the ‘Platania’ organ, originally built in Sicily in 1726.

In The Netherlands two famous organ builders are found among the 42 firms listed: Schnitger (1648-1719) and Flentrop (since 1903). Stinkens, organ pipe makers (since 1914), is also active there.

The Philippines has two old organs, two organ builders, and two churches; it recently held its 29th International Bamboo Organ Festival.

In Zambia, an independent country (formerly called Northern Rhodesia) in east central Africa, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka has a two-manual, 25-stop organ (builder not identified). In addition to containing information on the organ, the church’s Web page contains sermons, anniversaries, church news, prayer requests, and other information of interest to the parishioners.

The immense amount of organ information contained in the worldwide Web sites defies even a summary description. Given the diversity of languages among the different countries, not all of this information is easily available to English-only readers for that reason, although some sites provide an English version in addition to the language of the country of origin. On the other hand, it is possible to recognize the stop names of organs in most cases on account of their widespread similarity throughout the world. The curious reader can only speculate on the vast number of organs in these countries that do not have Web sites! Visiting the various Web sites, with their colorful and attractive home pages, also provides aesthetic experiences of diverse organ designs. The reader will discover that some Web sites are unavailable or have moved; many are church pages, where the organ is included but is secondary in importance.

KNOV’s assembly of Web sites provides a valuable cultural resource that will be useful for a variety of purposes: recreational exploration of the world of the organ on the Internet, comparative research on organ specifications and the historical backgrounds of the instruments, and perhaps for planning future journeys to the countries where existing organs can be found, inspected, and perhaps played.