Great organ
Dinarte Machado, 2017
This instrument, with 1586 sounding pipes, is situated in a religious space with certain particularities. As a church typical of those belonging to Jesuit colleges, with a broad nave and quite a gentle acoustic, the organ had to be specially conceived, especially with regard to the measurements of the pipes. Thus all the pipework of the instrument has been specifically tailored to produce a full sound, and each stop produces a timbre with an individual personality, forming part of a harmonic ensemble based more on the sound of fundamentals and less on harmonics. It was also felt to be essential to give the instrument a certain ‘latin’ sonority that would favour performance of ancient music of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese schools of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Another aspect to be taken into consideration was the need to complement the current range of organs available locally: the new organ responds in an ideal fashion to the performance of works of periods and of technical and artistic requirements that none of the 24 historic instruments of Madeira cater adequately for. It also enhances the range of organs that constitute the island’s heritage by being present in this particular religious space, as well as by existing side by side with other historical instruments. In the decision to build it for this church, not only were the issues of acoustic, aesthetic and liturgical space taken into account, but also the presence there of an important historic instrument which was restored in 2015 by Dinarte Machado.
I Manual − Órgão Principal (C-g’’’)
Flautado aberto de 12 palmos [8’]
Flautado tapado de 12 palmos [8’]
Oitava real [4’]
Tapado de 6 palmos [4’]
Quinzena [2’]
Dezanovena e 22ª
Mistura III
Corneta IV
Trompa de batalha* (mão esquerda / bass)
Clarim* (mão direita / treble)
Fagote* (mão esquerda / bass)
Clarineta* (mão direita / treble)
Pedal (C-f’)
Tapado de 24 palmos [16’]
Bordão de 12 palmos [8’]
Flautado de 6 palmos [4’]
Contrafagote de 24 palmos [16’]
Trompa de 12 palmos [8’]
II Manual − Órgão Positivo (C-g’’’)
Flautado aberto de 12 palmos [8’]
Tapado de 12 palmos [8’]
Flautado aberto de 6 palmos [4’]
Dozena [2 2/3’]
Quinzena [2’]
Dezassetena [1 3/5’]
Dezanovena [1 1/3]
Címbala III
Trompa real [8’]
Couplers
II/I
I/Pedal
II/Pedal
* horizontal reeds
São João Evangelista Church
Choir organ
António Xavier Machado e Cerveira, late 18th c.
Dinarte Machado (rest.), 2015
This is a cabinet organ, of medium size, built by the Portuguese organ builder, António Xavier Machado e Cerveira, in the last quarter of the 18th century. It was ordered to be built for Funchal Cathedral, and placed in a gallery on the Gospel side, under the second lateral arch. It later underwent some work, and was adapted to the style of the time. Though analysis of the extant documentation is inconclusive, it would seem to have been done during the second half of the 19th century. This work was intended above all to increase the size of the instrument (including the case), as well as to move it to another gallery on the left side, closer to the high choir. As the instrument was not very visible, a case was constructed that had two facades: one on the side of the keyboard and one on the left side in order to facilitate a greater side view, which had nothing to do with the original configuration.
It was this instrument, altered in this way, that was sold to the Church of the Colégio. There it stayed, on the left side of the choir, with the lateral facade turned towards the main nave of the church and that of the keyboard side towards the centre of the choir. In 1993, the organ builder Dinarte Machado analyzed the instrument in detail, establishing that it included another, smaller, organ, but which largely retained its original characteristics. By means of comparative analysis, he concluded that it was an organ of Portuguese construction from the last quartet of the 18th century, built by António Xavier Machado e Cerveira.
The importance of the instrument was immediately communicated to the responsible authorities. Because it was a smaller organ, it was intended to restore it, making it the organ of the Church of the Colégio, for use in the liturgy, alternating with the large organ in the choir. The restoration work, based on a deep investigation into all the extant elements, allowed the elimination of all the spurious additions, bringing the instrument back to its original form. Of the original organ’s case, there only survived only a part of the structure and the facade (which had been retained from the beginning), the rest being reconstructed in accordance with organs from the same period by Machado e Cerveira. The restoration was completed in 2015.
Manual (C - d’’’)
Mão esquerda / Bass (C - c’)
Flautado de 12 tapado [8’]
Flautado de 6 aberto [4’]
Flautado de 6 tapado [4’]
Quinzena [2’]
Dezanovena [1 1/3’]
Compostas de 19ª e 22ª III
Cheio V
Fagote [8’]
Mão direita / Treble (c#’ - d’’’)
Flautado de 12 aberto [8’]
Flauta travessa [8’]
Flautim [4’]
Composta de 15ª, 19ª e 22ª III
Cheio IV
Corneta
Voz humana
Clarim [8’]