Flight & Robson, 1830
Dinarte Machado (rest.), 2006
The organ of the church of São Pedro was obtained in England from the firm Flight & Robson in the 19th century. We have no documentation relating to its construction but we may place it as before 1878, when the firm was bought by Gray & Davison. We know equally little of the exact date of the installation of the instrument in the church, but in two inventories (1838, 1841) there is reference to an organ “of which much use is made” placed in the choir gallery, which point to the present instrument (AHDF Inventário: 3). In the course of the 20th century, the organ underwent various repairs, as a result of which, among other things, the pitch and tuning were altered, without, however, causing any significant damage to the original state of the instrument.
In August 1904, in the course of a campaign to make improvements to the choir gallery of the church, the Benefice took advantage of the opportunity to have the organ repaired, the restoration being undertaken by Alfredo Saturnino Lino. We know that the work to the organ, as to all the rest, took a short time, for in a note signed 6 August 1904, the builder stated that the work “should be finished by the middle of the present month” (AHDF Documentos). The works actually finished on 25 August; all told, the work to the choir gallery and organ cost 150,000 réis, to which the District General Council contributed the sum of 50,000 réis, given over entirely to the repairs to the organ. Apparently, this work was a one-off intervention, for only two years later, the newspaper Heraldo da Madeira, on 15 November 1906, reported that the organ of the church of São Pedro was once more under repair. In 2006 a full restoration was undertaken by Dinarte Machado.
Manual (GG, AA, C, D-f’’’)
Diapason 8’
Principal 8’ (c-f’’’)
Principal 4’
Flauta 4’
Piphar 2’
Cornet