THE RESTORATION OF THE HISTORIC PIPE ORGAN
IN THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA DE LA ASUNCIÓN
TLACOLULA, OAXACA

ABOUT THE ORGAN

Construction date: 1791, gilding and tuning 1792

Organbuilder: Manuel Neri y Carmona (Oaxaca)

Characteristics: 8´stationary organ with eight registers on the left side and seven on the right; 45 note keyboard divided c’/c#’; 336 flue, reed, and wooden pipes; restored pitch 415 Hz; height 4.36 m, width 3.25 m, depth 0.86 m.

DISPOSITION

Left hand: 21 notes C-c’ with a short octave
1. Clarines (Bajoncillo) 4´
2. Flautado mayor 8´
3. Bardón 8´
4. Octava 4´
5. Quincena 2´
6. Diecinovena 1 1/3´
7. Veintidocena 1´
8. Trompeta real 8´

Right hand: 24 notes c#’-c’’’
1. Clarines 8´
2. Flautado mayor 8´
3. Bardón 8´
4. Octava 1° 4´
5. Quincena 1° 2´
6. Octava 2° 4´
7. Quincena 2° 2´

THE RESTORATION OF THE TLACOLULA ORGAN

Restoration of the case and façade pipes: Usanza company, Eric González Castellanos (Oaxaca), director

Restoration of the organ’s mechanism and sound: Gerhard Grenzing organ company (El Papiol, Spain), Andreas Fuchs project director

Project initiative and organization: Instituto de Órganos Históricos de Oaxaca (IOHIO), Cicely Winter, director

Financing: Fundación Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca (FAHHO), Marciano Sánchez (from Tlacolula), the Pro-Organ Committee of Tlacolula, and the IOHIO.

Ecclesiastical support: Salvador Cruz Sánchez, the priest of the Tlacolula church

Institutional authorization and overview: Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (CNCPC) del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historía (INAH)

Main challenges: repair the woodworm damage of the case and interior components; replace missing pipes; add extensions to the pipes to recover the historic tuning of 415 Hz, since all had been cut to raise the pitch to 440 Hz.

Reinauguration: February 23, 2014, with a mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Oaxaca-Antequera and an organ and voice concert presented by Roberto Fresco, Lourdes Ambriz, and Rafael Cárdenas as part of the IOHIO’s Tenth International Organ and Early Music Festival.

Ongoing activity: The organ is played regularly for masses (including weddings, baptisms, quinceaños, and special religious festivities), and concerts. It is maintained by the IOHIO.