The Church of St. Pacià is well known by people in Barcelona for its beautiful pavement mosaic by the brilliant catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.
However here is another art jewel only known by few people: the first mechanical organ with an independent Chair positive keyboard that the Blancafort-Capella organ workshop built in the city of Barcelona.
On this website we will show you all the specifications of that pipe organ, how it sounds and his present condition, and what you can do in order to recover the beatiful sounds it initially had.
However here is another art jewel only known by few people: the first mechanical organ with an independent Chair positive keyboard that the Blancafort-Capella organ workshop built in the city of Barcelona.
On this website we will show you all the specifications of that pipe organ, how it sounds and his present condition, and what you can do in order to recover the beatiful sounds it initially had.
«The Organ is the King of Instruments»
W. A. Mozart
W. A. Mozart
On the left, general view of the Organ at St. Pacià. On the right, the beautiful pavement mosaic by Gaudí.
On the left, view of the Great Organ pipework (upper keyboard) and the pedalboard pipework. On the right, the Chair positive pipework (lower keyboard).
The significance of the Organ at St. Pacià in the catalan organ scene has been clearly outstanding since it was built in 1967.
During the Civil Spanish War (1936-1939), many organs were burnt and melted to produce weapons. In its first years, the Organ at St. Pacià had a very important role in the catalan organ scene, for concerts and for students, when our country did not have yet fully mechanical organs of recent construction. The Organ at St. Pacià was one of the first instruments in our country to recover the old style of organ building.
During the Civil Spanish War (1936-1939), many organs were burnt and melted to produce weapons. In its first years, the Organ at St. Pacià had a very important role in the catalan organ scene, for concerts and for students, when our country did not have yet fully mechanical organs of recent construction. The Organ at St. Pacià was one of the first instruments in our country to recover the old style of organ building.
The organ has 16 stops and 1,011 pipes. Initially conceived for mass accompaniment, it is also suitable for playing repertoire from the Renaissance to the first period of the Romantic Era before Cavaillé-Coll's revolution.
View of the organ console. On the left, close view of the stop controls for the Great Organ and the Pedalboard.
These are the Organ specifications:
|
Keyboard II (upper) - Great Organ
(C ~ g3) |
Keyboard I (lower) - Chair positive
(C ~ g3) |
|
Open Diapason 8'
(vertical pipes on the main façade) Rohrflöte 8' Octave 4' Flute 2' Mixture IV Trumpet 8' (horitzontal pipes on the façade) |
Gedeckt 8'
Octave 4' (pipes on the Chair positive's façade) Fifteenth 2' Nineteenth 1 ⅓' Twenty-second 1' Cornet III (g ~ g3) Cromorne 8' |
|
Pedal
(C ~ f1) |
Couplers:
Chair Positive to Great, Chair Positive to Pedal, Great to Pedal |
|
Bourdon 16'
Octave 8' (borrowed stop from the Great) Quintedena 4' |
(all stops in red are reed stops)
Here you can listen to some recordings of the St. Pacià organ. All of them were taken during the free concert celebrated on November 29th, 2014 within the context of the Restoration Campaign. Despite the fact that the stops in worst conditions were not used, you will be able to hear lack of tuning, lack of wind pressure, ...:
Here you can listen the whole last concert performed by Hèctor de Buen Lapena
on November 28th 2015 at the Sant Pacià organ during the 2015 Annual Party of Sant Andreu district:
on November 28th 2015 at the Sant Pacià organ during the 2015 Annual Party of Sant Andreu district:
Also you can hear some tracks performed by Hèctor de Buen Lapena
during the Concert of November 29th 2014 at St. Pacià:
during the Concert of November 29th 2014 at St. Pacià:
Do you want more?
You can hear the organ every Sunday at 12am.
Come to meet us:
Or contact us via e-mail: orguedesantpacia@gmail.com.
You can hear the organ every Sunday at 12am.
Come to meet us:
Parròquia de St. Pacià
C/. De les Monges, 27-33
08030 Barcelona, Catalonia
(subway: Fabra i Puig L1 or Onze de Setembre L9 L10 )
(bus: 11, 26, 34, 36, 126)
C/. De les Monges, 27-33
08030 Barcelona, Catalonia
(subway: Fabra i Puig L1 or Onze de Setembre L9 L10 )
(bus: 11, 26, 34, 36, 126)
Or contact us via e-mail: orguedesantpacia@gmail.com.
