Unique,
100-year-old organ restored in Gozo
©
George Cini, 26th June 2003 - The
Times of Malta
A
late 19th-century pipe organ that featured a number of innovations
for its time, giving the instrument a particular style, has just
been restored to its former glory.
The organ was made by Pacifico Inzoli of Crema, in Italy in
1897 and is one of the works of art held by the parish church of St
Peter and St Paul in Nadur. It was restored by Robert Buhagiar.
Mr Buhagiar, 27, a graduate in electrical engineering, served
a one-year apprenticeship at Mascioni in Varese, the oldest organ
builder in Italy. He is the first and only Maltese member of the
International Society of Organ Builders.
Over the past couple of years, he has also revamped the 1775
pipe organ in Naxxar and the 1778 pipe organ in Qrendi.
"Inzoli, who was a great inventor of innovative devices,
devised an extremely delicate combination of a mechanical and
pneumatic wind chest, making it possible for the pedal pipes to be
played on the keyboard," said Mr Buhagiar.
"This is a unique artifact in the Maltese organ heritage.
"Not all the innovative devices by Inzoli worked out well
in practice but the organ shows Inzoli's pioneering spirit and
ingenuity. Another example of this is the pneumatic stop action
system which is unique to the Maltese islands."
The organ has a bright and crisp sound with singing stops and
reeds typical of 19th century Italian organs.
The organ was enlarged by the same builder in 1914 but this
extension forced the instrument into too limited a space. While the
restorer has managed to take out all the pipes, he had to go through
a window in the façade of the church to fine-tune the organ after
all the parts and pipes had been re-assembled - a manoeuvre of the
kind no restorer looks forward to.
According to the original documents of the purchase of the
organ, the metal pipes were coated in gold paint but somebody
painted them over in grey.
The pipes have been re-painted in gold coloured paint
"but the parts of the pipe that were not visible from the front
and still had the original gold paint were left untouched," Mr
Buhagiar said.
The two bellows and the ancient hand-blowing mechanism, which
is a mechanical device in the shape of a large wheel connected to
feeder-bellows, has been re-leathered and restored. This makes it
possible to play the organ even during a power cut.
Gozo Channel Co. Ltd, Martin's Diner and the Augustinian
Priory of Victoria have supported the restoration project.
picture:
Julian Esposito
