Sé Cathedral,
Madeira, Portugal
The main organ of the Sé Cathedral was built circa 1830 by the British organ builder, E. Samuels & Go. It was originally designed as a hymn organ, primarily for church use and when first surveyed in 1979 for use in the Madeira Bach Festival, had been laying dormant for over 40 years. The reconditioning of the existing organ, as well as the modification and additions, was a major undertaking involving organ builders and experts from all over the world. Working under the direction of Maestro Newman, the initial restoration was made in the late winter and spring of 1980 for the first Madeira Bach Festival by the firms of Henderson & Wilson of the United States and Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy. In the spring of 1981, the final additions were completed by the firm of Stephen Russell, Organ Builders, of Vermont, U.S.A.
The resulting instrument, which retains all of the original organ, has now been developed so that it can play all the grand German Baroque repertoire -and most of the French Baroque. The unique collaboration between the Regional Government of Madeira, the Madeira Bach Festival Organization and the organ building firms, working under the direction of one of the world's greatest organ virtuosi, has resulted in an instrument which, in the words of Maestro Newman, "is a magnificent blend of French Baroque and North German Builders' art. For an organ of moderate size, it has a grandness of sonority and fullness of tone unparalleled by any other organ in the world of its size.
GREAT |
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16 8 4 3 1/5 2 2/3 1 3/5 8 4 1 1/3 8 16, 8, 4 V-VII IV |
Bourdon Flute Spitz Flute Sub Tierce Nazard Tierce Principal Octave Larigot Trumpet Chamades Grand Mixture Terz Scharff |
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POSITIVE |
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8 4 2 III 8 8 8 |
Flute Koppel Flute Principal Cymbal Cromhorne Salicional Celeste |
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PEDAL |
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32 16 8 4 32 16, 8, 4 16 |
Bourdon Bourdon Principal Principal Grand Harmonics Chamades Bombard |
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COUPLERS |
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Great/Pedal Positive/Pedal Positive/Great Stop Action Mechanical Key Action Mechanical Tremolo |
For the whole organ |