THE RESTORATION OF THE HISTORIC PIPE ORGAN
IN THE CHURCH OF SAN MATÍAS JALATLACO, OAXACA

ABOUT THE ORGAN

Construction date: 1866

Organbuilder: Pedro Nibra (Oaxaca)

Characteristics: 8´stationary organ with seven registers on either side of the keyboard; 56 note chromatic keyboard divided c’/c#’; 382 flue, reed, and wooden pipess; pitch 396 Hz.; height 4.46 m, width 2.91 m, depth 1.15 m.

DISPOSITION

Left hand: 25 notes C – c’
1. Clarines (Bajoncillo) 4´
2. Flautado mayor 8´
3. Octava 4´
4. Docena 2 2/3´
5. Quincena 2´
6. Tapadillo 4´
7. Trompeta real 8´

Right hand: 31 notes c#’-g’’’
1. Clarines 8´
2. Flautado mayor 8´
3. Octava 4´
4. Docena 2 2/3´
5. Quincena 1° 2´
6. Tapadillo 4´
7. Quincena 2° 2´

THE RESTORATION OF THE JALATLACO ORGAN

Restoration of the case: 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), the Pro-Organ Committee of the Jalatlaco community, and the IOHIO.

Ecclesiastical support: Francisco Reyes Ochoa, the priest of the Jalatlaco church.

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

Main challenge: repair the woodworm damage to the case and interior components; replace the cancelled rank of horizontal reed pipes, other missing pipes, and pipe feet in the façade.

Reinauguration: July 16, 2016, exactly 150 years after Nibra finished the instrument on July 16, 1866 (confirmed by inscriptions inside the case); this significant date was celebrated by a mass followed by two concerts presented by Horacio Franco, José Suárez, and Cicely Winter; a follow-up concert took place February 10, 2017, to honor Don Alfredo Harp Helu and Dr. María Isabel Grañen for their support of the project.

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

The Jalatlaco organ before its restoration (2015)