Organ of the Igreja Paroquial de São João da Foz do Sousa

The **organ of the Igreja Paroquial de São João da Foz do Sousa (St. John's Church, Foz do Sousa)** was built by the Portuguese organbuilder José Joaquim da Fonseca in 1863 in the style of a little Iberian village organ in the church of St. John in the village of Foz do Sousa in Gondomar. It has 12 divided stops on 1 manual and has no pedalboard, however it has 2 pedals which function to engage the "Cheio" (a combination of stops 1, 2, 3, and 4) in bass and treble, however if the pedal for the bass side is activated, the treble pedal is deactivated, same with the treble being activated and the bass being deactivated.

## Description

The organ, which was built neoclassically (and followed the style of the Iberian Baroque organ) as with most organs in this style, follows the concept of having a single manual which is divided into bass and treble, however what is unusual is the large compass from C-f''' (54 notes) and inclusion of the full bottom octave (even the low C# is included, an extremely rare case). The bass side starts from low C and ends at middle C; the treble starts at middle C# and ends at high F (this is unusual as it usually ended on the C below this high F, but this was included so that it may play post-18th century repertoire, this was not the original compass). The organ also has stops labelled from 1 to 6 from top to bottom and is located not on the choir loft but on a platform by it. The associated treble stops for the bass stops are mounted next to them on the treble side and follow the layout displayed in the disposition.

The instrument is based on 4' pitch; and is a model of a typical smaller-than-usual Baroque Iberian organ - it is also unusual as it lacks a Violon 8' which is usually found in Iberian organs of this size, even in the treble. It is remarkably preserved mostly in its original condition, although numerous pipes were reconstructed over the years.

The 8ft stops are only in the treble, with the 4ft bass stops complementing it. The Mixture is actually of 3 ranks, however in the bass when pulled, it has 2 ranks (the 1 1/3 rank may be pulled independently). The instrument has mechanical tracker action, and has slider chests. The instrument has 12 stops divided into bass and treble, 9 ranks, and 489 ranks. It is operated with an electric blower but was formerly operated using manual bellows.

If one of the Cheio pedals (for the bass or the treble) is pulled, it engages stops 1, 2, 3, and 4. If one is already activated and the organist wishes to activate the other one, the one that the organist had initially selected goes back up.

The organ case also has golden case-gilds, in the German style, in all of the 3 pipe-flats.

## History

The organ was built by José Joaquim da Fonseca in 1863, in the style of the Iberian Baroque era; it was possibly modeled on an earlier Baroque organ. Much of the pipework is preserved from Fonseca, however when he designed the façade it was painted blue, and had a "marble-like" texture. It was later repainted yellow, giving the instrument its current appearance.

Further modification to the organ was done 40 years later in 1903 - according to an inscription inside one of the bellows. The organ's manual was replaced as well; with an expansion of the then 45/48/49-note manual to 54 notes, and it received a new electric blower. In the mid 1960s, the organ fell silent for 30 years, almost never used in church services.

In 1993, the parish held a fundraiser to restore the instrument, and it was restored by Machada; an organ builder from Espinho (head Franz Thalhammer), the restoration was completed in 1994.

The tuning of the instrument was carried out later that year by the German organbuilder Georg Jann.

The historic organ is currently used in church services and concerts to this day.

A proposal was submitted by one of the church's organists to restore the original blue colour, which may be done, however the parish lacks the money for the refurbishment of the case.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the organ has fallen into slight disrepair and tuning will need to be done as well as some maintenance.

## Disposition

### **Manual**

*This follows the original layout at the console with the stops numbered accordingly on bass sides and treble sides with their respective counterparts for either bass or treble next to them on either side of the console.*

**Notes**

1. *Stops marked with an asterisk (\*) may be engaged with one of either two pedals for either bass and treble as the "Cheio" - to engage the organ's plenum which is based on 4'*
2. *Reeds are italicised*

### **Technical info**

* A = 422hz, unequal temperament
* Tracker action
* 54 note manual from 1903, low c# included
* 12 stops, 9 ranks, 378 pipes
* Restoration by Machada, 1993-1994
* Electric blower, formerly operated by manual bellows

## Photographs

Façade with Trombetas 4 and 8 mounted horizontally and the Octava 4 - case was once blue and had a marble-like texturePipework on the right side; Flautado de 12, Flauta, and Mixtura ranks are visibleLeft stops, marked from 1-6Right stops, marked from 1-6 like the bass sideChurch interior looking down from the choir loftStop and tracker actionInternal oitava pipework, bass side54 note manualA surviving fragment of the original bluish marble-like texture of the case
## Sound examples

### 1

* Mistura II
* Mistura III

### 2

* Dezanovena
* Quinzena

### 3

* Quinzena
* Oitava

### 4

* Baixo Madeira
* Flauta de 6

### 5

* Oitava
* Flautado de 12

### 6

* Trombeta in Mão Direta with Oitava in Mão Esquerda
* Full compass

### Cheio

* Cheio

***Recorded on 25 July 2020 by Guarinine\_58\_08\_2 - pitch: a' = 443hz***

## Credit

Thanks to Guarinine\_58\_08\_2 for images of the church and organ; as well as some general information.

The disposition and history of the organ is from a programme for a concert.

## See also

* Organ of the Igreja de Santa Cruz, Coimbra - a similar article regarding the world's largest one-manual organ