Organ of the Igreja de Santa Cruz, Coimbra

The **organ of the Igreja de Santa Cruz in Coimbra**, the church of the Mosteiro de Santa Cruz; was built by D. Manuel Benito Gomes de Herrera using older pipework by Heitor Lobo and Miguel Hensberg. Herrera enlarged the organ while preserving numerous stops by his two predecessors. The organ was restored multiple times, with the most recent one being the van Rodhen restoration which effectively restored the organ to its 1724 state after Herrera's overhaul. It is the world's largest one-manual organ.

## Description

The organ's action and layout are typical for the 1700s Iberian organ school; one 45 note manual with short octave. All stops except the two in the facade are split treble and bass. bass ends at middle C and treble begins at middle C sharp. Windchests have chromatic layout and pipes in the facade are connected to the chest by wooden distribution boards. Many reeds are mounted en chamade.

The pedalboard consists of wooden stubs, half of which are hard coupled to the manual (red wood beneath), the other half control the independent pipework (blue wood underneath), a set of wooden bass pipes intended to sound like drums, of whom is visible in the wings of the facade.

All 3 divisions are controlled from 1 manual, and a system of ventils allows independent play of any of the three. Two hitch down pedals, labeled by red and blue wood, allow the shutoff of the grande orgao and cadereta via the red pedal, and shutoff of the echo via the blue pedal. In addition,the grande organo cornets can be shut off by draw knob operated ventils. The cadereta can be shut off completely via two draw knob ventils (one for treble and bass).

Expression of one of the Grande Orgao cornets and a echo trumpet are controlled by by foot levers that one pushes to the left or right to change the volume.

## History

The organ of the Santa Cruz monastery in Coimbra dates back to the 1500s, when the famous case housed a organ by Duarte Lobo (father of Heitor) that was completed in 1532. at this time, the case was located in a different location and was likely not pained red. In 1559, Heitor Lobo completely rebuilds the organ. The first record of chamades on the organ come form a “organist from Pombeiro”, who is thought to be Manuel Guerra de Pombeiro, who built the similar university chapel organ in 1610. In 1694, Miguel Hensburg restores the organ. In the XVII century the whole case is moved onto a stone support (now hidden). By 1724, D. Manuel Gomez completely overhauls the organ, greatly increasing the size of the echo division and adding the chamade battery. Gomez also extended the case laterally to support the pedal pipes, and covered the stone pedestal with a wooden frame that matches the case. It was also painted red at this time. This expansion of the gallery was used Gomez’s advantage to build a “cadereta” similar to the European positif, built on the rail, with some pipework continuing beyond the case under the floor. The organ remains in this form till 1866 where it is restored with unsatisfying results by Lusis Antonio Carvalho. The organ slowly rotted away. Temperament is changed, and in 1966 a second manual is added. From 2004 to 2008, Beate von Rodhen restores the organ to its 1724 state after Manuel's overhaul, basing the work on a document form the organist at the time of Gomez’s changes. He reconstructs the action with 1 manual as intended, remakes 3 bellows behind the organ (the original was removed), and adds a blower for ease of use. 580 pipes are rebuilt and the temperament is returned to 415. The case is also repainted to be a vibrant red again. The organ had been in regular upkeep and has been used in numerous services and concerts since.

## Stoplist and Console layout

Stops and their position on the console, Reducaos are ventils.Stoplist.jpgDisposition (with builders)EXPRESSIVE STOPS:

claron, position A5 bass

flautado de 6 position A4 bass

Eco e realejo position A5 treble

Eco de Claro position C7 trebble

CHAMADES:

Troompeta batalla, C4 Bass

Trompeta Marinha, Position C3 treble

Cornetao, position C1 bass

Clarim 1, position C4 Treble

Trompeta Magna, position C5 treble

Trompeta Bastarda, position C6 Bass

Dulzicana, position C3 bass and C2 treble (short length reeds)

Oboe, position B0 treble (short length reeds)

Oboazes, C5 bass

## Photographs

Console with a short octave on the reconstructed bone/ebony keyboardThe hard-coupled pedalboard with the slits controlling the enclosedstops and the ventil pedalsThe horizontal trumpets and echo grates, sound channel and front pipes of cadertaThe full consoleOld console with 2 manualsDeconstructed console showing actioncasework seen from pipe levelView from organ loftgrande Orgao cornets
## Recordings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJOc7yNQJL0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIjjI0OHCsg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDELekDt-Vw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjNgQAPs4Fw

## Credits

*Special thanks to Beate Von Rodhen for supplying us with information about the organ.*

Additional info from brochure *O Grande Orgao De Tubos*, published by Coimbra graphics Sept. 2008