Epistle organ of the Catedral de Granada

The Epistle organ of the granada cathedral is a large iberian organ completed in 1749 by a group of builders including Leonardo Fernández Dávila and Jorge Bosch, and is well known for its monumental facade.

The epistle organ retains most of its Iberian baroque characteristics, while the gospel organ has been heavily altered to have a romantic character.

## History

The first organ known to be in the cathedral was recorded in 1492- this cites multiple large organs, as well as a few mobile processional organs for use in holy days. in 1521, new organs were acquired, possibly replacing the older ones. In 1521, when the current church was being built, new organs were contracted for it. these were placed in the transit and not the chapel.

The current epistle organ was built by Leonardo Ávila in 1749, with the assistance of the famous innovator jodi bosch. Bosch's innovations are present on the interiors of the organ. The organ has been altered over all these years, but unlike its twin, it maintains its original character. The organ has a 3 manual console attached to the organ case. The keys had ebony naturals and ivory flats. The monumental case contains a lot of dummy pipes to fill out the organs twin facade. The organ is dedicated to its own traditional liturgy and its own concerts.

## Technical information

### The case

the case is in a very late baroque style, although some consider it rococo. The front facade of the case has 3 towers, one in the middle and two flanking it on either side. Moving towards the outside of the case, there are slightly concave flats. In the flanks of the case, the largest pipes of the organ are held. These consist of the lowest pipes of the flautado de 26 on the right (looking at the case head on) and the contras de 26 on the left. The bottom level of all 5 pipe fields consists of the flautado de 26 and 13, plus the trompetas. The rest of the front is dummies On the back facade, the flautado astras and the clarin astras on the lowest level. the rest are dummies. On the cadereta exterior,.the octava from c2 is in the facade, plus the clarin de batalla.

#### The action

The organ has 3 manuals- The Organo Mayor as the top manual, the echo as the second manual, the bottom manual is the cadereta. The organ has 13 stub pedals, ranging from C1-C2, and they are not hard coupled to any of the manuals. In fact, the whole organ has no couplers. As typical for he Iberian organ of the time, all stops are divided between treble and bass. All 3 manuals have suspended action, and the organo mayor has a double pallet windchest, a innovation by J.Bosch. Manuals have a 49 note compass with a full octave.

##### Layout of console

**Layout of the console**

MANO IZQUIERDA (BASS SIDE)

orlos

dulzaina

violeta

banjoncillo

clarin

trompeta batalla

trompeta magna

flautado violon

flautado

flautado mayor

Second row:

clarin astras

quinta imperial

nazardos

leno

sobre zimbala

trompeta real

zimbala

flautado de astras

CADERETA DE ECO:

Dulzaina

Quincena

Lleno

Tapadillo

Violon

CADERETA EXTERIOR:

Trompeta recortada

Decinovena

Nazardos

Quincena

Violón

Docena

Tapadillo

Octava

Lleno

Zímbala

MANO DERECHA (TREBLE SIDE)

ORGANO MAYOR

First row

Orlos

Regalía

Chirimía

Oboe

Clarín

Trompeta Batalla

Trompeta Magna

Flautado violón

Flautado

Flautado Mayor

Second row:

Temblante

Clarín de atrás

Octava

Flauta travesera

Lleno

Quint a Imperial

Cornet a

Zímbala

Sobre Zímbala

Trompet a Imperial

Flautado de atrás

CADERETA DE ECO :

Gaita

Pajarillos

Temblante

Dulzaina

Corneta

Lleno

Quincena

Tapadillo

Violón

CADERETA EXTERIOR:

Trompeta Magna

Clarín en batalla

Lleno

Corneta

Viejas

Tapadillo

Flautín

Violón

Octava

Zímbala

PEDALS

contas 26 palmos.

contras 13 palmos.

###### Layout of the wind chests

ORGANO MAYOR

Flautado de 26 t/b (in forward facade)

Fluatado de 13 t/b

violon t/b

octava t/b

quinta imperial B- Fluata traversa B

Sobre Zímbala B- Quint a Imperial T

Nasardos B- Trompeta Imperial T

Lleno B- Corneta T

Zímbala B- Lleno T

Trompeta Real B- Zímbala T

Flautado astras (in rear facade)

clarin de astras (in rear facade, batalla)

BATALLA EN FACADA (not in order)

Orlos - Orlos

Trompeta de Batalla - Trompeta de Batalla

Clarín-Clarín

Bajoncillo Trompet a Magn a

Violeta-Regalía

Dulzaina-Oboe

Chirimía (T only)

CADERTA DE ECHO

Violon (basses offest)B- Tapidillo T

tapidillo B- Quincena T

Leno B- Violon T

Qunicena B- Corneta T

Dulzaina B - leno T

Dulzania T

CADERETA EXTERIOR

Octava (in the facade from c2) B- Clarin a batalla

Violon B- octava T

Docena B- violon T

Tapidillo B- Flautin T

Quincena B- Tapidillo T

Trompeta recorda B- trompeta magna T

Decinovena B- Viejas T

Nasardos B- corneta T

Leno t/B

zimbala T/B

## Credits

https://catedraldegranada.com/la-catedral/musica/organos/

http://www.bibliotecavirtualdeandalucia.es/catalogo/es/catalogo\_imagenes/grupo.cmd?path=1008868