The restoration of historical organs a cura di Nicola Canosa |
The restoration of the musical instruments constitutes a discipline to being himself in the within of the restoration of historical-artistic assets; its peculiarity is given from the fact that in this case the participation is not limited to the material conservation of the object, but also to the restoration (where possible) of the sonorous function. Therefore the recovery of an historical organ is always a multidisciplinar participation that demands one summary of competences: handicraft (acquaintance of the ancient techniques of working of the wood and the metals), technological, historical, geographic, musical. Draft of to bring back still alive an object belonged to one musical civilization not more existing in the attempt to approach itself most than possible that “historical sound” forever lost in appearance .
The typical restoration of an ancient organ is carried out in various phases: 1 - the instrument is, first of all, taken apart in its main members and transported in the laboratory. Here is carried out the cleaning of the single elements, the consolidation of the compromised wood parts and the hardwares, the substitution of the packings in skin, the remittance in shape and welding of pipes. These last ones are object of particular attention because they are the main responsibles of the sonorous emission; a serious participation of philological restoration involves a careful study of the reached phonic material, to the aim to notice the greater possible number of relative traces to the characteristic original acoustics and the alteration of the same ones that can be succeeded in the course of the centuries. A recurrent problem in the restoration of historical organs is, in fact, to characterize the presence of historical stratifications and value them; not always a return to originates is favorable, where the successive elements are of a great value, or where the return to the origin is impossible because the traces are too little. From this point of view every restoration constitutes a different history. 2 - The final operations of the restoration consist in the reconstruction of the instrument, the fundamental phase of the recovery of the tonality and in the tuning. A careful restorer will try most than possible to respect the phonic material that he has in his hands, leaving to emerge the original tonality characteristics, “reading” on pipes the artificial participations and putting out, most than possible, his own personality for to dip himself in a sonorous world. Closely connected to the problem of the restoration of the historical organs is the their use; an always greater use is favorable for each instrument, liturgical and musical. For the success of the restoration is necessary the interest and the collaboration of all the community that wheel around to the instrument and that alone can sometimes guarantee its vitality.
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