Memorial Art Gallery
University of Rochester
Anonymous Italian Baroque Organ (ca. 1770)
The Italian Baroque Organ at the Memorial Art Gallery
The instrument is owned by the Eastman School of Music, placed in the Fountain Court of the University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Avenue, Rochester, New York, 14607.
Builder unknown, c.1770.
Restored by Gerald Woehl, Marburg, Germany, 2005.
Inaugurated in October, 2005.
Specification, 14 stops
Manual
Compass: CDEFGA-c’’’ Principale bassi 8
Principale soprani 8
Ottava (4ft)
Decimaquinta (2 ft treble reconstructed pipes)
Decimanona (1 1/3 ft)
Vigesima Seconda (1 ft)
Vigesima Sesta e Nona (1/2ft and 1/3 ft)
Flauto in ottava (4ft)
Flauto in duodecima (2 2/3ft)
Flauto in XVII (1 3/5ft, from F)
Voce Umana (from D)
Tromboncini bassi
Tromboncini soprani
Pedal
Pull-down compass: CDEFGA-g #
Contrabassi 16 (C, D, E, F, G, A, B flat, B, c)
(new: c#, d#, f#, g#)
Tamburo (c#, d#, f#, g#)
Tiratutti (Ripieno)
Uccelliera
New pipes: Tromboncini and Octave 2ft treble.
Reconstruction of Tromboncini: Organ workshop of Pradella, Italy.
Reference group: Edoardo Bellotti, Harald Vogel, Hans Davidsson, Nancy Norwood.
The instrument was discovered by Woehl in an antique store in Florence, Italy in 1979. It was to be sold in parts, but Woehl persuaded the dealer to sell all of it, and purchased the whole instrument. He visited Rochester in 2001, found it the ideal home for the instrument, and agreed to restore and sell the organ to the Eastman School of Music.
Size: 22 feet tall, 9 feet wide, 600 pipes.
It is the only full-sized Italian baroque organ in North America.