The rebirth of the King of Instruments

Panaji’s iconic church, dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, will witness a resurrection of sorts during the feast mass on December 8. For, wafting from the choir gallery will be the rich, mellifluous strains of the church’s 125-year-old pipe organ — one of only seven in the state — that was recently given a new lease on life.<br /> <br /> Once considered an indispensable part of liturgical celebrations, the 112-pipe organ, which produces sound when pressurized air is driven through pipes selected by a keyboard, was eventually relegated to a corner to make way for synthesizers.“After the Second Vatican Council called for increased people’s participation at mass, which included singing with the choir, the popularity of the pipe organ began to fade. When I took charge in 2011, this particular one was in a pitiable condition,” parish priest Fr Cleto Pereira said.<br /> <br /> Thanks to an exemplary effort by the church’s Confraria committee and priests, what could once have easily been passed off as scrap is now estimated to be worth several lakhs of rupees. The Confraria not only dug into its own funds, but also approached the Archbishop’s House for financial aid to restore the ‘king of instruments’ to its former glory.<br /> <br /> “We began with a rough estimate of Rs 3 lakh. But as work progressed, costs rose to Rs 9 lakh,” Confraria president Luigi Ferrao said. “Restoration of the pipe organ, which had to be done from scratch, began on September 5, 2013. Without Fr Pereira’s help and of course, Fr Doel Dias — then a curate at the Panaji church who spearheaded the project — it would probably have been discarded,” he added.<ep,1>Costs would have risen exponentially had skilled craftsmen from abroad been flown in to repair the pipe organ built by Gerbruder Link of Giengen an der Brenz in Wurttemburg, Germany, circa 1890. Yet, it was the unassuming Porvorim-based piano tuner, Fernando Fernandes, who took apart the instrument — pipes, case, console shell and all — and carefully reassembled it, his nose to the grindstone the entire while.<br /> <br /> What’s fascinating is that the sexagenarian, who has had no formal training in the repair of pipe organs, not only put the instrument together but also recreated several valves and other parts for it by himself. He even designed and built an electric pedal pump for the instrument at a cost of Rs 40,000, one-tenth of the price quoted by a UK-based company for the same job.<br /> <br /> “During my travels to Europe, I came across several larger pipe organs in France and Portugal and was intrigued by how they were operated and maintained,” said Fernandes, an erstwhile electrical officer in the German merchant navy. He recounts having repaired complex satellite navigators and marine instruments on board the vessels he was posted to. It helped greatly that he also tuned pianos during his visits to the mainland.<br /> <br /> When his trips abroad ended, he returned to Goa and began repairing electronics for a living, soon realizing that what the state truly lacked was a good piano tuner. That he loved to tinker with parts and mechanisms, and even make some of his own, was a clear advantage. A short time after, he took on piano-tuning as a career.<br /> <br /> Presently, apart from tuning exam pianos and concert pianos across the state, the self-taught man is entrusted with maintaining the pipe organ at Rachol seminary. He completed work on the church organ at Panaji in July this year, and is expected to begin restoring the one at Se Cathedral in Old Goa soon.<br /> <br /> The genius Fernandes used to revive the once defunct organ floored not only authorities of Panaji church but also seasoned musicians like Margarida Miranda. The 81-year-old pianist, who recalled having played the same organ at a nuptial mass some 30 years ago, sampled it after restoration was complete and termed the quality of work “fantastic”. “The music that a pipe organ produces is special. It is an instrument worth having in a church,” she said, adding, “Fernando’s skill in restoring the one at Panaji church to working condition is nothing short of fantastic.”<br /> <br /> Plans for a mid-December concert involving the pipe organ are currently afoot. What better way to herald the king? </ep,1>