A Spanish treasure in Bologna: the 1688 Sesma organ at the Royal College of Spain
Ever since Karlskoga Parish acquired in 2019 a precious 18th century Neapolitan positive organ, I have been committed to presenting the instrument with various musical programs. Iberian organ music from the 16th and 17th century is among my favorite repertoire to perform at the Neapolitan organ. Given numerous general stylistic similarities between Iberian and Italian organs during this period, the selected Iberian music performed and recorded in Karlskoga sounds convincing and relatively close to the original sound ideal, even though I wished to try this repertoire on an authentic Spanish organ to compare the points in common and the differences between the two instruments for a closer historically informed performance. I visited many cities in Spain in 2005 and a few famous cathedrals housing historical organs, but I didn't get the chance to try any of the organs I visited at that time. The opportunity to play an authentic Spanish organ from the 17th century arose during my annual vacation in Italy where, with the principal's permission, I was given the chance to spend a few hours at the organ in the chapel of the Royal Spanish College in Bologna.
The college was founded in 1364 by the Spanish cardinal Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz (1310-1367) to provide lodging for Castilian, Aragonese and Portuguese students who were studying at the University of Bologna. Albornoz had important roles since he became a cardinal in 1350: already archbishop of Toledo, primate of Spain and chancellor of the King between 1388 and 1350, he got the cardinal title of San Clemente between 1350 and 1356, before being cardinal bishop of Sabina from 1356 to 1364. On June 1353 he was appointed by Innocent VI (1282-1362) legate in Italy and vicar general in the dominions of the Church, enabling him to resolve ecclesiastical questions and to collect tithes in a large area as the vice of the Pope with broad powers. During this period, he led mercenary armies in two campaigns to reconquer territory in Italy for the Papal State, trying – without success – to secure peace and stability in those territories, subjugating instead several Italian cities. He was experienced in warfare, as he participated as papal legate in crusades against the Muslims: Rio Salado (1340), Algeciras (1344) and the siege of Gibraltar (1350). Pope Urban V (1310-1370) appointed Albornoz as legate at Bologna in 1367. Albornoz’s grave is a monumental grave in the middle of St. Idelfonso’s Chapel, Toledo Cathedral.
Spanish Chapel at Santa Maria Novella Basilica, Florence.
Once you pass through the Real Collegio's (Royal College) magnificent main portal surmounted by cardinal Albarnoz’s coat of arms, you find yourself in a place where time seems to have stood still since its foundation in the 14th century. It is the oldest university college still in existence in Europe. The student residences overlook a two-floor squared portico, with a well in the center and a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement. The dedication was probably chosen in reference to one of the cardinal’s previous roles in Rome. While the main entrance of the chapel is on the ground floor, the organ gallery is reached via large stairs leading to the portico’s second floor.
The first organ in use at the Royal Spanish College in Bologna was built in 1494 by Lorenzo di Antonio Casali. This gothic organ was repaired several times by local organ builders between 1579 and the first half of the 18th century. In 1762, the organ was transferred to the Virgin of the Pilar church in Castenaso, a secondary church of the college, as the organ builder Annibale Traeri (1689-1766) from Bologna was commissioned to build a new organ with two manuals and 16 stops. This organ was removed in 1812 without any trace. A temporary organ was installed in 1821, built in the 18th century as a chamber organ, then removed in 1911 and placed at Virgin of the Pilar church, before being restored in 1959 and installed in one of the college’s bigger halls. The college chapel remained without an organ until 2010, when prof. José Guillermo García Valdecasas (principal of the college until 2015), managed to buy an old Spanish organ which was carefully restored by Francesco Zanin (born in 1956) from Codroipo and installed in 2014 in the college chapel.
This instrument was originally built in 1688 for an unknown location in Aragona by the renowned organ builder José Sesma (ca.1625-1699) from Zaragoza, as documented by the signature of the organ builder inside the organ: Joseph de Sesma me fecit en Çaragoça año 1688. Sesma was among the very first Spanish organ builders to regularly build horizontal reeds. He built several organs around Zaragoza and the Aragona region, among others the large instruments for Albarracín Cathedral (1651) and Teruel Cathedral (1685). The organ he built in Brea de Aragón (1658) has a very similar organ case to the organ in Bologna. Another well-preserved organ built by José Sesma can be seen today at Patio de la Infanta in Zaragoza (1692).
The Sesma organ in Bologna is a 4-foot organ, contained in a beautifully carved wooden case with 3 towers. It has a single keyboard with 42 keys (C-a2 with short octave and bass/treble break at c1/c#1) and a pedalboard with 7 small pedals (C-Bflat with short octave) protruding directly from the case, constantly coupled to the keyboard and with an 8-foot stop always inserted. According to the Iberian organ building tradition, the keyboard is divided in bass (C-c1) and discant (c#1-a2). The disposition is as follows:
Flautado (4, entire), Flauta tapada (4, entire), Octava (2, b/d), Docena (1 1/3, b/d), Quincena (1, b/d), Lleno (III, b/d), Címbala (II, b/d), Flauta bastarda (III, [8, 2 2/3, 1 3/5] d), Bajoncillo (4, b), Clarín (8, d).
Accessories: Pajaritos (Birds), Temblante (Tremulant), Tambor (Drum)
Meantone, 415 Hz, 65 mm.
The repertoire I chose to give a portrait of this instrument comes from 16th and 17th century Spain and Portugal. 16th and 17th century Iberian organ design was strongly influenced by Italy. One of the striking points in common between these two traditions is the presence of several stops constructed in bass and treble halves, giving more versatility to organs with a single manual. The use of divided stops was not common before the beginning of the 17th century, when medio registro compositions (for which each half of the keyboard has two different registration) flanked registro entero or lleno pieces (for which stops running over the whole manual have to be used). Usually there is no pedal part, as the use of pedal keys, pull-downs like in the Italian tradition, was limited to sustaining long tones or in final cadences. The iconic reeds, mounted horizontally and sounding directly into the spacious nave, have a quite powerful and incisive sound.
The principle of divided stops with a break between c1 and c#1 works perfectly with the first piece I have recorded, composed by the 17th century Portuguese composer De Olague, showing off the possibilities of this instrument through a mix of short verses with medio registro for the horizontal reeds (nr. 5, 6, 9) and registro entero (nr. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8), including a verse with echo effects (nr. 7). Also the second piece comes from Portugal, composed by Antonio Carreira (ca.1530-1594), chapel master at the Royal Court in Lisbon. After the very first bars there is a striking false relation c-c#. The musical form known as Tento in Portuguese or Tiento in Spanish is a typical 16th century contrapuntal composition for keyboard, corresponding to the ricercare or fantasia from Italy and Netherlands. Three Spanish compositions follows. The first is a meditative piece by Pablo Bruna (1611-1679), also known as "the blind man from Daroca", close in style to the Italian durezze et ligature. Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566) was one of the most significative Spanish keyboard composers of the 16th century. The large anthology containing his keyboard works, Obras de música para tecla, harpa y vihuela, was published by his son in 1578. The piece presented here comes from that anthology and is a set of variations on a very popular folk melody from that time in Spain. The last piece is a Corrente Italiana with variations composed by Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), who spent most of his life as an organist in Valencia and is considered today the last composer of the golden age of the Spanish organ.
Martinho de Olague - Fabordão e versos 1 tom
Fabordão: Flautado, Octava
Verso 1: Flautado, Octava, XII
Verso 2: Flautado, Octava, XV
Verso 3: Flautado
Verso 4: Flauta Tapada
Verso 5: Flautado, Octava, Clarín
Verso 6: Flautado, Octava, Bajoncillo
Verso 7: Flautado, Flauta Bastarda
Verso 8: Flautado, Octava, XV, Lleno
Verso 9: Flautado, Octava, Clarín
António Carreira - Tento do 1 tom
Flautado, Octava, XV, Lleno, Címbala
Pablo Bruna - Tiento de falsas de 6 tono
Flautado with tremulant.
Antonio de Cabezón - Diferencias sobre el Canto llano del Caballero
Flauta Tapada
Juan Cabanilles - Corrente Italiana
Bars 1-21: Flautado, Octava, Flauta Bastarda
Bars 22-63: -Flauta Bastarda
Bars 64-101: +XII
Bars 102-132: +XV
Bars 133-end: +Lleno, Címbala (pedals on the last bars)
I would like to thank once again the college’s principal and the administration for giving me the precious opportunity to spend some time at the keyboard of this wonderful and unique instrument in Italy.
Bibliography:
-David Baker, The Organ. Oxford: Shire Publications, 2003.
-James Dalton (edited by), Spain and Portugal, Faber Early Organ Series volumes 4-6. Oxford: Faber Music Ltd, 1986.
-Pier Paolo Donati, Le caratteristiche degli organi italiani ai tempi di Antonio de Cabezón. "Anuario Musical" nr.69. Barcelona, 2014.
-Eugenio Duprè Theseider, Egidio de Albornoz. “Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani” vol. 2. Rome: Treccani, 1960.
-Jesús Ángel de la Lama, El organo barroco español. Valladolid: Editorial Maxtor, 2025.
-Barbara Owen, The Registration of Baroque Organ Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.
-Nicholas Thistlethwaite and Geoffrey Webber (edited by), The Cambridge Companion to the Organ. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
-Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, L’Organo di José Sesma del 1688 nel Real Collegio di Spagna di Bologna. “L’Organo” nr. XLVI. Bologna: Pàtron, 2014.
