The fifth annual Conference of the Brazilian Association of Organists and Organ Builders coincided with the third annual Latin-American Conference of Organists and Organ Builders in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from September 6-10, 1995. The amount of activity in the organ world in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay has grown considerably in recent years: the Association now has a membership of approximately 150 from around South America. The conference was extremely well planned and administered, and presented a cosiderable amount of information about instruments, both historical and modern, from around the continent. Excellent recitals and lectures were given, and the entire meeting was marked by a great sense of conviviality. About 25 people attended, many having travelled great distances. Most of the meetings were conducted in Portuguese, but those from Argentina and Uruguay were able to communicate easily in Spanish, since the two languages are very similar. Since several of the organ builders are immigrants from Germany, or are of German heritage, some German was spoken as well.
The President of the Associação Brasileira de Organistas is a very talented woman by the name of Any Raquel Carvalho, who was actually raised in the USA and studied in Georgia, so she is fluent in English and is well acquainted with the activities of the AGO. (Any Carvalho, Avenida Plínio Brasil Milano 2195/201, Porto Alegre, RS 90520, Brazil. 011-55-51-341-4349. E-mail: [email protected]) The Brazilian conference was patterned after an AGO convention. The secretary, and the person who founded the Associação in 1992, is Elisa Freixo, who lives in Mariana, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where she presides over the fascinating Schnitger organ. Josinei Godinho, a fine organist from São Paulo, is the treasurer, and Yolanda Serena is the secretary. (For information: Associação Brasileira de Organistas, Caixa Postal 5, Mariana, MG 35420-000, Brazil.)
The conference was held at the Igreja São José (Church of St. Joseph) in Porto Alegre, which has a 1936 Rieger organ from Germany. António Darci von Frühauf, a native Brazilian, has been the organist there for over 30 years; Renato Koch helps keep the organ running. Recitals during the conference, scheduled each day at noon and 7:30 p.m., were given by Enrique G. Rimoldi, Buenos Aires; Dorotea Kerr, São Paulo; Osvaldo Guzman, blind organist from Buenos Aires; Elisa Freixo, Mariana, Brazil; James Welch, California; and Josinei and Josinéia Godinho, two sisters from São Paulo who gave a 4-hand recital. In addition, a chamber group from Porto Alegre by the name of Stúdio de Música Antiqua gave an excellent concert of medieval music on copies of period instruments.
Because the Igreja São José is also part of a local college, the church nave is equipped with closed-circuit TV monitors. All of the recitals were broadcast over these monitors, affording those in attendance an excellent view and a very informative experience. This was particularly valuable in a country where few have been exposed to pipe organ music. Before my recital at the conference in Porto Alegre (a city of approximately 3 million inhabitants), a local television station came to the organ loft and conducted a live interview with me, probably because I was the token foreigner who could speak Portuguese.
Lectures at the conference included the following: Mysticism in Liturgical Organ Music, Renato Koch, Canoas, Brazil; The Colonial Organ of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, Enrique Rimoldi, Buenos Aires; Basic Organ Maintenance, Manfred Worlitschek, originally from Germany but now living in Santa Maria, Brazil; The Importance of Counterpoint for the Liturgical Organist, Any Raquel Carvalho, Porto Alegre; Structure and Organization of the Preludes and Fugues of J. S. Bach, Dorotea Kerr, São Paulo; Preparation for the Evangelical Service, Josinéia Godinho, São Paulo; Mexican Organ Music, James Welch, California; Music in the Catholic Church after Vatican II, Júlio Amstalden, Piracicaba, Brazil; The Restoration of the Organ of Maldonado, Uruguay, Sergio Silvestri, Montevideo, Uruguay; Preparation for the Catholic Liturgy, Renato Koch, Canoas, Brazil; The Use of Polyphony and the Organ in Iberian Monasteries in the 13th Century, W. D. Jordan, Australia (read by Any Raquel Carvalho); Lutheran Liturgy, Carlos Dreher, Porto Alegre.
Each evening following the final concert, the entire group had dinner at a different restaurant (including Middle-Eastern, German, and gaúcho churrasco barbecue), starting at the typically late hour of 9:30 or 10 p.m.
One of the fascinating side-trips was to the Centro Educacional La Salle in nearby Canoas, where Irmão Renato Koch, a member of the La Salle Brotherhood, is a professor, as well as a skilled musician, painter, woodworker, and restorer of antique art pieces and musical instruments. There are four noteworthy instruments in the chapel of this Catholic school. The first is an 1865 Merklin organ from Paris, bought originally by Bishop Dom Laranjeiras for the cathedral of Porto Alegre. Although it is dismantled at this time, Koch is in the process of restoring it. This one-manual organ with pedal pulldown has a 56-note keyboard, 25-note pedalboard, and 6 registers: Bourdon 16, Montre 8, Salicional 8, Bourdon 8, Flûte 4, and Trompette 8.
The second organ is the Opus 2 of the Bohn Company of Novo Hamburgo, Brazil, which until recently was the largest and oldest manufacturer of organs and harmoniums in Brazil (the Bohn Company now builds only electronic instruments). This 2-manual tubular-pneumatic organ from 1939 is in fair condition, and is very typical of many other Bohn organs found around Brazil.
The third is a one-manual portativ organ, built in 1977 by Siegfried Schürle of São Bento do Sul in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, which was colonized by Germans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many towns in Santa Catarina still abound in typical German architecture; blond-haired and blue-eyed people are seen everywhere, many still speaking German. This organ of 5 registers (Bourdon 8, Flauta 4, Prestant 2, Larigot 11/3, Regal 8) has the unusual feature of a harmonium-style pedal winding system. I tried the organ, which sounded lovely in the large chapel, but I have to admit that keeping the wind pressure steady while playing was tricky, far more so than playing a reed organ.
The fourth is a small lap organ, built in 1980 by Renato Koch, for the Conjunto da Câmara (Chamber Group) of Porto Alegre, which performs medieval music. The woodworking on this organ is particularly fine.
At the conference round-tables, organists and organ builders had literature available about their work. I enjoyed meeting Sergio Silvestri Budelli from Montevideo, a very enthusiastic organ builder and restorer of organs and pianos. Markus Ziel, a young organ builder from the very Germanic town of Blumenau, Brazil, was born in Germany, but came to Brazil with his family as a child. Ziel also does fine work in hardwoods. Because of the severe tropical climate, organ builders in Brazil have an entirely different set of challenges to work with, not the least of which is termites, and Ziel discussed some of the processes used to treat woods for organ building in Brazil.
One of the biggest projects for the Associação is to catalog the instruments, compositions, and literature concerning the organ in South America, so that researchers can find out what is even available. I am still discovering important sources of information on Brazilian organs, and one of the most important found on this trip is a doctoral dissertation about the historical organs in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Written by Padre Marcello Martiniano Ferreira in 1985 and presented at the Instituto Pontifício de Música Sacra in Rome, it is entitled Arp Schnitger: Dois Órgãos Congêneres de 1701, published in Niterói, state of Rio de Janeiro, in 1991. This lengthy dissertation documents fully the history, specifications, scaling, and use of these landmark instruments.
As part of my lecture on Mexican organ music, I stressed the importance of publishing music and articles about the organ. Many South American compositions exist only in manuscript form or in photocopies which languish around the continent. I displayed a copy of the book Voces del Arte (the immense catalog of organs in Mexico, with beautiful photography) and copies of Mexican organ music recently published, urging the South Americans to find publishers for their works so they could find their ways into libraries around the world, not to mention Internet coverage.
Next year's conference will probably be held in Montevideo and/or Buenos Aires. There is also the possibility of an excursion-type conference, in which those attending will travel together on a comfortable bus through Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, visiting instruments and hearing concerts. With ground transportation, hotel accommodations, and some meals in a package, this would be an ideal arrangement for those not as familiar with travel in South America.
I also received invitations to perform on two other organ recital series in São Paulo. The first was the Festival Internacional São Bento de Órgão, which alternates at three different churches in São Paulo: Mosteiro São Bento (Monastery of St. Benedict), Nossa Senhora de Fátima, and Nossa Senhora do Carmo. My recital was held at the monastery. (The organ loft at the monastery is accessible only through the cloister, so only men may perform there. Women on this festival perform at the other two locations.) The concerts are open to the public and are very well attended--often there is standing room only. The monastery has a 1954 German Walcker organ (Opus 3219), with 4 manuals, 78 stops, and about 7,000 pipes. It is one of the best-maintained organs in Brazil, cared for by José Carlos Rigatto of São Paulo. Performers on the series this year came from Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the USA--truly an international festival. The organizer of this festival, which is funded in part by the Banco de Boston, is José Luís de Aquino, Rua do Manifesto 1435, São Paulo, SP 04209-001, Brazil. Phone/Fax: 011-55-11-914-8846.
The other series is sponsored by the Associação Paulista de Organistas (the Association of Organists of São Paulo). Concerts this year are taking place in the Cathedral da Sé, the Catedral Evangélica, and Igreja Imaculada Conceição, all in downtown São Paulo. My recital (of Mexican music) was held in the Catedral Evangélica, a large, reverberant Presbyterian church with a 1911 Austin organ of 3 manuals, which came some years ago from a church in North Carolina. This organ is maintained by Warwick Kerr. For information, contact the Associação Paulista de Organistas at: Rua Carlos Sampaio 133, São Paulo, SP 01333-021, Brazil; Nelly Martins, President, 011-55-11-282-5651, or Dorotea Kerr, 011-55-11-210-5830.
One of the more unusual experiences on this trip was that of being on the same plane from Miami to São Paulo with Ozzy Osbourne, the heavy metal rock singer, on his way to a monster rock festival in São Paulo the same weekend I was to play in São Paulo. I introduced myself at the baggage claim as a fellow musician, and we wished each other well in our respective concerts.
Brazil is an enormous country, larger than the continental US, with endless possibilities for the adventurous traveller. A tip: anyone arriving in Brazil from abroad can, for approximately $440, buy a Brazil Airpass from Varig Airlines, which is good for five flights anywhere in the country. This Airpass has enabled me on occasion to travel from Rio and São Paulo to the Amazon jungle, to Salvador de Bahia, to Iguaçu Falls, to Recife, and to Minas Gerais. Brazilians are exceptionally hospitable, and I have enjoyed every one of my trips to South America. Please feel free to contact me for any information. (James Welch, 409 Central Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025; Phone/Fax: 415/321-4422.)
