The organ of the Capilla de Palacio Real in Madrid
Pipework on the second Manual "Ecos"
Flywheel and handle attached to crank
The four feeder bellows with their connecting rods
A dragon's head appears when the bellows won't let any more air in
the elaborate design of the nightingale (Pajaros)
This organ is extraordinarily well organized, carefully planned and executed down to the smallest detail. It is full of surprises both technically and musically. Another example of Jordi Boschs impressive ingenuity.
In a very small area - 5.8 wide x 2.7 deep x. 8.2 m high - Bosch has installed an organ with 42 stops, including two ranks of 16' open pipes and one rank of 16' stopped pipes. He was only able to achieve this by dividing the windchest into two levels and also by using a very large number of grooved blocks.
Cadereta is completely enclosed inside the swell box, including an 8' trumpet that had to be hooded several times because the case is only 1.1m high.
The three manuals have suspended tracker action. The Órgano Mayor has a double pallet box. This organ pioneered the use of different procedures for reducing unnecessary noises due to the action.
The wind supply uses a crank that can be operated with the force of 3 kilogrammes. There is a handle attached to the crank which sets a series of connecting rods into motion and these, in turn, move four small wedge-bellows (similar to modern four-stroke engines).
An ingenious system of backfalls and drawstop rods regulate the stop action. This mechanism is already tensed and adjusted, thus allowing playless motion in each direction, because it is compensated for.
The large and unique weights on top of the bellows determine an invariable pressure: 74 mm water gauge. The pipes have rather wide flues and the feet are half closed. Original nicking is only found on the pipework by Fernández Dávila.
Stopped pipes have tin stoppers fitted with leather, from A 4' stopped pipes become half-stopped with chimneys whose stoppers are soldered; they have tuning ears. All the rest of the pipes have small ears either soldered or made from the remaining material used for the pipe mouth. This detail lets us determine the original height of the mouth in almost all pipes. This was very important. The open pipes, including the nasards, have expression- slots up to around the 1 1/3'.
Classic Radio (RNE): Heritage and music - Cea at the organ of the Royal Chapel - 02/02/14
Andrés Cea at the fantastic organ from Davila / Bosch at the Royal Palace, with music from Ojinaga, Nebras and Domenico Scarlatti and the mass from Bartolomé de Escobedo for King Felipe II.