ZARAGOZA

SPAIN

The city of Zaragoza is heiress of a rich history, rooting in the dedication of the new city called Caesaraugusta to the emperor of Rome in the year 14 B. C., soon to be the administrative capital of a large region, the Conventus Caesaraugustano. The year 719 A. C. saw the beginning of the Islamic era in the city then called Saraqusta, which was open-minded and rich in arts and culture. Situated in the centre of the important territory Marca Superior, it rose to the level of the caliphate of Córdoba little later, from which it separated again in 1018, through the might of the fi rst empire of independent Taifas of the whole of Andalusia. One hundred years later, it is conquered by Alfonso I, who renders it capital of the large and widespread area that is to form the Reino de Aragón (empire of Aragon), hereby initiating an age of fertile co-existence of Christians, Judes and Muslims in the spheres of faith, philosophy and arts.

Music has been present in the city from its very origins. Splendid mosaics from the Romanesque time showing musical themes testify this. A unique capital dating back to the early 11th century, full of musicians, amongst whom stands out an organ player, is to be admired in the cathedral of Jaca, the cradle of the empires of Aragón. The Crónicas of the royal coronations of Aragon in the cathedral La Seo in Zaragoza during the 14th century mention numerous Órganos de manos (manual organs) and from the same time we know of the existence of two organ- builders of those instruments. The 15th century was productive in construction of Órganos positivos, the most outstanding of which was made for the cathedral of the city of Zaragoza in 1469 by the organ player of the same cathedral, Juan Ximenez Garcés, similar to the instruments built by foreign makers for Barcelona and Valencia.

Around the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the local Moorish artisans Mahoma Mofferriz, father and son, construct claviórganos, which are widely accepted by the nobility of the whole nation. Renaissancetime organs arrive to the city through the work of the organ-builders Córdoba, and in that time of the 16th century Guillaume de Lupe, though a french national, settled in Aragon since early in his life will enrich them by adding mixturas and the split manual. In the course of the 17th century Jusepe de Sesma builds well-crafted, excellent organs, which he already equips with registros de lengüetería (reed stops); this is to entail a process, that will culminate in the 18th century with the perfection of the Spanish organ, which is nourished by vigorous reed stop sections, as can be seen in the work of the aragonese organ- builder Juan Antonio Turull in the monumental organ of the San Pablo church.

Although from that time onwards the Spanish baroque organ undergoes a decline, the restoration of the classic organs still existing in the region, initiated some decades ago, mainly by the Diputación of Zaragoza with the technical advising of the Institución “Fernando el Católico”, once again makes Zaragoza leader of a large musical region, standing out through its historical organs, which were responsible for the remarkable reputation of such important musicians and organ players as Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia and Pablo Bruna.

They are organs, which frequently, with their extraordinary sounds, attract the people of Zaragoza, allowing them to revive and feel their rich and long history.

Zaragoza, february 2001

Javier Lambán Montañés

President of the Deputation of Zaragoza