The recently-restored Mascioni pipe organ that at the church of St Francis in Valletta will be the focus of a concert that will be held during this year’s Notte Bianca. Built in 1932, the organ is listed as Opus 443, one of 12 found in Malta (the largest being situated in St John’s Co-Cathedral, also in Valletta).
The speech and the pipework of the organ were carefully restored thanks to a recently concluded project. Layers of dirt which accumulated throughout the years were removed and every one of the pipes (which number over 1,400) were removed and carefully cleaned.
Some of the pipes required specialist repair before being replaced, tuned and finely regulated. Because of the limited space inside the organ and the heat and humidity of the Maltese climate, a new electro-pneumatic action was introduced, leading to more efficient and modern operation of the organ.
Today’s technology has also enabled an additional, custom-made and designed console to be placed at ground level in the church.
The console that remains attached to the organ has been restored and is in its original working order; the ground level console, on the other hand, has an additional transposing device and pistons.
These buttons can be preset to bring out a selection of stops in the middle of a piece of music, instantly assisting the organist in dynamic control of the instrument.
A playback system has been fitted which enables an organist to pre-record music, so the organ can still be played if an organist is not available when required.
Despite this new technology, the wind system is still operated by a series of reservoirs or bellows, which are ribbed and rise when wind is delivered to it.
The four bellows, which take up most of the floor area at the lower level, steady the wind and regulate the amount of pressure that is delivered to the pipes.
The restoration works, starting from the initial historical research and surveying of the instrument up to the hands-on restoration, were carried out by Michael Farley Organ Builders of Devon, the UK, in association with Maltese organ expert and designer Noel Gallo.
Farley heads a team of nine from workshops based in the UK, while Gallo has designed instruments for leading organ builders and customers in many parts of the world including Germany, the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea and China.
The organ will be used during a performance by Gallo on Saturday at 10pm as part of Notte Bianca.