A late 19th-century pipe organ that featured a number of innovations for its time, giving the instrument a particular style, has just been restored to its former glory.
The organ was made by Pacifico Inzoli of Crema, in Italy in 1897 and is one of the works of art held by the parish church of St Peter and St Paul in Nadur. It was restored by Robert Buhagiar.
The restored organ will be inaugurated today with a recital at the church at 7.15 p.m. Mr Buhagiar will play works by Bellini, Durante, Bach, Camidge, Vierne and Meyerbeer. Entrance is free.
Mr Buhagiar, 27, a graduate in electrical engineering, served a one-year apprenticeship at Mascioni in Varese, the oldest organ builder in Italy. He is the first and only Maltese member of the International Society of Organ Builders.
Over the past couple of years, he has also revamped the 1775 pipe organ in Naxxar and the 1778 pipe organ in Qrendi.
"Inzoli, who was a great inventor of innovative devices, devised an extremely delicate combination of a mechanical and pneumatic wind chest, making it possible for the pedal pipes to be played on the keyboard," said Mr Buhagiar.
"This is a unique artifact in the Maltese organ heritage.
"Not all the innovative devices by Inzoli worked out well in practice but the organ shows Inzoli's pioneering spirit and ingenuity. Another example of this is the pneumatic stop action system which is unique to the Maltese islands."
The organ has a bright and crisp sound with singing stops and reeds typical of 19th century Italian organs.
The organ was enlarged by the same builder in 1914 but this extension forced the instrument into too limited a space. While the restorer has managed to take out all the pipes, he had to go through a window in the façade of the church to fine-tune the organ after all the parts and pipes had been re-assembled - a manoeuvre of the kind no restorer looks forward to.
According to the original documents of the purchase of the organ, the metal pipes were coated in gold paint but somebody painted them over in grey.
The pipes have been re-painted in gold coloured paint "but the parts of the pipe that were not visible from the front and still had the original gold paint were left untouched," Mr Buhagiar said.
The two bellows and the ancient hand-blowing mechanism, which is a mechanical device in the shape of a large wheel connected to feeder-bellows, has been re-leathered and restored. This makes it possible to play the organ even during a power cut.
Gozo Channel Co. Ltd, Martin's Diner and the Augustinian Priory of Victoria have supported the restoration project.