Restorations   PARMA

THE STORY 

The oldest records of organs in Parma Cathedral date back to the first half of the 15th century when Andrea da Rimini and his son Pellegrino built a new organ, commissioned by the then Suffragan Bishop of Parma, Domenico da Imola. A century later, in the history of Duomo organs, the name of one of the most illustrious Italian organ-building families appears, "the Antegnati", who between 1556 and 1560 built a large organ for the Duomo, initially placing it in the Chapel of St. Paul (then the People's Chapel), only to move it a few months later to the central nave, as according to the people, "the instrument was too big and its sound too loud". The Antegnati's magnificent organ lasted a couple of centuries, then succumbed to time and use; so at the end of the 18th century, it was decided to build a new organ. At the Fabbriceria meeting on 9 September 1786, Can. Conte Scutellari suggested the name of Giuseppe Serassi. The Fabbriceri, well persuaded of the skill of the organ builder from Bergamo, who was already known throughout Italy for his works, entrusted a commission formed by Scutellari and Alessandro Zanelli-Morandi to conduct the negotiations. In May 1787, the Serassi family began assembly work on the instrument in the Cathedral, and on 15 August of the same year, on the Feast of the Assumption, the completed organ was inaugurated by Maestro Don Antonio Toscani, to the great satisfaction of all those present. From the papers in the Chapter Archive it appears that the organ had 1487 pipes and two keyboards. According to the critics of the time, this instrument was considered 'for its architecture and goodness, excellent, one of the most stupendous organs of the Serassi brothers of Bergamo'. In 1865, the organ builder Antonio Sangalli carried out a restoration and some changes to the structural layout.
Around 1940, the Organ, including the case, was dismantled and partly deposited in the attics of the Cathedral; of the instrument, the case, labial pipes and manticeria remain; the mummers, keyboards and reeds are missing.