PIPE ORGAN
This is the largest
pipe organ in use in a Japanese church,
made in Italy by
Mascioni Organs
and installed in 2004. It is especially designed to adapt to the
structure of the Cathedral.
■ Tokyo St. Mary
Cathedral Organ CD (sample♪)
Click
here to see the process of construction
Tokyo cathedral is a monument of our
time, built in the early 60s according to the plans of the architect
Kenzo Tange.
The organ, built in 2004 is a worthy completion of the interior of the
cathedral; it is located on the balcony above the main entrance and is
one of the few instruments in Japan on which is possible to propose
organ music in a contest different from the concert hall, giving back to
it its sacred and spiritual nature.
The sounds are clear and transparent, designed to resonate in the large
acustic of the church. The instrument reflects the old organ building
traditions but is also a modern and flexible instrument, conceived to be
used for liturgies and concerts. Special care was put in the intonation
of tipical italian stops, constructed after the measurements of
Antegnati and disposed in the Positiv. The lightness of the action, in
spite of the large dimension of the instrument, allows the organist a
perfect control of the touch.
The slightly unequal temperament (5 pure fifths, 5 fifths 1/6 of a comma
narrow, 2 fifths 1/12 of a comma narrow) gives beauty to the general
sound, allowing anyway the use of all the keys.
