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Organological study of the Harmonium of the Guayacán Church
Sebastián Carrasco Mendoza This work talks about several problematic but it is mainly centered in the relation between an
instrument and it socio-historical context. For that was necessary make a multidisciplinary focusing,
but at the same time it must include each point of view, this referral to the conception of the music
like a phenomenon, this idea was taken from the focusing from the Samuel Claro’s Musicology, then
was used the concepts about the historical fact and hermeneutics from the Carl Dahlhaus’s Historical
Musicology, the historical need and social role from the Kurt Blaupkof’s Sociology of the Music and
the ideas to described an instrument from the Curt Sachs’s Organology. From this point of view is
understandable the Guayacán’s Harmonium1 like an axis to the cultural development from there and
therefore like a unification agent of the town’s identity that was reflected through of polls and
interviews in the town and the church from there. For that was worked about the town history,
because don’t exist a one big text about it history and the important facts that enable comprehend
the rise, decline and stagnation current, although the town was very important in the second half of
the XIX’s century, not just in Chile also in the world. Now the problem is that many springs to
understand the reasons about the actual scenery have disappeared by the dead of Guayacán
inhabitants, and their history, traditions and culture have been transmitted orally, aspect that during
the development of the research is significant to understand the actual relation between the
harmonium and its environment.
Is important to say that in the no-commons aspects of this instrument, one of these is that it
was made by a company that in the XIX’s century was important, Mason & Hamlin was became in
one of the biggest competitors of the Steinwayn & Sons. The Mason & Hamlin power has a direct
relation with power that had the Urmeneta-Errázuriz family, owners of the factories, port and mines
in the Coquimbo Region, and for that they were the town’s owners. The Guayacán history was
divided in 3 big periods, the first one was the beginning and the rise of it, in which is possible remark
the importance that was generated in a town far away from Santiago, the Chile’s Capital, being the
biggest copper refinery from the world, giving much power to its owners who were influent politics
and businessman in Chile. In this way, the church arrived to the town from the Eiffel workshop and
was purchase by a Urmeneta’s daughter. This church is where the harmonium has been until today.
The second period is characterized by the bankrupt of all companies from the town, the dead of the
owners, these two subjects made the decline of the town and it did that the English people that
came to work like engineers emigrated out of the town, leaving mainly the poor people, who were
the social base of the current town; and the last important fact was the transfer of the companies to
the state and it killed the development of the town, closed all production in 1925, but also arrived
the priest Juan Van Hecke2, who raised the tradition from the church and relived the religion in the
town, his dead is the beginning of the third and actual period, which is characterized for the high
1 Guayacán is a little town at the south from Coquimbo, in the Coquimbo Region in Chile. 2 All the people from there said the name from him is Juan, but he is from Netherland, and nobody knew the exact date of his dead.
unemployed, but with a significant conscience of the identity of the town people and the elements
that include their identity, where are the architecture, history, traditions like the religious holidays,
the mass, inter alias; thus achieving the recognition of the town and it church like National Inheritage
by the National Council of Monument. The church is unique in Chile. Is important note that one of
the most important consequences from the bankrupt was the emigration of the rich people, mainly
English and aristocrats, making the actual homogenization of the town, being almost all of the
inhabitants from the same social and cultural origin.
For that reasons, the harmonium occupy an important role in the cultural progress of that
zone, as well it is in the same place that was since arrived and many people go to the mass from
there for harmonium, mainly old people, just by the sonority that has this instrument, being to them
like a “medium”3 to get closer to God. Actually, the harmonium isn’t used often, but it’s just why
nobody in the town knows play it and read the music that it has, generating a great frustrating
between the people desire and it realization. To the people from there the history, mechanism and
the music sheets that has the harmonium are an enigma, nevertheless many people knows very
significance information about it, but just keeping orally and mixed with some folktales. The
harmonium history is very linked with the town history, for that is divided in 3 periods also. The first
is when it arrived to the church, but this fact keep being a mysterious, as was identified a Liverpool
like the port where it came. At the beginning the harmonium was very important, because the
owners of the church knew play music and always went to Europe to buy organs, harmoniums or
things to the churches in Chile, making a historical need. The second period is related with the
economic decline of the town, but the harmonium had a rise with the arrived of the priest Juan Van
Hecke, who tried to rescue that tradition and in this time many books with music arrived to the
church, but to many people from the town the priest destroyed their inheritage as the church was
painted with other color and some stuff from inside disappeared, also the harmonium was included
and just appeared in 20014. When this priest died, the harmonium don’t use more being this it
current status but just is used to the Novena, a holyday that begin nine days before the big Religious
Holyday in January.
The research included a complete examination of the instrument that was opened fully to
identify the year of it, which model is and the mechanism that it has, because Mason & Hamlin was
characterized by the way that it built instruments so much different than the Europeans
harmoniums, in fact many of it recognition was by the innovations that putted in the instruments. Is
important to say that it company had a history very similar with the town, was one of the most
productive instruments builders and then was bankrupt but actually it just builds pianos. In this way
the instrument was dated to 1874 and it is a model Style T, kind of harmonium that appear just in
that year and never more was sold. Other important fact is when it was revised, was possible to see
that it wasn’t modified and is in its original status. It shows that the people are caring a lot of this
instrument and also to them is a symbol of the Guayacán rise period. The material that was found
inside of the harmonium are very interested and clarifier to understand the role of the musician in
the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council. This council is one of the most important
reasons why the organs and harmoniums itching to not be used, mainly in Latin America. Between
3 The word that they used was Vía in Spanish. I propose to see in the translation like a medium because is the
meaning closer to the idea that they give, because the harmonium transfer them to God. 4 To see more information about the transformation about the church you can visit the next website http://www.vitruvius.com.br/revistas/read/minhacidade/07.077/1934
the texts found were: Harmonium Schule de August Reinhard (1906), Lira Religiosa Americana
(1906), ¡Gloria al Señor!, Cancionero popular parroquial (1955), Cánticos para las funciones de la
igleisa con acompañamiento del armonio (1957)5, inter alias. All of its have musical material to
harmonium with voices in Latin and Spanish, also have prologue that explains how the musician
should be prepared to play and how they should organize the music to the mass. Also is relevant to
note that always the musician must be anonymous during the mass and all the voices must sound
like just one.
To close is remarkable the relation that the instrument had with it social context, as well it
was strongly linked with the families own of the town, who had a strong attachment with the
Catholic Church, that reflects in the purchase of many church including this, the obtaining of the
harmonium and many travels that they did to Holy Land, this aspect is very typical in the Chilean
aristocrat of the XIX century, also with a pyramidal society, where in the head is the families
Urmeneta-Quiroga and Errázuriz-Urmeneta; in the middle with the engineers principally English
people that believed in the protestant religion6; and at the end, the workers that in the mostly were
Chileans that arrived to Guayacán looking work and despite they lived in a catholic society, they
weren’t too close with the official religion, but rather they made their religiosity through popular
traditions and beliefs like the Religious Holiday. Like the result of the historical process that had the
town, actually the society from there is very homogenous, this characteristic is reflected in the
cohesion and in the development of a transversal identity covering all the ages of the people, but
now the biggest social differentiation is the relation that have each one with the past of the town,
when they arrived for example, for those arrived in the last year are seeing like guilty of the poor,
the crime, the bad image of the town and that to them don’t bother the inheritgae of there. In this
way the harmonium like a musical instrument, allow understand a part of the identity of the town
and it people, because in it is possible to see how the inhabitants want to rescue their past and rise
again, but in a cultural way. Also it shows the importance that has to them the music in the religion,
where actually the priest doesn’t care in preserve the traditional music and language, also is possible
see that a musical instrument is in the same way a mystic object that in the beginning was far of this
people but now they appropriated it and put inside of their identity being a very non-common case
in the Coquimbo Region, even though all these social facts are very representative of the Chilean
history.
5 This book is very important because was printed in Chile and the version that was found is the 4
th edition from
it that shows an important harmonium activity in Chile in the first half of the XX’s century. 6 Was found a recording that talk about a little chapel that they had but it was destroyed and also they founded a secular cementary where is buried jewish and protestants that someones fought in the WWI with Great Britain flag.