30th of August 2025, "Fresco Sonoro" by Mauricio Silva Orendain
Fresco Sonoro: Triptych for Three Organs (2025) by Mauricio Silva Orendain
The organ, both as instrument and sound sculpture, explores the plastic qualities of sound through dynamic wind.
Delineating the non-linear spectromorphologies of the organ pipe through dynamic wind enables a unique manipulation of texture and form in sound, allowing this sonic triptych to unfold across time and space through the distinct sound layers of three organs from different epochs and backgrounds: the Arciorgano (left), a reconstruction of Vicentino’s 16th-century enharmonic organ offering 36 notes per octave; the Basso-continuo Orgel (middle), inaugurated in 2020 for the accompaniment of early music and offering five different tunings and four temperaments; and a module of L’Explorateur (right), a brand-new portable organ from Toulouse featuring a unique type of valve that functions like a loudspeaker to regulate the wind of each individual pipe.
Spanning over five centuries of organ building, the different tunings of each instrument, their distinct timbral palettes, and the use of dynamic wind create an interesting playground for interactions across pitch and timbre that blur the boundaries between the two. Their spatial placement, depicts an illusionistic depth, transforming the room into an abstract fresco painted not with pigment, but with sound.