Organs in the Churches of the Opatów Deanery, the Sandomierz Diocese: Non-Preserved Instruments in Light of Archival Sources

Abstract

This article is based on the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth-century sources stored in the archives in Kraków, Sandomierz and Radom. The analysis of the data obtained led to the following conclusions: in the Deanery of Opatów twenty-two non-preserved instruments in eleven churches were found. They were small organs, with six to ten voices, the vast majority with a single manual. The exception was the 24-voice instrument in the Opatów collegiate church, with two manuals and a pedal. Some organs were equipped with additional devices – a tympanum and bells. They were all located in the music gallery. They served not only a musical function, but, painted and decorated with carvings, they were also an important element of the decoration of the temples. We know the names of the builders of six instruments: Jugiewicz, Kiehl, Homan (2), Szrejbert, and Kołodziejski.