For the first time in modern history, the pipes of a medieval organ have made their authentic voice resound, after nearly eight hundred years of silence. It happened in Jerusalem, where Spanish musicologist David Catalunya, from the Complutense Institute of Musical Sciences (ICCMU), performed the 11th-century liturgical chant "Benedicamus Domino Flos filius" using the original pipes of the Bethlehem Organ. This extraordinary discovery marks a turning point in European organology studies and restores to the world a sound heritage once thought lost.

A discovery compared to a "musical Pompeii"

The project, the result of an international collaboration between ICCMU, the Terra Sancta Museum and the custos of the Holy Land, focuses on the organ hidden beneath the Basilica of the Nativity. The Franciscan friars had preserved its memory for centuries until, in 1906, during works near the Catholic cemetery, 222 bronze pipes, a carillon of 13 bells and other liturgical objects were unearthed.

For decades, however, the find remained on the margins of academic research. Only Catalunya, then a researcher at Oxford, brought the organ back into focus, making it the core of an ambitious scientific and musical project.

An authentic voice of the Middle Ages

Analyses have shown that some of the pipes, crafted over a thousand years ago, are still perfectly functional. This made possible the recreation of a unique sound experience: listening today to the same timbre that accompanied crusader liturgies in the Church of the Nativity.

"This organ was buried with the hope that one day it would play again," explained Catalunya. "Today its forgotten voice is heard once more, not only as an object of study, but as a living experience that unites art, history and emotion."

A project with international scope

At the official presentation, held at the Convent of San Salvatore in Jerusalem, researchers and representatives of the institutions involved took part. According to Álvaro Torrente, director of ICCMU:

"The Bethlehem Organ is like a living dinosaur, something that seemed impossible and that suddenly becomes reality before our eyes and ears."

The project, supported by the BBVA Foundation through the Leonardo 2025 grants, brings together musicology, sound archaeology and advanced technology, with the ultimate goal of faithfully reconstructing the entire instrument.

The future at the Terra Sancta Museum

The organ will become part of the Terra Sancta Museum Art and History, in the musical cloister hall now under construction in Jerusalem. The museum, promoted by the custos of the Holy Land with the support of the Belgian government and consulate, aims to enhance Christian heritage as a cultural bridge between peoples and religions.

"The results of this project will enrich the layout of the future musical cloister, offering visitors a unique experience of history and culture," said Br. Stéphane Milovitch, president of the museum’s board of directors.