Acquapagana and the Fedeli Family Organs

The Fedeli family represents the most important organ-building dynasty in the Marche region and one of the principal families in Italian organ craftsmanship from the 18th to the 20th century.

Active from the late 1600s to the early 1900s in various Italian regions such as Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Lazio, and Emilia Romagna, the Fedeli family also worked in major cities like Rome, Naples, Turin, and Venice, as well as Ferrara, Bologna, Modena, and Rovigo. The organs built by the Fedeli family and preserved to this day are estimated to number over two hundred, with a higher concentration in Marche, Umbria, and Abruzzo. They are evenly distributed throughout these regions, as well as in the Reatino and Ferrarese areas, where some branches of the family settled and remained active for several generations.

The instruments created by the Fedeli family range from small positive organs to impressive 16-foot organs. A significant example is the magnificent organ of the Basilica of San Bernardino in L’Aquila, built by Feliciano Fedeli in 1725-26, considered one of the monuments of Italian Baroque organ art. The Fedeli family constructed organs with one or two keyboards, but the most common model was the medium-sized wall organ, with a single keyboard and based on an 8-foot Principal, featuring around ten stops including both “ripieno” and “concerto” stops. These instruments were crafted with the same meticulousness and professional dedication, whether for small, poor village churches or the richly endowed cathedrals of major cities.

The primary residence and workshop of the Fedeli family were located in the current hamlet of Corgneto, near Acquapagana, in the municipality of Serravalle di Chienti, which was once part of the territory known as Rocchetta di Camerino. Here, their industrious workshop operated in a patriarchal fashion, with various family members collaborating. This workshop produced hundreds of excellent instruments over more than two centuries, until Domenico Fedeli moved the laboratory to Foligno. From the 19th to the 20th century, the family tradition continued with Zeno, the last nationally renowned member of the Fedeli family, known for an original production that embraced the technical and aesthetic demands of the so-called “Cecilian reform” while maintaining the high professional standards passed down by his ancestors.

Among the organs still admired today in the area, the one inside the Abbey of Acquapagana stands out.