Why go
Look for the so-called Organ of the Emperor in the transept and the other instruments around the choir and chapels. They reveal how music was distributed through the cathedral rather than confined to one performance space. The locations of these instruments make the building’s soundscape easier to picture.
The full story
Music has long been part of how Toledo Cathedral used its vast interior. Polyphonic singing spread through Castile in the fifteenth century, and organs took a prominent role in liturgy. The instrument known as the Organ of the Emperor stands in the transept; further organs were placed in the choir and major chapels. Cardinal Cisneros’s reform of the Corpus Christi chapel for the Mozarabic rite brought another organ into that setting. Instrumental accompaniment later included winds and strings as well as organs. The cathedral also developed a children’s choir, associated with a college founded by Cardinal Silíceo in 1557, although boys are mentioned in earlier services. Music here was therefore tied to education, ritual, and particular rooms, not only to a single great organ. If no service or concert coincides with your visit, the placement of the instruments still lets you imagine how sound could have moved through the transept, choir, and side chapels.