University of Michigan Historic Tour XLIX

Timothy Huth

Timothy Huth holds a master’s degree and doctor of musical arts in organ performance from the University of Michigan. He is currently organist at First Presbyterian Church in Dearborn, Michigan, and a nationally certified massage therapist and cranial sacral therapist.

Led by Marilyn Mason and Gale Kramer, the University of Michigan Historic Tour LVI began on the Mediterranean in sunny Barcelona, then traversed southern France to Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast via Toulouse and Carcassonne. From there we followed Conques, Poîtiers, Angers, Orléans, Chartres, the Chapelle Royale at Versailles, and finally Paris itself. Historic churches and cathedrals with organs in the Catalan, French classic, and French symphonic traditions graced our way, and frequently our host organists would improvise, lecture, and assist tour members at the console. Several visits to museums and historical sites as well as sampling the local cuisines along the way complemented much music making.

Barcelona
Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is a vibrant cosmopolitan port city with ancient roots, with fine museums and architecture spanning centuries. Catalan organ building flowered here in the 16th century, taking a different path from that in Castile and central Spain, where organ building reached its peak in the 17th century. Linked by trade and geography to continental Europe, Catalonian builders were influenced by the Flemish, North Germans, and French. The organs usually have several reeds, although in Catalonia reeds never became as numerous or prominent as in the rest of Spain. Trompetas and Baixons (Clarins) are powerful and bright, and the organs are rich in mutations, cornets, and mixtures (Pie, Simbalet). Often there are colorful solo reeds on secondary divisions. Catalan cases are flat, narrow, and usually tucked into a small space. Even on smaller instruments there is usually a horizontal Trompeta or two, which affords economy of wind and space. Frequently there is a smaller Cadireta or Chair Organ suspended behind the organist (sometimes behind and under the organ bench), with a small chorus, mutations, and reed (Regalia, Cromorne, sometimes Trompetas).
As in baroque France, the music determined the registration—for example: Nazardo combinations using Nazardos and Quincenas; Lleno; Flautado; Campana (bell: unisons and Cymbalet). Rossignol, tympani, and bird stops are common. Often Iberian organ registrations were incorporated into builders’ contracts. Stops were divided for maximum flexibility of solo/accompaniment registration. The Principal (Cara 8′) would usually be of wood. Unique to Catalonian and Majorcan organ building, manuals divide between b2–c3 (in Castilian organs, c3–c#3).

Santa Maria del Mar
On the first day, we walked through Barcelona’s medieval city to Santa Maria del Mar (St. Mary of the Sea), where we met Neal Cowley, parish organist and a historian of Spanish organs. This vast basilica, built by Catalonian merchants and traders in the 13th century, has a history of important organs, beginning with Bernat Pons in 1393, and later instruments of 1464 and 1691. Lost in the Spanish Civil War were the 1797 ‘large organ’ by Jean-Pierre and Dominique Cavaillé (Aristide’s father and grandfather built several large organs in Barcelona) and the ‘small organ’ (1495, 1672, for accompanying chant). The current organ, the ‘small organ’, is a 17th-century instrument by an unknown builder from the convent in Vic. There are two manuals, a large 14-stop Orgue Major (II), and a 6-stop Cadireta (I). Using casework and pipes found in an antique shop and rescuing bellows and keyboards from an old farmhouse near Vic, Gerhard Grenzing rebuilt this instrument following the tradition of the period and by studying the few remaining period instruments. Particularly notable is the powerful warmth of the Cara, the blossom of the flutes, and impressive ensemble, able to fill the large Gothic space. The parish plans for a new ‘large organ’ to replace the lost Cavaillé.

Recitals—Barcelona Cathedral
At the Barcelona Cathedral (completed in 1298), eleven of our tour prepared for a late afternoon concert of Spanish music on the 1538 Pere Flamech organ (IV/58), with its casework by Antoni Carbonel towering over the San Ivo door near the apse. One of four major organs by Flamech, it has been significantly modified over the years. The ‘Batalla’ organ (IV) of Trompeta Magna 16′, Trompeta Real and Clarins Clars 8′, Baixons and Clarins Alts 4′, and Violetes 2′ (all horizontal reeds) resonated through this vast space scented with candles and incense and alive with thousands of pilgrims and visitors.
Academia a l’Orgue Barroc
Later that week, tour members performed at the ‘Academia a l’Orgue Barroc’ at La Poble de Cérvoles, where our hosts were Maria Nacy, the Academia founder, with three of her enthusiastic young students. The Academia’s organ hangs on the mid-front right wall of the parish church. It is a stunning restoration by Wilfried Praet of a 2-manual/8′ Pedal 1752 Anton Cases organ, with a 3-stop Cadireta Interior added by Joseph Cases/Soler in 1784. Another very fine Praet reconstruction was at St. Jaume, Ulldemolins. This 2-manual instrument with full choruses, bright reeds, and lovely Cara featured painted case doors of the Annunciation by an anonymous female artist. An El Greco painting behind the altar and Catalan icons completed the space. The organ, brought to the church via an enthusiastic priest and funded by parish and town, is a source of regional pride. Back in Barcelona, Gerhard Grenzing welcomed us to his workshop, where we saw several works in progress. Grenzing’s repertoire of over 170 organs includes significant European restorations and new instruments (e.g., Brussels Cathedral IV/60).

Cathedral de Santa Maria, Castello d’ Empúries
On our last day in Catalonia we saw the great Gothic Cathedral de Santa Maria, Castello d’Empúries, originally with an 11th-century instrument by Pere Granyera. The 51-stop, 4-manual gallery instrument (Scherer circa 1600/Grenzing 2004) combines Spanish and classical French characteristics with an expanded 16′ Pedal and stops of Spanish and continental nomenclature (e.g., Alemanya IV on the Orgue Major, Oboe, but also Trompeta Batalla and Magna). This is one of the great organs of this region of Spain and France.
Following a visit to Salvador Dalî’s seaside home and his fantastical museum at Figueras, the rolling hills and meadows of France welcomed us to the Abbey of Sainte-Marie, Fontfroide. Following Cistercian tradition, this vast Romanesque abbey church never had an organ; the Offices and Mass were all chanted a cappella.

Basilica of SS. Nazarius and Celsus, Carcassonne
Many great (now former) monasteries and churches are along ancient pilgrim and trade routes. In the walled city of Carcassonne, the Basilica of SS. Nazarius and Celsus has a Romanesque nave around which, in 1269, a Gothic cathedral was built. Fourteenth-century stained glass illumines the 1522 organ case. The instrument combines a 1679 organ by Jean de Joyeuse (III/24), with renovations and an 8-stop Récit added by Jean-Pierre Cavaillé in 1775 (III/32). Fomentelli integrated the two instruments in 1985 (IV/40). Here is an example of the late French classic style, with cornets on every manual, Grand Cornet, and powerful bombardes. Unique to the Carcassonne organ are two Positif divisions (Positif Intérieur and Positif de dos), in addition to the Récit and 28-note Pédale. The upraised faces of tourists and pilgrims toward the loft attested to this captivating instrument as Marilyn Mason gave an impromptu lesson on de Grigny.
A visit to L’église Sainte Marie de Cintegabelle brought us to Moucherel’s splendid 1741 instrument, restored in 1989 by Boisseau & Cattiaux, with its sparkling Plein Jeu, voluptuous Grands Jeux, and stunning wide and shallow case topped by golden angel musicians.

Toulouse, Languedoc, Dordogne
In Toulouse, organist Jean-Claude Guidarini led us to Saint-Pierre des Chartreux, where high over the former Dominican choir area in the large apse presides the 1683 Delauney (IV/51) instrument, restored by Joseph Cavaillé-JB Micot in 1783, and Grenzing 1983. Several hours later we walked to Saint-Sernin and the towering Cavaillé-Coll organ of 1889, with pipework from Daublaine-Callinet (1845). Following Guidarini’s brilliant improvisation, our group enjoyed hours of playing in the empty basilica.
At Albi in Languedoc, Mary Prat-Molinier met us high in the loft at the red brick fortress of the Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile, built at the end of the Albigensian crusade (13th century). Built in 1735 by Christophe Moucherel as a 43-stop organ, Lépine added a Bombarde manual in 1747, and Formentelli restored it in the mid 1970s, incorporating many remaining pipes. Each division has a Cornet séparé, and the Voix humaine is new, after that of Cintegabelle. Next door we enjoyed the Toulouse-Lautrec museum in the former bishop’s palace.
At Sarlat-la-Canéda in the Dordogne valley, near a lively public market in this medieval city, Henry Jullien, a former pupil of Susan Landale, improvised and shared console time on a unique 37-stop Jean-François Lépine organ of 1750, restored by Cattiaux in 2005, in the Cathedral of Saint-Sacerdos. From a family of builders, Lépine (who built for Saint-Roch in Paris) was a pupil of Dom Bedos, who inspected this instrument. The organ is 80% original, with drawings and clues in the gallery floorboard greatly aiding in the reconstruction of the action, chest layout, and winding system.

Bordeaux
The next day at Sainte-Croix Abbey in Bordeaux, we heard Daniel Tappe (a graduate of Oberlin, now at the Musik Hochschule at Hanover) in a recital of Clérambault, Froberger, Bach, and Kerll on Dom Bedos de Celles’ masterpiece. The 18th-century verdigris case with golden filigree and 16′ Montre glistened as the room filled with the sound of brilliant, powerful trompettes and cornets, full flutes, and the gravitas of the 32′ Bourdon and Grand Plein-jeu XIII of the Grand Orgue. One of the hallmarks of every great organ that we saw were the foundation stops, which, given the materials and acoustics of the churches, provided a richness and warmth supporting the tonal edifice. In the restoration, Pascal Quoirin of Carpentras followed Bedos’ 1766–78 L’Art du Facteur d’Orgues and used early inventories of the instrument as well as extant pipes, including the battered façade. With a full complement of couplers, reeds on all manuals, manual bombardes, and the ability to create terraced dynamics, the organ is capable of a more diverse repertoire and is clearly along the road toward the new symphonic style.

Poitiers
Following the Loire valley, we arrived at the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre in Poitiers. A lack of money prevented Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s planned rebuild of François-Henri Clicquot and son Claude-François’ masterpiece, a 16′ ‘Grand Orgue’ of four manuals, 44 stops, and 28-note Pedale, with its original temperament including four perfect thirds. Organist Jean-Baptiste Robin pointed out that while of classical disposition, the organ carries the power and presence of later organs and is capable of a more diverse repertoire. Later in the week at St. Godard in Rouen, titular organist Nicholas Pien conversely spoke of their 1885 Cavaillé-Coll (III/38) and its ability to perform Vierne as well as French Baroque pieces. Widor, who dedicated the St. Godard organ, called it ‘Raphael’ to distinguish it from the Cavaillé-Coll in St. Ouen, which he called ‘Michelangelo’. With its piquant Swell Gambe and powerful intense reeds, it has an immediate presence in this smaller Gothic structure with wooden floor and ceiling. A Cavaillé-Coll choir organ (II/16) graces the apse.

Loire Valley
In the Loire Valley, we toured Fontevrault Abbey, a former monastic community of men and women under an abbess (later a prison where the author Jean Genet spent time), and the burial place of Eleanor of Aquitaine. That afternoon, following the Loire River, we came to the Cathédrale Saint-Maurice in Anjou province. The carved neo-Gothic staircase to the gallery matched the spired towers of the 1879 Cavaillé-Coll, containing earlier pipework, including a 1742 Positif. Restoration after World War II included electrification and additional stops.

Chapelle Royale at Versailles
Our gateway to Paris was the gilt and marble Chapelle Royale at Versailles, with its IV/37 instrument in the musicians’ gallery over the high altar. François Couperin premiered the Etienne Enocq/Robert Clicquot organ in 1711, and Gonzalez rebuilt it in 1936 (Widor wanted to keep the earlier 1873 Cavaillé-Coll rebuild). Recently, Boisseau et Cattiaux scrupulously restored the 1710 organ, keeping the 1736 (Louis-Alexandre Clicquot) and 1762 (Francois-Henri Clicquot) additions. Its console has features of the Poitiers organ, and it is also a 16′ instrument.
Paris, La Madeleine
We arrived in Paris to play the 1847 Cavaillé-Coll organ at the church of La Madeleine (IV/46). Here is Cavaillé-Coll’s first Voix Céleste and first reverse console (now electrified). Planned-for 8′ and 4′ Trompettes-en-Chamade have been added. Organiste-Titulaire François-Henri Houbart improvised à la Dupré, starting from the wide breadth of the Flûte Harmonique and colorful solo stops through waves of mixtures and reeds to full organ and powerful choruses anchored by the Bombarde. It was a thrill to play the Tournemire Te Deum in this grand space on this venerable instrument.

Saint-Gervais
Our last few days in Paris saw visits to still more instruments. The final Sunday of the tour found some of our group in the loft with Jean-Paul Leguay at Notre-Dame Cathedral, some at Saint-Eustache, and others at Mass at Saint-Sulpice with the sublime improvisations and service playing of Daniel Roth. That afternoon at Saint-Gervais where eight generations of Couperins worked, Elise Frist, an assistant organist, ably demonstrated the organ (V/41, 1628 Thierry, 1768 FH Clicquot, 1843 LP Dallery, 1974 Gonzalez, 2003 Muhlrisen). Indeed, the Couperins’ music fitted the organ well, with its balanced ensembles and clarity of voicing evoking that of Lépine, Delauney or Clicquot. Much original pipework remains, and the console has the oldest keyboards in Paris. The original pedalboard is mounted on the rear case, which is also embellished with etchings and photos of the many organists who have played and worked there.

Sainte-Marguerite and
Notre-Dame de Chartres
Sunday evening found us again in recital, this time featuring music of Widor, Tournemire, Dupré, and improvisations at the church of Sainte-Marguerite, built in 1624, and where the young Dauphin Louis XVII is buried. The organ is an 1878 installation by Stoltz Frères of Alsace.
A side trip to Notre-Dame de Chartres found us in the gallery with headphones on to be able to properly hear the instrument (IV/68, Relevage Jean-Marc Cicchero 1996). Without them we were surrounded by sounds of the Pédalier.

L’Église Saint-Antoine des Quinze Vingts
At l’Église Saint-Antoine des Quinze Vingts we found a unique 1894, 48-stop Cavaillé-Coll originally built for the Baron de l’Espée, who wished to play Wagner in his personal hotel on the Champs-Élysées. A purely symphonic instrument, it was moved to the church and enlarged in 1907.

Notre-Dame d’Auteuil and
Sainte-Clothilde
The Grand-Orgue of Notre-Dame d’Auteuil (Cavaillé-Coll 1884, Gloton-Debierre 1937–38) is a shining example of Cavaillé-Coll’s mature work. Dedicated by Widor in 1884, its sound evoked that of Saint-Sulpice. It is one of the most glorious instruments this organist has ever experienced. The 1938 renovation, under the auspices of a committee with Tournemire, Vierne, Duruflé, and Dupré, preserved the entire organ (III/52), enlarged and enclosed the Positif, and added pedal and manual mixtures. Josef Franck, the brother of César, was organist here, and in 1884 Widor and Dellier played the dedication. Its full flutes, generous fonds, and bombardes of great gravitas are well balanced and perfectly blended in the room. This was a favorite organ of the Duruflés and much of Paris; Marie-Madeleine Duruflé attended Mass here in her later years. Titular organist Frédéric Blanc told us that the original instrument intended for the church was loaned to the French government, whereupon Cavaillé-Coll enlarged it and installed it in the Trocadéro, which opened in 1878. At Sainte-Clothilde, assistant organist Olivier Penin improvised on the 1859 Cavaillé-Coll, renovated by Dargassies in 2004. It was a thrill to also play the instrument of Langlais, Pierné, Franck and Tournemire.

La Trinité
The La Trinité organ was built by Cavaillé-Coll in 1869 and reconstructed after the Paris Commune in 1871. Merklin rebuilt it in 1901, and in 1934 Pleyel-Cavaillé added combination action, batteries of reeds and mutations, and mixtures. It was again rebuilt in 1965 by Beuchet-Debierre, with further alterations and additions in 1984 and 1992. Messiaen referred to the remaining older pipework as the most admirable sounds on the instrument and considered the instrument a masterpiece.

Saint-Étienne-du-Mont and
Saint-Roch
Our final afternoon found us at Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, with organist titulaire Vincent Warnier improvising in the style of Duruflé, after which we spent several hours at the console. In 1930 when Maurice Duruflé was appointed here, the ailing 1873 Cavaillé-Coll (a rebuild of a 17th-century organ with original case) was renovated in consultation with Tournemire and Dupré. Work resumed after World War II (Marilyn Mason recalled her lessons on the front choir organ shortly after the war). Now electrified and enlarged, the main organ has been transformed and still possesses many pipes from all of its incarnations. Its brightness and color complement the wonderful late flamboyant Gothic sunlit nave of the church and indeed the music of Maurice Duruflé.
The last church we visited was Église Saint-Roch and its III/54 Cavaillé-Coll (1840, 1862), restored by Renaud in 1992, including the mechanical action with Barker levers on the Grand Orgue. At Saint-Roch, Cavaillé-Coll used pipework from previous organs dating to 1751. That evening, the group celebrated our final dinner near Sacré-Coeur Basilica on Montmartre.
Historic Organ Tour LVI showed us many treasures of the organ world from Catalonia and France. These instruments and the music written for them become vibrantly alive when yet again the organist places hands on those historic keys. From the camaraderie of our tour group to the magnificent organs of the Catalonian Renaissance and French classical and symphonic traditions, to the food and wine enjoyed on terraces in the warm evenings, our venture was a fun and enlightening two weeks.

 

Tour members
Betsy Cavnar
Jeffrey Chase
Christine Chun
Joanne Vollendorf Clark
John Clark
Ronald DeBlaey
Richard Ditewig
Bela Feher
Janice Feher
Esther Goh
Steven Hoffman
Timothy Huth
Jerry Jelsema
Gale Kramer
Evelyn Lim
Rose Lim
Marilyn Mason
Enid Merritt
Paul Merritt
Mary Morse
Winnifred Pierce
Jean Savage
John Savage

Almar Otjes (tour guide)

by Marian Archibald

The 38th Historic Organ Tour, sponsored by the University of Michigan and led by Marilyn Mason, took place August 3-20, 1998, entitled "In the Steps of Bach."

For two weeks we journeyed from west to east across the "waistline" of Germany, visiting most of the places where Bach lived, plus Dresden, Gera, and Berlin. Among the organs played by the group were at least three (two Hildebrandts and a Trost) that Bach had proven, and one that Handel had played; 10 organs of Gottfried Silbermann, plus the copy which is in the Silbermann Museum.  In total, we visited 41 organs, playing 30 of them.

Day 1. We arrived in Frankfurt, a group of 35 which included 21 organists.  A long bus ride into what used to be called "East" Germany took the group to Eisenach, where we first visited the Georgenkirche. In a special moment, Marilyn Mason gathered us around the font where Bach was baptized--still in use today. We played the modern baroque-style 3/35 Schuke on the west wall, visited the Bachhaus, and then travelled to Weimar.

Day 2. Walking tour of Weimar and  visit to the city Church of Sts. Peter & Paul where J. G. Walther worked; dark Lucas Cranach altar paintings. Immense live sunflowers on the altar glow in sunlight streaming directly onto them.

Bus to Arnstadt. Lunch at Goldene Sonne with Herr Schockinger, our gracious chef. We played the 1964 2/15 Schuke organ at the Liebfraukirche and visited the Bach Museum. The "Bach Church" where Bach worked 1703-1707 is being renovated.

Short ride to tiny village of Dornheim:  small, lovely white interior of the church where Bach married his first wife, his cousin Maria Barbara Bach.  We played the Scheinfeld 2/16 organ.

Bach worked for the Duke of Weimar from 1708-1717. The palace and chapel where he played have not survived.  Friedemann and C.P.E. were born in a house, the site of which is now occupied by part of our Hotel Elephant.

Day 3. Bus to Muehlhausen, attend Lutheran worship at St. Blasius Church, where Bach worked 1707-8. After the service, pastor greeted us and eloquently explained history of the church in English. Later we played two organs in Gotha.

Day 4. Naumburg, to play at Wenzels-kirche (Church of St. Wenceslaus) the large Hildebrandt organ, originally 3 manuals/54 stops, 75 ranks, that was proved by Bach and Silbermann in 1746 and pronounced good.  Altnikol, Bach's son-in-law, worked there. Irene Greulich, who has played there since 1971, told us that in 1933 the action was electrified; now it is being restored to its original action.  The Rueckpositiv pipes (13 stops, 18 ranks) were the only ranks present;  we played them--what a wonderful sound. The other 3/4 of the remaining facade is empty. Herman Eule of Bautzen is doing the restoration.

Day 5. We visited tiny Rötha, south of Leipzig, and enjoyed the luxury of 11/2 hours each in two churches, each with a Silbermann organ placed, as usual, high on the west wall. Our first Silbermanns--and two of them! We met Maria Schödel, a long-time friend of Marilyn Mason, who for 30 years has been fortunate to have  these two Silbermanns at her disposal.

The Silbermann two-octave pedalboard is placed far to the right compared to American standards. We played pedal pieces at our own risk. Our learning on this trip came not simply from playing, but also from watching, occasionally pulling stops for others, walking around the church to hear the organ from different locations, or just sitting and reveling in the beauty of the sound and the interior of the church. The Marienkirche has a 1722 1/11/12 Silbermann; the St. Georgen-Kirche a 2/23/30 (2 manuals, 23 stops, 30 ranks) from 1721; the latter is the inspiration for the Marilyn Mason Organ at the University of Michigan which was built by Charles Fisk in 1985. As tour group members played, Dr. Mason pulled stops and gave us mini-lessons on site.

Leipzig. We visited the Thomaskirche, where Bach was music director from 1723 until his death in l750. (No organ that Bach played survives here.) We gathered at his grave, placed flowers and sang a hymn together. Bach was no longer simply a name on paper. The fact that he was a human being--who was born, baptized, married, buried one wife, buried some children and raised many others, worked hard and died--seemed new and vivid, the acoustical joys more real, the human griefs more sad, now that we had been in these places.

Days 6, 7. In Dresden to visit Silbermann's last and largest organ (3/47/70) in the Dresden Hofkirche; the next day we played his earliest extant instrument, the only other surviving three-manual, 3/45/68, in the very ornate Freiberg Cathedral. (Freiberg in Saxony, near Dresden.) Bach did not live in Dresden, but he could visit its opera and other wonders from Leipzig.

Day 8. We visited the tiny village of Grosshartsmannsdorf which has a superb 2/21/25+ Silbermann "scraping the ceiling,"  with soft flutes to die for. That evening five of us (Marguerite Thal, Margarete Thomsen, Steven Hoffman, Marian Archibald, Kurt Heyer) played the Kindermann Magnificat and four of us sang the chant in recital in the town of Klettbach. The village church has a lovely 1725 Schroeter 2/16/18+. Some of these tiny churches with lovely old organs are unable to find an organist. Life in the old "East" Germany is quite difficult.  I am tempted to offer to be an interim for a few months!

Day 9. To Altenburg to play the Trost organ that Marilyn Mason will play in recital this evening. The castle church is long and narrow, with the Trost, 2/36/53, filling one long side wall. The organ even includes a Glockenspiel.  Bach played the Trost organ at least twice, around 1739.  Before we tried the sounds, Dr. Felix Friedrich gave us a fine demonstration of the entire instrument. The 16' Quintadena and bowed-sounding Viola da Gamba on the Hauptwerk are amazing. In the afternoon we drove to the small town of Ponitz, where the Silbermann organ is in the front balcony. Silbermann lived in the town for six months in 1736-37 while installing the organ. At the Altenburg Schloss Marilyn Mason's exciting recital displayed the glories of the Trost organ in music by Dandrieu, Couperin, Bach, Calvin Taylor, and Guilmant.

Day 10. We  exchanged greetings at the Silbermann Museum in Frauenstein with the scholar, Werner Mueller, who founded the Museum and has written about Silbermann. We played the lovely 1/7 copy of an organ, the original of which is in Bremen.  Special items: useful model of how a tracker works; map of where Silbermanns are, were played, or were destroyed (several were destroyed in World War II; the masterpiece in the Dresden Hofkirche had been removed and was thus saved); copies and originals of contracts for organs.

Day 11. To  Halle, Wittenberg and Berlin.  In Halle we played both organs in the large church: a small, but powerful, 7-rank which Handel played on the east wall; a large 3/40 opposite it,more recent. We visited the house where Handel was born, now a museum,where there are three small organs. In Wittenberg, we visited the castle church, on which door Luther nailed the 95 theses in 1517.

Day 12. We toured Berlin.

Day 13. Visit to the Kirche zur Frohen Botschaft (Good News Church) in a Berlin suburb, Karlshorst. Organist Roland Muench spoke briefly and demonstrated the wonderful "Princess Amalie" organ, built in 1755 by Peter Migend and played by C.P.E. Bach. The organ has had many homes, but then found rest in this resonant 1905 building, which was used as a stable in the war. This was our last church. We had a fine tour of the Schuke organ shop in the southern suburbs of Berlin.

Day 14. We flew home with many wonderful memories.

Two tours take place in 1999:  U. of M. Historic Tour XXXIX: Italy: Music and Mosaics May 3-13. U. of M. Historic Tour XL: Northern Germany & Schnitger August 3-13. Information from Marilyn Mason 734/764-2500; e-mail  [email protected]

--Marian Archibald

Carl Parks

Carl Parks, a freelance writer, is organist-choirmaster of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Holmes Beach, Florida, and a past dean of the Sarasota-Manatee Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Photographs are by the author.

Saxony’s Organs and Bachfest Leipzig 2004: A study tour of Bach, Luther & Silbermann

Every organist dreams of playing the Saxony region’s baroque organs that were designed, performed on, and approved by Johann Sebastian Bach. That, combined with the annual Bachfest Leipzig 2004, proved irresistible.

The annual Bach Festival in Leipzig, Germany--with day trips to hear and play over a dozen historic organs, many known to J. S. Bach--provided 27 of us an unforgettable study tour May 12 to 26. The tour included 16 festival concerts, lectures by Bach scholar Dr. Christoph Wolff of Harvard University, guided tours of the cities visited, and the opportunity for masterclasses with Thomaskirche organist Ulrich Böhme. It was Historic Organ Tour 50 led by the University of Michigan’s University Organist Dr. Marilyn Mason.

After a bus tour and night in Berlin, we proceeded on May 14 to Wittenberg. Our walking tour took us through the Luther House, which is the world’s largest museum of Reformation history, and the Schloßkirche, where Martin Luther presented his 95 theses and is now buried. After lunch next door in the Schloßkeller we arrived in Leipzig on time for the festival’s opening concert at the Thomaskirche, where Bach was Kantor for 27 years. Three settings of Psalm 98, by Bach (BWV 225 and 190) and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (Opus 91) were given a world-class performance by the church’s boys’ choir, soloists, and the Gewandhaus orchestra conducted by Georg Christoph Biller. The Sinfonia in D from the Easter Oratorio (BWV 249) opened the concert.

Leipzig

Our walking tour of Leipzig the next morning showed a city coming to life again since the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and the reunification of Germany. Construction is everywhere. Historic buildings are being cleaned and restored, while the big, vacant housing projects and other Stalinist architecture are about to be torn down. One grim building about to be razed sits on the site of the University Church, which the Communists dynamited. The church will be rebuilt with an organ designed but never built by Gottfried Silbermann, the great master of organ building during the baroque era. Unfortunately, unemployment in Leipzig is around 20 percent, while in other eastern cities of the former DDR it is as high as 28 percent.

Leipzig is a city of music. Excellent street musicians play the classics everywhere within the ancient confines of this once-walled burg. Walks to the Bach Museum, Mendelssohn House, Musical Instrument Museum or a concert are always a treat. We often paused to hear a flautist, a xylophonist, even a full brass choir playing Henry Purcell’s Trumpet Tune in D.

Thomaskirche

The first of Saturday’s three festival concerts opened with Ulrich Böhme playing Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue on the Bach Organ in the north gallery of Thomaskirche. This 4-manual, 60-stop organ was built by Woehl in 2000 and replaces an earlier 3-manual instrument built in 1966 by Schuke. It duplicates the organ that Bach knew as a boy in Eisenach. While its location is certainly not what Bach would specify, the large-scale principals and overall tonal design provide the “gravitas” he found so necessary. And the organ sounds well throughout the church despite its location on the side. Jürgen Wolf playing all 30 Goldberg Variations on harpsichord at Nikolaikirche followed. The evening concert in the Gewandhaus featured fortepianos and orchestra in performances of Bach and Mendelssohn works.

Sunday’s services at Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche are like those in Bach’s day and always include the performance of a Bach cantata at the liturgy of the word. The afternoon festival concert, again on the Thomaskirche Bach Organ, was a reconstruction of Mendelssohn’s organ recital of August 6, 1840, performed by Michael Schönheit. His improvisation on the Passion Chorale in the style of Mendelssohn was similar in structure to the Sixth Sonata and brought a standing ovation, a much less common occurrence in Europe than the United States.

Among the many excellent concerts, Matthias Eisenberg’s Ascension Day performance of  Max Reger’s Fantasie and Fugue on B-A-C-H stands out in particular. The entire sell-out crowd remained through a long, standing ovation until he improvised an equally stunning encore on Thomaskirche’s west gallery organ. That instrument was built by Wilhelm Sauer in 1899, who then extended it to 88 stops in 1907. A fund to restore this big tubular pneumatic has so far raised 100,000 of the 300,000 euros being sought.

Nikolaikirche

A similar romantic organ is almost restored in the west gallery of Nikolaikirche, but was not ready for this year’s Bachfest. It was built by Friedrich Ladegast in 1862 and expanded to 84 stops by Sauer from 1902 to 1903. Near the apse, the church also has a 17-stop organ that was built by Eule in 2002 in the style of Italian organs of the baroque era. As Kantor of Thomaskirche, J. S. Bach was also was the city’s civic director of music, giving him duties at Nikolaikirche. Thus, it was here that many of his cantatas and other works were performed for the first time.

Rötha

A bus trip on May 17 took us to Rötha, a city with two Silbermann organs. Dedicated in 1721 by Johann Kuhnau, the Silbermann in St. George church was the model for the Marilyn Mason Organ built by Fisk for the University of Michigan. A smaller Silbermann at St. Mary’s church was dedicated in 1722. Some of our group joined a masterclass with Ulrich Böhme, while others went on to Weimar. The pedalboards on these old Silbermann organs take some getting used. Not only are they flat, but the spacing is different from modern pedalboards. They also lack a low C-sharp and other notes at the top end. As Marilyn Mason explained, heel and toe pedaling worked out for pieces learned on a modern pedalboard must be changed to a technique using mostly the toes.

European acoustics demand slower tempi and proper phrasing to a greater extent then the dry acoustics of most American churches. For speech reinforcement, Germans take an approach that differs from our boom-box public address systems. Stässer loudspeakers, measuring approximately 18 x 21/2 x 21/2 inches, are mounted on each of a church’s columns, with electronic reinforcement delayed to match the time sound takes to travel. This permits clarity of the spoken word without compromising the divine ambiance for which the music was composed.

Gottfried Silbermann

Gottfried Silbermann was born in 1683, the son of a craftsman-woodworker. From 1702 to 1707 he studied organ-building with his elder brother Andreas in Strasbourg and Thiery in Paris. A condition was that Gottfried would not work in his brother’s territory. So in 1710 Gottfried returned to his native Saxony and set up shop centrally in Freiberg. His first commission was for a small, one-manual and pedal, 15-stop organ for his hometown of Frauenstein. So well-received was this first instrument, completed in 1711, that in the same year Freiberg’s Dom St. Marien (Cathedral of St. Mary) invited the young builder, then only 28 years old, to construct a new organ of three manuals and pedal with 44 stops. This was completed in 1714. Thereafter Silbermann built some 45 instruments, 31 of which are still extant. All are located within or very close to the Saxon borders. 

Gottfried Silbermann was given the official title of Court Organbuilder by Frederick I, at that time King of Poland and Duke of Saxony. Similarly, J. S. Bach had the title of Court Composer. The two were great friends, and often discussed the techniques and acoustics of organ building. Silbermann was Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach’s godfather and a regular visitor to the Bach home in Leipzig. The two even worked together on the escapement mechanism for the world’s first fortepianos.

Silbermann believed that an organ should look as beautiful as it sounds, and his organ cases are truly beautiful. Also, in a play on words of his name, this “silver man” was known for the silver sound of his pipes. His organs typically have a Hauptwerk that is scaled for gravitas, a Brustwerk scaled to be delicate, an Oberwerk to be penetrating, and a Pedal scaled for a grandness of sound that produces foundation without necessarily using a lot of pipes. Compared to Arp Schnitger, the organs of Silbermann are more spacious with the pipes less densely arranged. 

Eisleben and Halle

Another bus trip took us to Eisleben. Here we visited the houses where Martin Luther was born and died, and the church where he was baptized. Further on in Halle, we stopped to play two organs in the Marktkirche, where Georg Friedrich Händel was baptized and learned to play the organ. That organ is a one-manual instrument of six stops built in 1664 by Reichel. It has all of its original pipes as well as meantone tuning. At the other end is a much larger organ in a baroque case. It is a three-manual, 40-stop instrument built by Schuke in 1984. Both had recently been restored, following extensive damage to the church from a broken city steam pipe. We then visited the Handel House, which has several chamber organs, and we took turns playing the newly restored organ built by Johann Gottlieb Mauer in 1770.

Altenburg, Störmthal and Pomßen

On May 21 we visited Altenburg. It is here that Heinrich Trost built an organ in the Schloßkirche from 1736 to 1739, the same year Bach played it. Eule restored it in the mid-1970s. After walking up well-worn stone steps in one of the castle’s circular stairwells, we found ourselves in the balcony opposite this magnificent instrument. Demonstrating was Dr. Felix Friedrich, a scholar of Johann Ludwig Krebs. Marilyn Mason, who was familiar with the instrument, pulled stops for those of us who played and offered suggestions. Among the more interesting stops is a viola that speaks with an attack and harmonic development nearly identical to that of a bowed string instrument, making it ideal for trio sonatas. 

Further on in the village church of Störmthal is the only Hildebrandt organ still in its original condition. Zacharias Hildebrandt was a student of Gottfried Silbermann. He built the two-manual instrument that was inspected and approved by his friend J. S. Bach in 1723. Kantor Thomas Orlovski demonstrated the instrument and registered it for those of us who played. 

The afternoon took us to Pomßen’s 750-year-old Wehrkirche. Originally built as a fortress, this Romanesque church is home to the oldest organ in Saxony. The instrument has one manual and pedals that play 12 stops, plus a Cimbelstern and Vogelgesang. Built in 1570, the organ was purchased second-hand to save money, and it was installed in 1690. It has been well maintained since its restoration in 1934 and was a thrill to play. 

Naumburg

Several of us had expressed an interest in playing the newly restored organ in Wenzelkirche, Naumburg, which was not on our tour. It is the largest instrument built by Zacharias Hildebrandt from 1743 to 1746, comprising 53 stops on three manuals and pedals. His old teacher Gottfried Silbermann examined the instrument and approved it, finding it to be as beautiful as his own but much larger. J. S. Bach had assisted with its design; and, when he played it, he found all the qualities he liked: thundering basses, strong mixtures, and beautiful solo stops. We convinced enough in our group to charter a bus and rent the organ the morning of May 22. 

Words can describe neither the baroque splendor nor the divine ambience of the vast St. Wenzel interior. There, Kantor Irene Greulich demonstrated the organ. Frau Greulich is a fine organist who has performed and given masterclasses at the University of Michigan. She and Marilyn Mason have a friendship that began before Germany’s reunification, when the organ had been playable from an electro-pneumatic console of the 1930s in the balcony below. They registered the organ for those of us who played, thus ensuring that nobody touched the original pen and ink inscriptions in the drawknobs.

A walk to the Dom SS. Peter and Paul revealed a handsome new organ under construction in a fenced-in area in the nave. No information was available, but among the pipes to be installed were wooden resonators, presumably for a Posaune. The building is late Romanesque and Gothic from the 13th century.

That evening we attended a very fine concert of The Creation by Joseph Haydn at the Hochschüle for Music and Theater. It was sung by soloists and choir from the school and the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Roland Borger conducting. We heard it as Die Schöpfung, Haydn’s own translation from English for German audiences.

The last day of Bachfest included breathtaking performances of the St. Matthew Passion, the Mass in B Minor, and pieces written for organ, four hands, played by Ulrich Böhme and his wife Martina at Thomaskirche. The Matthäus-Passion performance was a reconstruction of that given by Mendelssohn on April 4, 1841. Thus, orchestration made use of instruments that had replaced those of Bach’s time. A continuo organ was played with the orchestra. The chorales, however, made use of the Gewandhaus’ 89-stop instrument built in 1981 by the Schuke-Orgelbau of Potsdam. The festival closing concert of the B-minor Mass was in Thomaskirche, with 85-year-old Eric Ericson conducting.

Freiberg and Frauenstein

After we checked out of our hotel, our bus took us southeast to Freiberg. There, in the Freiberg Dom we played two fine Silbermann organs. The larger was built from 1711 to 1714 and has a particularly remarkable case with ornamentation by Johann Adam Georgi. It has 44 stops across three manuals and pedal. The small organ of 1719 has 14 stops on one manual and pedal. 

We continued to the Silbermann Museum in Frauenstein, located in a medieval castle, and the only organ museum devoted to just one builder. There, Dr. Marilyn Mason played a short recital on the museum’s replica of a Silbermann organ. It is a copy by Wegscheider Organ Builders, Dresden, of an instrument Silbermann built in 1732 for Etzdorf, and is a working model demonstrating the basic principles of Baroque organ construction.

Part of the attraction of a Marilyn Mason tour is her ability to unlock the doors to organ lofts. She was the first woman to have played in Westminster Abbey, Egypt, and many other places around the world. She is also a very helpful coach in unlocking the secrets of performance for a broad array of organ literature. Dr. Mason offered our group many pointers on the performance of baroque music, and personally advised me on ways to practice the difficult passages and tricky rhythms of Jehan Alain’s Trois Danses, which she had worked out for her own brilliant performances.

Dresden

In Dresden, our excellent tour leader, Franz Mittermayr of Matterhorn Travel, treated us with a surprise visit to the Hofkirche (Roman Catholic cathedral). There we played the magnificent three-manual, 47-stop Silbermann of 1755 that had been hidden in the countryside during World War II. This cathedral was destroyed in the allied firebombing, but the organ was back among us in a newly restored building. For that we gave grateful thanks. Unfortunately, another fine Silbermann in the Frauenkirche was destroyed. A 3-million euro restoration of that church is nearing completion using original, numbered stones wherever possible. A new organ will replicate the destroyed Silbermann. 

It has been said that Germany has too many churches. This is because, like elsewhere, church attendance is down. In Germany approximately nine percent of the population is Protestant, while two percent is Roman Catholic. In the former DDR of Eastern Germany under the Communists, religion was discouraged, so attendance fell even further. Maintaining and restoring these ancient churches is beyond the reach of most congregations, so they survive through tourism and entrance fees. Many are considered museums and are given government funding. In Naumburg, for example, the city paid for the restoration of the Hildebrandt organ. On average, a group pays an entrance fee of 150 euros or about $185 U.S. for each church visited. In Leipzig, the group paid entrance fees on top of concert ticket prices. This was all included in the cost of our tour. An organist traveling alone to play benefit recitals will pay rental fees of similar amounts. 

For a first visit to the Saxony region, this tour provided the best way to play these instruments and learn about them. While our personal playing times were seldom more than five minutes each, the cost was spread over the entire group. An organ tour also makes all the preliminary arrangements to open doors that are otherwise locked. The University of Michigan is known for its excellent tours, and this one proved why. Matterhorn Travel provided us with a guide who had extensive knowledge of the area, numerous contacts, and the ability to run things so smoothly that we never encountered delays.

by L. Jeffries Binford, Jr.

The seventh French Organ Music Seminar took place in Paris and Marseilles with daily lectures, master classes, coaching sessions and private lessons. Side trips to Meudon, Rueil-Malmaison, Aix-en-Provence, Aubagne, Saint-Maximin, Roquevaire, and Cotignac, with opportunities to play the historic instruments of those cities, were also included for the sixty-five participants. The seminar had three principal leaders: Christina Harmon of Dallas, Texas, the organizer of the seminar;  Marie-Louise Langlais, noted teacher at the National Regional Conservatory of Paris and the Schola Cantorum, and widow of the composer-organist Jean Langlais; and Robert Martin, organist at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseilles. Assisting Harmon as seminar secretary was Cliff Varnon of Dallas.

The seminar began in Paris with an introductory meeting held in the Hotel Lorette, not far from the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette where César Franck had served as organist before going to Sainte-Clotilde. Madame Langlais guided the group to the church of Notre-Dame-des-Champs, the parish church of organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, where we were greeted by its titulaire Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet.  Dufourcet, wife of Naji Hakim, organist at  La Trinité, introduced the group to the two-manual Cavaillé-Coll from 1877 in a recital of her own compositions and works by Olivier Messiaen, Naji Hakim, Jean Langlais, Augustin Barié, Vincent d'Indy, and René Vierne, a former titulaire and brother of Louis Vierne. FOMS participants were invited to try the instrument themselves; many took advantage of their first of many opportunities to play a Cavaillé-Coll organ. Madame Langlais invited the group to join her at the church of Saint-Gervais in evaluating the organ built in the 17th century and played by members of the Couperin family from 1653-1826.  Many listeners heard--for the first time--the sounds of a real French Classic instrument in music by François Couperin and Nicolas de Grigny.    Even though the organ was in  a state of disrepair, the opportunity to hear the historic reeds, cornets, and plein jeu was unforgettable. The group spent the evening with Naji Hakim at the church of La Trinité. Hakim's demonstration of the organ, once presided over by such luminaries as Alexandre Guilmant and Olivier Messiaen, followed by an exciting symphonic improvisation, brought the first day to an end.

Day two began at the church of Saint-Augustin with a recital by its titulaire of over fifty years Suzanne Chaisemartin, a former student of Marcel Dupré and an instructor at Paris's École Normale de Musique. Since the grand Barker/Cavaillé-Coll organ, once presided over by Eugène Gigout and his assistant Léon Boëllmann, was being repaired, Madame Chaisemartin and FOMS participants played the choir organ. Built by Mutin/Cavaillé-Coll in 1899 with additions by Gonzalez in 1973, many consider it to be the most brilliant choir organ in Paris. Never far from the console, Chaisemartin offered helpful comments to players about interpretation and registration. The next stop was the National Regional Conservatory of Paris and an opportunity to hear and play the new Grenzig organ in the recently-completed organ recital hall. Madame Langlais and several of her students demonstrated the organ, teaching the group about the proper interpretation, registration,  and performance style  of French Baroque music.  FOMS participants then made their way to the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde for an introduction to the organ of César Franck, Gabriel Pierné, Charles Tournemire, Joseph Ermend-Bonnal, and Jean Langlais. Madame Langlais and her students demonstrated the famous Cavaillé-Coll instrument of 1859, and playing time was available to those who wished to climb the outside stairs to the organ gallery.  The experience of playing music composed by Franck and Langlais for this particular organ was unforgettable and revealing, as no recording does justice to the sound of this majestic instrument. The evening was spent with Olivier Latry at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Latry, one of the three titulaires, was joined in the gallery by choir organist Yves Castagnet for a demonstration of the vast instrument.  Group members were invited to play this instrument made famous by such musicians as Louis Vierne, Marcel Dupré, and Pierre Cochereau.  Some FOMS group members played works by those composers on this instrument, even though many tonal and mechanical changes have been made to it in the past few decades, changing significantly the tonal palette known by Vierne and Dupré. Olivier Latry closed the evening with an improvisation and a thrilling performance of Vierne's "Carillon de Westminster."

The schedule for the third day included visits to three different locations, each with its own distinctive organ. Beginning at the fashionable church of La Madeleine, FOMS participants were introduced to François-Henri Houbart and the elegant four-manual Cavaillé-Coll organ from 1846. Titulaire since 1979, Houbart follows in a line of noted organists such as Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, Théodore Dubois, and Jeanne Demessieux. Those who wished to play the organ climbed the stairs to what was at one time known as the  most famous organ-loft in the world. Stories of Saint-Saëns and celebrated musicians, artists, and literary figures who visited his tribune on Sundays were endless. From La Madeleine, the group traveled to the church of Saint-Roch and heard its three organs: the one-manual instrument built in 1830 by the Abbey firm; the choir organ built in 1865 by Cavaillé-Coll; and the tribune organ, which evolved  from its original installation in 1751 by the Lesclop firm, through  rebuilds by Clicquot in 1770 and by Cavaillé-Coll from 1840-1862,  to its most recent restoration in 1992 by Renaud. Masterful demonstrations by the present titulaire Françoise Levinchin introduced the group to the organs played by her predecessors Claude Balbastre, Louis-James-Alfred Lefébure-Wély, and Pierre Cochereau.   Madame Levinchin graciously assisted and coached members who wished to play the tribune organ. The group traveled by train to Meudon for an introduction to the organ in the former home of Marcel Dupré. The four-manual instrument, once owned by Alexandre Guilmant, was expertly demonstrated by the charming Pascale Mélis, a former student of Marie-Louise and Jean Langlais and Rolande Falcinelli, and the titular organist at the church of Saint-Cloud in Paris where she has served for fifteen years.  As some group members played the Cavaillé-Coll organ, others investigated the many treasures in the  salon d'orgue decorated with historic woodwork given to the Duprés in 1926 by their friend Claude Johnson, then President of Rolls-Royce. That evening, many in the group took advantage of an improvisation class taught by Naji Hakim at La Trinité.

FOMS participants began the next morning with a visit to the Schola Cantorum, the institution founded by Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy. The Schola's list of organ professors through the years includes Guilmant, Louis Vierne, Abel Decaux, Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Duruflé, Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, Jean Langlais, Gaston Litaize, Michel Chapuis, André Fleury, Naji Hakim, André Isoir, and Marie-Louise Langlais.  The group was treated to a demonstration/recital in the concert hall by two students of Madame Langlais, one a seventeen-year-old wonder who played the "Allegro vivace" from the Fifth Symphony of Widor, the Dupré Prelude and Fugue in g minor and the Duruflé Toccata. Members of the group also had the opportunity to perform on the 1902 Cavaillé-Coll.   The next musical encounter was at Saint-Sulpice, the church of such former titulaires as Louis-James-Alfred Lefébure-Wély, Charles-Marie Widor, and Marcel Dupré. Present organist Daniel Roth lectured about the history of the parish, the church, the organ, and his musical predecessors. An added treat was the opportunity to visit the crypt to view the final resting place of  Widor. The group returned to Sainte-Clotilde for a lecture by Madame Langlais on the music of César Franck, with a master class specifically concerning his Chorale in b minor. That evening, the group returned to Saint-Sulpice, this time treated to a grand improvisation by Daniel Roth, followed by playing time for group members on the well-preserved five-manual instrument. Playing music of Widor and Dupré on this organ provided exciting experiences for the group, as the instrument has changed little since the masters' tenures.

The seminar continued the following day with a trip to the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur in the Montmartre district. As the basilica is a site of perpetual prayer and adoration of the sacrament, group playing time was not possible. The titulaire, Philippe Brandeis, demonstrated the 1898 Cavaillé-Coll with an extended prelude to the Friday noon mass by playing Franck's Grande Pièce Symphonique and the "Andante sostenuto" from Widor's Symphonie Gothique. The group returned once again to Sainte-Clotilde for playing time assisted by Madame Langlais, who actually coached each player with a mini-lesson on each individual's chosen piece. Throughout the week, Madame Langlais and several of the other master teachers offered private lessons to individuals who desired a deeper understanding of the French organ and its literature. Their insightful comments and affirming compliments were greatly appreciated by those who chose to spend extra time learning.

Saturday began with a trip to the Conservatory at Rueil-Malmaison and lectures by the eminent teacher Susan Landale. Her lectures on Louis Vierne and Charles Tournemire were full of thought-provoking insights into the lives, careers, and influences upon the two composers. The evening was spent at the Parisian church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont as guests of Thierry Escaich, the present titulaire and successor of Maurice and Marie-Madeleine Duruflé. A master improviser, Escaich demonstrated the organ containing pipes made as early as 1633, and which has been altered through the centuries by such builders as Clicquot, Cavaillé-Coll, and Gonzalez.

On Sunday morning, FOMS participants were welcomed to the tribunes of Notre-Dame, Saint-Sulpice, La Trinité, and Saint-Eustache to observe the Parisian organists at work making music to enhance the celebration of the Mass. These experiences were not only educational, but were personally inspiring to the Americans who eagerly  watched and listened intently.

Following the morning of hearing thrilling improvisations and the playing of standard literature, FOMS participants departed Paris--some by plane, others by train--for the south of France and their destination of the Mediterranean seaport of Marseilles.

The group was greeted in Marseilles by Madame Langlais, several of her students from Paris, and Robert Martin, organist of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. FOMS participants were shuttled through Marseilles to Notre-Dame de la Garde located at the top of a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean, where the nuns had prepared a hearty welcome meal for their guests; the view from the church was magnificent. After a long day, the Americans were glad to see the Hotel Tonic, headquarters for the next few days. 

On Monday morning, the group drove to the ancient city of Aix-en-Provence for a tour of its historic organs. Led down cobble-stone streets, past sprinkling fountains, the old clock tower, open-air markets, and beautiful gardens, the first stop was in the Cathedral of Saint-Sauveur, whose carved doors date from the 16th century. The cathedral organ of three manuals, originally built by Isnard in 1743, has undergone rebuilds by such firms as Cavaillé-Coll and Merklin. Group members played the historic instrument before moving on to the Reformed Temple to see the one-manual organ dating from the time of Louis XVI. At noon, a delightful reception in honor of FOMS participants was given by the Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence. The next stops were the churches of Saint-Esprit and La Madeleine, whose organs provided the group with opportunities to play three-manual instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the early evening, a public recital was held at the Cathedral featuring music of Nicolas de Grigny, Jean-Adam Guilain, Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, Théodore Dubois, Maurice Duruflé, Louis Vierne, and Jean Langlais performed by FOMS participants Polly Brecht, Matthew Samelak, Anita Werling, David Erwin, Peter DuBois, Yun Kim, and Jeff Binford. Following the recital, the group dined in one of the many intimate restaurants in the old city.

Tuesday was spent in Marseilles, hearing and playing a wide range of historic and modern instruments. The first order of the day was a visit to the abbey church of Saint-Victor, whose four-manual organ blends stops from the 17th and 18th centuries with those of the 20th century. Next, the group was introduced to the Grignan Temple, a Reformed Church in which Madame Langlais had served as organist. The two-manual Kern organ of 1982 was designed by Madame Langlais. At noon, the group went to the city hall to be welcomed by the mayor of Marseilles at a lavish reception. The three-manual instrument at the church of Saint-Joseph was heard next; the organ and its impressive case, built in the 19th century, had its most recent restoration in 1988. The afternoon was spent at  the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. The Romanesque and Byzantine church crowns a 162-meter rocky mountain that dominates the city of Marseilles. Topped by a huge gilt statue of the Madonna and Child, and covered with mosaics, the basilica has become a symbol  of the Good Mother to the people of the city. The basilica contains a one-manual choir organ built by Merklin in 1925, a transept organ of two manuals built by Grenzig in 1978, and the tribune organ which was originally built by Merklin in 1926 and revised in 1981.  All of these instruments were masterfully demonstrated by the basilica's titulaire, Robert Martin. Martin is a noted authority on Cavaillé-Coll and the author of a definitive tome on the historic instruments built by Isnard. After a ride along the Mediterranean coast, the group returned to the basilica for dinner and many opportunities to take photographs of the city and the sea from high atop the mountain.

The last day of the seminar began with a trip to the town of Aubagne to play the 1784  instrument of three manuals in the church of Saint-Sauveur. After driving to the small town of Roquevaire, the group visited the church of Saint-Vincent in which an imposing instrument was in the process of being built. With pipes taken from the old church organ and using the studio organ of Pierre Cochereau as a base, this new five-manual instrument will be one of the largest and most important in France. A unique situation exists here, in that the people of this peaceful town have made numerous sacrificial gifts to pay for this particular organ; plans are already underway for an extensive concert series which will bring the world's greatest organists not to Paris, but to a small town in the heart of Provence. The group was welcomed to Roquevaire by the town's mayor with an elaborate reception at which  FOMS participants took up a collection to purchase a pipe to be inscribed and used in the new organ. The seminar continued in the town of Saint-Maximin and a visit to the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine to hear and play the Isnard organ built in 1772.  Pierre Bardon, the titulaire, demonstrated the marvelous instrument and graciously invited FOMS participants to play. Madame Langlais and Bardon assisted players in the proper selection of stops for the French Baroque literature they played, and offered additional registration possibilities. The four-manual instrument of forty-three stops provided the organists with a step back in time to hear the actual sounds of a true French Classic instrument. As a festive end to the 1997 FOMS, the group was invited to an elegant evening of dinner and relaxation deep in the heart of Provence, near the town of Cotignac. The journey into the quaint French countryside brought the group to the beautiful home of our host and hostess, Gonzague and Christiane de Bayser. Great supporters of the arts in southern France, the couple planned an unforgettable evening that included a typical Provencale wedding feast served in their perfectly landscaped back yard. The meal consisted of broiled fish and squid with aioli sauce from the region, boiled potatoes, steamed carrots and cauliflower, boiled eggs, and cheese. When the dinner dishes were cleared, Madame de Bayser surprised the group with a huge chocolate cake decorated to look like an American flag with the words "Welcome to Cotignac" piped on top. Musical entertainment followed dessert in the music room, provided by group members. All in all, this was the perfect way to end what had been an unforgettable seminar for all the participants.

The group departed Marseilles early the next morning; many returned to the United States, while others journeyed by train to London for a brief seminar on British organ music.

While in London, the group heard and played the organs in several historic churches. James O'Donnell demonstrated the organ of Westminster Cathedral and assisted seminar participants who wished to play; he also lectured the group about the Westminster Cathedral choral tradition. At Westminster Abbey, Martin Neary talked about the Abbey musical tradition, and allowed for playing time by the group. Paul Stubbings demonstrated the organ at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, assisted those who wished to play, and gave a lecture on the music of Sir Edward Bairstow. John Scott invited the group to Choral Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral and demonstrated the organ, as the group walked through the vast space. Richard Townend played a recital at St. Stephen, Walbrook, delivered a lecture on 18th-century English voluntaries, and demonstrated the organ at St. Margaret, Lothbury. The group was treated to a special evening in the home of London Times music critic Felix Aprahamian; dinner was served  followed by a recital played on Aprahamian's house organ by the young blind organist David Liddle. Other lectures by Nicholas Plumley and John Norman, with recitals by Malcolm Rudland and Martin Neary, rounded out the rest of the brief seminar in London. After many group members departed for the United States, several participants journeyed to York for a visit with Dr. Francis Jackson at York Minster. For the participants in the French Organ Music Seminar and the British Organ Music Seminar, opportunities for musical growth, performance, and inspiration were too numerous to count.    Those attending would agree that these types of hands-on seminars are of untold value in their development as musicians. Many thanks must be extended to Marie-Louise Langlais, Robert Martin, and Christina Harmon for their tireless efforts in making the seminars totally successful.

Canadian Organ Duettists Sylvie Poirier and Philip Crozier on tour in summer 2003

Philip Crozier

Philip Crozier was born in Preston, England, and was a boy chorister in Blackburn and Carlisle Cathedral Choirs. In 1979 he graduated from Cardiff University, and was awarded the Glynne Jones Prize for Organ in two consecutive years. Between 1978 and 1980 he studied in Paris with André Marchal.

For the past several years my wife Sylvie Poirier and I have had the pleasure of traveling extensively giving concerts of organ duets. In the course of numerous concert tours we have amassed a considerable number of very happy memories, sprinkled with some less delightful tales.

It may be worthwhile at this point explaining how all this began. Sylvie and I first met in 1982 as candidates in the Chartres International Organ Competition and at the time lived on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Sylvie was born and living in Montréal, while I am from England. One thing led to another, culminating in my immigration to Canada and our marriage in 1984. The result was that we pooled together our respective collections of organ music and recordings, learning a lot from each other in the process. Our duet playing began later that decade when we decided to try out some organ duets we had bought--enough to make a complete program in two halves which then became the subject of a broadcast on Radio-Canada in May 1990--our debut concert as duettists. That one event was so well received that we were urged and encouraged by several kind folk to continue and do more, so we were stimulated to expand beyond this one concert and examine the available repertory, increase it by commissions and promulgate it by performances and recordings. In 1991 we played in Germany for the first time as duettists, our international debut as such, and it has since grown and grown. We have now commissioned and premiered seven organ duets by composers from Canada, Germany, France and Britain, and released three CDs of organ duets.

From the outset we have preferred to concentrate on original organ duets (the Mozart and Beethoven works excepting, which we consider valid as organ duets) because we are always fascinated by how and why a particular composer would have conceived an organ duet and how he handled this form of  music making, rather than someone taking an existing framework and adapting it for two players. It is also very exciting to unearth original works that have long been out of print, but there is still a lot we are looking for.

Planning a tour

It has become an annual event for us to travel to Europe during the summer when I have vacation time from St. James United Church and Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Montréal. Undertaking a concert tour that lasts around forty days presents a number of challenges. A good part of the success or otherwise is a direct result of what happens in the weeks before the plane is boarded, so a significant amount of preparation is obviously necessary; there are so many diverse  eventualities to cover. Planning the actual traveling requires some time consulting train schedules and maps. Occasionally we have had to postpone concerts to subsequent years because of the impossibility of reaching a destination in time.

The choice of repertory for the individual concerts is always carefully  planned to include a good representation of standard duet works which are quite often hardly known at all, taking into account the suitability of the instrument to the music and the availability of playing aids (because we do our own registration unaided, pistons or not, with rare exceptions). Our programs are submitted well in advance, always to include Canadian content, and fulfilling requests that are asked of us, when possible. We also like to include some of our own commissioned works. Organ duettists are relatively rare, and the repertory is not enormous, so concert organizers often prefer to hear duet works that the audience and organists alike are happy to discover or rediscover.

2003 Tour: “Cancelling summer”

The planned tour for summer 2003 was all working out well when I received an e-mail in January  from  David Rogers of Doncaster, England, a long-time friend who in addition to being a fine musician, improviser and recitalist (albeit a reluctant one), is a recording specialist with a huge knowledge of repertory and recording technique. He had made the acquaintance of one individual named Nick, an organ enthusiast who does not play and is not a recording technician, but whose plan was to start a record company devoted to organ music, to be recorded and edited by David. At Nick’s request David asked if I could record the Reubke Sonata on the 94th Psalm--a piece I had never played, but have known well since childhood as a listener, initially through an old LP of the never to be forgotten magisterial reading of Brian Runnett. David had made Nick familiar with my organ playing through private recordings of concerts I had given some twenty years ago. So I eagerly began learning this wonderful work and completed the task in due course.

Sylvie and I also greatly admire the organ works of Petr Eben whom we met in Prague in 1995 and 2000, and it was also suggested we record some of his works with the upcoming 75th birthday of the composer in mind. In 1993 we had broadcast Job and Faust on Radio-Canada (performances that Petr Eben himself was delighted with), but this music remains quite unknown in Canada. Consequently we invested much time, energy and enthusiasm into this new project where we had been assured all funding was in place, greatly encouraged by this unexpected recording opportunity. The organ of Fulda Cathedral in Germany seemed entirely suitable to the repertory in our opinion, and its availability was negotiated and booked. After all the required arrangements had been made with the cathedral, the repertory approaching where we wanted it to be for the recording (it is vital not to “peak” too soon) and a crescendo of excitement building day by day, Nick suddenly sent us an e-mail five weeks before our departure, citing a family problem and ending “my business will have to be sidelined temporarily, so, as they say in the satirical press, Summer is cancelled.”

Shocked and dismayed, we respectfully requested that the recordings could still proceed in his absence with David alone (Nick had insisted on being present at all recording sessions), since these had now become mitigating circumstances and by this stage the planning and preparation for the recording was so far advanced. This was refused outright so we were in a terrible dilemma: do we cancel and possibly jeopardize everything later, or wait, hoping the issue can be resolved, or do we continue alone? The impasse with Nick was not advancing anywhere and we began doubting the sincerity and goodwill of what had been achieved thus far in the project we had embarked upon.

A swift decision had to be made--every day counted with our departure for Europe approaching rapidly. It became more and more apparent that we were going to have to go it alone if these recordings were to be realized. Those final five weeks were spent frantically trying to salvage the situation, soliciting donations from friends and organizations so we could begin the actual  recording. This took up so much of our time that hardly any organ practice was done in those five weeks--not the best situation to be in before a tour of twelve concerts and a recording project! With much regret I decided to abandon the Reubke--this after all was to have been only half of one CD, the other half being taken up with the Piano Sonata by a pianist of repute. There was precious little time remaining before our departure and this had to be principally devoted to the Eben pieces which demand so much concentrated work, in spite of the monumental distractions preying on our minds constantly.

Limburg

It was relaxing in a strange way to be on the plane flying to Europe on the evening of July 16 after the turmoil of the preceding five weeks; we had done all we could, securing enough funding to cover the production of two compact discs. Arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, it was clear that our flight connection to Frankfurt was beyond reach. Six hours later, with a good meal along the way, we were airborne again. We were met at Frankfurt by Markus Eichenlaub, organist of Limburg Cathedral where we were to play the first concert. After the hour drive to Limburg and settling in to the Priester Seminar, our home for the next three nights, we were taken to the cathedral by Mr. Eichenlaub. A pleasant fifteen-minute walk from our residence, the thirteenth-century cathedral has a commanding presence over the surroundings, perched on a hill overlooking the River Lahn.

The organ by Hans-Gerd Klais (1978) is a large four-manual with eight combinations, spread across the west gallery and will likely be restored in a year or so. Mr. Eichenlaub suggested we hear it from downstairs as he demonstrated its many colors, and it was of great value to hear it played beforehand. He is a very gifted improviser, and it felt somewhat surreal with the fatigue of the journey starting to bite hard as we wandered  around this magnificently beautiful building, with the evening sunshine streaming through the windows.

Then we were left to explore it for ourselves and begin registering the program which included Two Pieces for Organ Duet by Ronald Arnatt, a first for us. It proved to be quite a challenge to make this particular piece work on that organ; the second movement is aptly named “Octopus Music.” There was a video hook up for the concert itself (which was very well attended). We needed to change the pistons as we progressed since we had also chosen this as the venue to give the German première of our most recent commissioned duet, the 2me Suite pour orgue à quatre mains by French organist Jean-Luc Perrot. Following the concert we went to an excellent Spanish restaurant with our hosts and some of their friends.

During our time in Limburg we also enjoyed a barbeque on the lawn with the organist and his wife and son. We were the only visiting residents in the seminary, home to just a few nuns, in a spacious new building, so were alone and basically had the whole place to ourselves, with easy access to the small two-manual tracker organ in the chapel. Finally we were able to really concentrate on practice, instead of answering the telephone, meeting people to explain and discuss the aforementioned imminent recording project, and sending multiple e-mails and letters. Just being at the organ and making music was very therapeutic--how we wished life could always be like that!

Fulda (First visit)

Leaving Limburg on Sunday July 20, we took the train to Fulda and were greeted that afternoon by Domorganist Hans-Jürgen Kaiser and taken to the Priester Seminar where we had individual rooms with a shower. It was relatively spartan accommodation, home to several priests in training from all over the world, including French-speaking from Africa, but quiet and comfortable, and situated just behind the cathedral. There was also a rail timetable thoughtfully posted on the notice board. Our good friend David Pearson in Kiel had supplied us with various train times for our travels; he acts as our agent in Germany and was a key player in all the Fulda arrangements.

The cathedral was built in the new Baroque manner (1704-1712) to the design of the architect Johann Dientzenhofer and is an outstanding work of art. Inspired by the Roman Baroque style, it reuses the architectural core of the ancient Abbot Ratgar’s Basilica (9th century). In keeping with the splendor of the building in which it is housed, the organ is truly magnificent. The glorious case dates from the time of the cathedral’s construction, and today the organ consists of 72 speaking stops, including some 24 from the large Sauer organ of 1876/77 which was rebuilt and enlarged by Christoph Glatter-Götz of Rieger-Orgelbau and completed in 1996. The specification can be found on the company’s website <www.riegerorgelbau.com/db/pdf/Fulda.pdf&gt;. The four-manual console is well equipped with a multiple memory system (32x12 generals), two-way sequencer and additional electric action for some of the couplers. What a great thrill it is to play this wonderful instrument, and Mr. Kaiser was most helpful during our time in Fulda. We were allowed access to the organ in the evenings and partly during the lunch hours when we could play quietly.

David Rogers arrived the day after with his very specialized and compact recording equipment. At last the much anticipated recording project of organ works by Petr Eben was about to begin. Over several nights spread over one and a half weeks, Sylvie recorded Job (a narrator in Montréal has recorded the French text of the Biblical readings to go between the movements), and I did Faust, A Festive Voluntary and A Small Chorale Partita. There were a few unexpected interruptions--on one evening a private guided tour, and on another evening a trainee priest began practicing the organ in the chapel behind the high altar. Because it is also a monastery and a major learning place, from time to time there were some extraneous noises that had a tendency to arrive just as the last chord was dying away! Despite this, there was hardly any traffic noise because the cathedral is perfectly situated away from roads. We had been lent a set of keys, and on one evening had considerable trouble locking the cathedral door. Something was wrong with the lock and it was fixed the next day.

Rheda-Wiedenbrück

We interrupted our time in Fulda later that week and rented a car driven by David Rogers to go to Rheda-Wiedenbrück, our next port of call. As we went to collect it we noticed a German newspaper photograph with major headlines from Iraq and two familiar faces front and center. One fact about concert touring is that we tend not to follow the news, and in Fulda we had neither radio nor television. On the journey, in which we ran into some very heavy rain, we picked up news on the car radio. The hotel in Rheda-Wiedenbrück was the first time we had seen a television screen since leaving Montréal, and the demise of these two individuals was the big news of the week, along with gruesome photos.

Upon arrival we were met by a lady at the hotel who gave us the church keys; we deposited our cases and went to eat. We were ravenous and found a pizzeria close to the church and went in about 7 pm, fully expecting to be out by 8:30 pm--the organ was available all evening. In the end it took nearly forty-five minutes after placing the order before the soup was served and nearly an hour after that for the pizza, which was very ordinary. It was approaching 10 pm before we left the restaurant, irritated by the apparent indifference of the patron, and not in the mood to have a good practice. It was almost dark by this time and we fumbled around in the gloom trying to find switches and keyholes. We registered the program, grateful for the playing aids, and returned to the hotel.

The next day, Friday July 25, David Pearson arrived for a surprise visit in time for the concert at St. Clemens Kirche, where the three-manual organ is by Fischer & Krämer (1984), details of which can be found at <www.fischer-kraemer.de/rheda.htm&gt;. It was our third concert in this church where a few years ago we first met Ralf Bölting, composer of several organ duets. Our program included one work we commissioned from him in 2000, the Toccata on “Vom Himmel hoch” (the third movement of the Triptych on German Christmas Carols), but unfortunately he could not attend the concert. We have several good original Christmas duets in our repertory, but are frequently asked not to play them during the summer, so we were happy to be able to include it.

Zwillbrock

On Saturday the four of us filled the rented car and headed to Borken to stay with our good friend Kurt-Ludwig Forg, director of the music school there, a recitalist and author of numerous articles and a frequent visitor to North America. We left David Pearson in Münster so he could take the train north to Kiel because of services the next day.

On Sunday afternoon July 27, we played a concert to a capacity audience at the Barockkirche St. Franziskus in Zwillbrock, a delightful small village on the Dutch border. The website (in German) <www.zwillbrock.de/barockkirche/&gt; contains information about the historic two-manual organ and an interior photograph of this beautiful baroque building. It is possible to perform a complete concert of original organ duets on a small instrument and gain very satisfactory results, and this particular one served the repertory really well. The program included Fugue à six parties et deux sujets à 4 mains by Clément Loret and Petite Suite by Canadian organist and composer Denis Bédard, and many of our CDs were sold afterwards. We have given concerts on organs of all sizes and found repertory that is suitable in each case.  That is the challenge for the performer--to construct an interesting program on the organ that is available. We aim to exploit the resources of repertory and instrument as much as possible. It is amazing what some of these smaller instruments can do.

Fulda (Second visit)

Then it was back to Fulda to begin the second week of recording sessions, having fulfilled our concert duties for the time being, and avoiding the heavy service schedule in the cathedral over the weekend. Because we had the car we took a pleasant day off and made a pilgrimage to Eisenach which is not far away in former East Germany. The border is no longer apparent, but passing through the flowing landscapes of Thuringia familiar to Bach and entering the town of Eisenach, there is much evidence of reconstruction. We parked the car close to the Georgenkirche where Bach was baptized. It was also the scene of major protests in 1989, as documented in several photographs in the church aisles depicting all three galleries filled with the townsfolk as the Communist era was nearing its final sunset there. The Bachhaus, Bach’s birthplace, was the first museum to be dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach and is well worth a visit. Established in 1906 through the Neue Bachgesellschaft, its collection includes archives, household items and other treasures from the time of Bach, in addition to a valuable assortment of musical instruments. The visit includes a live demonstration of these historical  instruments. In the souvenir shop we purchased several recordings, a poster of the Bach Family Tree, and a tie and umbrella of Bach’s handwriting. Meanwhile a baseball cap (which at one time I would never have imagined wearing) provided invaluable protection against the burning sun.

During that last week in Fulda we also visited the Michaelskirche adjacent to the cathedral; it is one of the most notable medieval sacred buildings in Germany--its crypt dates from Carolingian times originating between 819 and 822 as the burial chapel in the former Benedictine monks’ cemetery on the same site. Daily at 6 pm the bells peal forth from both the cathedral tower and  the Michaelskirche. What a glorious sound this is, which David Rogers captured on tape. We have decided to add it to the end of Sylvie’s CD.

For the recording sessions we stayed in the cathedral until around midnight every night, finishing the proceedings in the congenial surroundings of a neighboring hostelry where we mulled everything over before turning in for the night. Finally we accomplished what we set out to achieve, two compact discs of works by Petr Eben. One night we were treated to a spectacular thunderstorm and on another night, returning to the seminary at about 1:45 am, we could hear the organ in the cathedral and quietly went to investigate. The great instrument on the west gallery was being played, along with the one at the other extremity of the building in the chapel behind the high altar. A work for two organs--both organists were remarkably together, but we never found out who they were.

Itzehoe

On Friday August 1, we went our separate ways; David Rogers headed back to England and we travelled north to Kiel to stay with David Pearson, with whom we took the train to Itzehoe on Saturday where we found the four-manual 1905 Sauer to be quite disappointing, despite a relatively comprehensive specification, far from what the stoplist had promised by way of sound selection. The program included the very first organ duet by a Canadian composer, Duet for Organ by Frederick R.C. Clarke dating from 1954. This concert attracted the lowest audience of the tour with about twenty-five in attendance. However we played an encore on the other instrument that shares the gallery, some four stops that contain original Arp Schnitger pipes from 1716-1719.

Estonia

Our first visit to Estonia began on Monday August 4, when we took the airport bus from Kiel to Hamburg and boarded the Estonian Air flight to Tallinn where we were to give three concerts in the Tallinn XVII International Organ Festival, the first Canadian organists and duettists to be invited to perform in this prestigious festival which came into being in 1987. As such we were the grateful recipients of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts under their International Performance Assistance in Music (Pilot Project). Our programs acknowledged that support.

The meal on the plane was surprisingly good, and upon arrival we were met by Eva-Maria Asari from the Canadian embassy and Tiiu Valper, assistant to Festival Artistic Director Andres Uibo, and driven to the hotel in old Tallinn where all the performers are lodged, aptly named “Old Town Maestro’s.” This was the beginning of a lovely week which included a guided tour of the Canadian embassy with its magnificent view over a part of the city walls, and the harbor. We received an invitation for lunch a few days later with the Canadian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Robert Andrigo, and his wife, along with other representatives from the embassy and the festival. It was of course an honor and pleasure to be guests of the ambassador and his staff and to discuss our career and performance plans. My mother arrived in Tallinn also, staying in another hotel outside the old town. This was the only time on the tour we could meet up because once again a trip to my native England was not possible this year.

The festival itself featured artists from several countries and each generally performed in three different venues, not just in Tallinn but in other towns as well, and attended each others’ concerts when possible. On the  first evening we attended an excellent organ recital by Andras Viragh from Hungary in the cathedral (Tallinna toomkirik) where there is a large three-manual Sauer (1913). This church also has one of the largest collections in all of Europe of coat-of-arms epitaphs of well-to-do families dating from the medieval era. Later in the week Andres Uibo gave a splendid concert at the Niguliste muuseum-kontserdisaal (Niguliste Museum-Concert Hall) which included a fine Fuge in D minor by Rudolf Tobias (1873-1918) whose picture appears on the 50 Krooni note alongside an organ, the only banknote in the world that has an organ on it (also available on a souvenir fridge magnet).

On August 9 we attended a most satisfying program entitled “Dance and Mass.” The dance was in the first half, the dancers being the Vilnius Camargo Troupe, and the Estonian Baroque Soloists playing Lully, Campra, Bach, Vivaldi and others from the period, all choreographed. “A Mass for Sunday Misericordia Domini” was the title of the second half consisting of Gregorian chant and North German baroque organ music. Peter van Dijk from Holland performed Scheidemann, Hasse, Praetorius, extracts from the Tablature of Martinus Leopolita (ca. 1580), Sweelinck, Karges and Buxtehude. The choral Mass sections were sung by the ensemble Vox Clamantis, which comprises a diversity of musicians, singers, composers, instrumentalists and conductors who all have a common interest in Gregorian chant, under the direction of Jaan-Eik Tulve. The musical forces were a finely balanced complement all the way through the concert.

Our first recital was on Tuesday August 5 in the impressive Pärnu Concert Hall which is less than one year old and fully equipped. Pärnu is a very popular holiday resort in Estonia, particularly favored by politicians. The organ builder Martin ter Haseborg was present when we arrived and was available should there be problems with the instrument. There remained a few pipes that still needed to be connected and some finishing touches to the instrument here and there, but this did not affect our program during which we gave the Estonian premières of three of our commissioned works: Sinfonietta by Denis Bédard; Dance Suite for Organ Duet by South-African born Canadian organist and composer Jacobus Kloppers; and the aforementioned 2me Suite pour orgue à quatre mains by Jean-Luc Perrot. The specification of the three-manual organ along with photographs can be found at <www.concert.ee/eesti/parnu/orel/index.php&gt;.

The second concert was originally scheduled to be in Viljandi on a two-manual instrument but in due course this was changed to Räpina Church on Thursday August 7. Räpina is a somewhat bare place near the Russian border not far from Lake Peipsi, the fifth largest lake in Europe. The priest welcomed us, along with the local organ maintenance technician. Before the concert the priest and his wife invited us to their home for some refreshments. The audience was spread around the church and on the gallery, and the organ was in many ways the most satisfying instrument we played in Estonia. The program included  the Sonata in G minor (op. 50) by Leberecht Baumert, a fine duet that has only recently become generally available, and the Estonian première of the Petite Suite of Denis Bédard. The concert closed with some prayers led by the priest. There was  not a great deal of time to rehearse, as in Pärnu, and we collected a poster bearing a variant of my name-- Sphilip Crozier. The return journey was beautified with a fabulous sunset,  around 11 pm in early August.

I should mention that we had a preview of Estonia three years ago when Karl Raudsepp, a Montréal-based organbuilder, gave a very captivating talk and video presentation to the Montréal Centre of the RCCO on Balticum 2000, the ISO Congress of that year that visited Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Karl is the only member of his family not to have been born in Estonia, and he has been preparing an inventory of Estonian organs. I am grateful to him for the following information:

The organ in Räpina Church is a fairly large two-manual instrument, built by August Terkmann in 1934. It also incorporates some stops from the 1857 organ originally built by the Tartu organbuilder, August Kessler. The new stoplist was worked out in conjunction with the well-known Estonian composer and organ teacher, August Topman. It was the last instrument built by Terkmann. Among his employees at the time were the brothers Oskar and Voldemar Gutmann as well as Otto and Alfred Gutdorf.

The stoplist is as follows:

Manual I

16’             Bourdon

8’                  Principal

8’                  Gamba

8’                  Flauto amabile

8’                  Doppelgedackt

8’                  Gemshorn

8’                  Salicional

4’                  Oktav

4’                  Hohlflöte

22/3’        Quinte

2’                  Oktav

                        Cornett III-V

                        Cymbel III-IV

                        Subkoppel II-I

                        Superkoppel II-I

                        Superkoppel I

Manual II (under expression)

16’             Gedackt

8’                  Geigenprincipal

8’                  Quintaton

8’                  Flöte

8’                  Lieblichgedackt

8’                  Viola

8’                  Vox celeste

4’                  Principal

4’                  Rohrflöte

2’                  Koppelflöte

                        Mixtur III-V

8’                  Trompete

                        Subkoppel II

                        Superkoppel II

                        Glocken

                        Tremolo

Pedal

16’             Principalbass

16’             Subbass

16’             Gedacktbass

8’                  Oktavbass

8’                  Cello

102/3’   Quinte

16’             Posaune

                        I-P

                        II-P

                        Superkoppel II-P

The Echo organ, planned for installation in the gallery behind the altar, and playable from Manual II, was never built due to the lack of funds. It would have comprised the following stops:

Echo

8’                  Fernflöte

8’                  Undamaris

4’                  Gemshorn

Karl also added in a further e-mail to me that August Terkmann is credited with introducing many new technical innovations into organ building in Estonia, including the use of electricity. His instruments are renowned for their gentle voicing and singing quality. Räpina’s organ stands out as a remarkable example of his work.

Our third concert was at the Niguliste Museum-Concert Hall on Sunday August 10. Details and photographs of this former church can be found at <www.ekm.ee/english/niguliste/&gt;. The organ was built in 1981 by the Rieger-Kloss company and has 4 manuals and pedal, 63 registers, and 4711 pipes. The  program included two movements from one of our commissioned duets, Suite de noëls by Canadian organist and composer Gilles Rioux, as well as the Bombardo-Carillon by Charles Henri Valentin Alkan for pedals alone, and ending with the Toccata Française (sur le nom de H.E.L.M.U.T.) by Ralf Bölting which is a real showcase work. The concert was attended by the ambassador and the full staff of the Office of the Canadian Embassy and broadcast live on Estonian Classical Radio. Before this concert I recorded an interview for the same program that was aired during the interval.

At the conclusion of the concert there was a fine reception hosted by the festival which is run by the State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert and in our experience is extremely well organized. Ground transportation in the form of comfortable mini buses belonging to Eesti Kontsert was provided from the airport and back, and for the two-hour drive to Pärnu and three-hour ride to Räpina. In each of these venues outside Tallinn we received the same courtesy and warm welcome extended to us in Tallinn. The driver himself, an employee of Eesti Kontsert, was responsible for the distribution of programs in Räpina where everything ran smoothly. We had the chance to explore a bit during some of the free time that week. It was most interesting to go into a supermarket, something that always fascinates me in different countries, and it was very well stocked with all the usual household necessities. Milk products were in abundance, so they have their act together on that one. Just a visit to a supermarket can give a snapshot of the location--and if this was anything to go by, Estonia is on the right path.

Garding

The week passed very quickly in Estonia, before we returned to Kiel on Monday August 11, for the next venue a couple of days later in Garding, some two hours by train. It is a beautiful small town, and the delightful ancient St. Christianskirche was completely full for the concert which we opened with the Duet for Organ by Samuel Wesley. The organ was built in 1974 by the Schuke company of Berlin. The organ case of the Hauptwerk dates back to 1512, and as such is the oldest unchanged organ case in North Germany. The casework for the Rückpositiv was completed in 1680. The specification is below:

Hauptwerk (C-f3)

8’                  Regal

8’                  Prinzipal

8’                  Rohrflöte

4’                  Oktave

2’                  Oktave

                        Mixtur IV-V

8’                  Trompete

Rückpositiv (C-f3)

8’                  Gedackt

4’                  Rohrflöte

4’                  Prinzipal

2’                  Gemshorn

11/3’        Quinte

                        Sesquialter II (from c0)

                        Scharff III-IV

Pedal (C-f1)

16’             Subbaß

8’                  Prinzipal

4’                  Choralbaß

                        Hintersatz IV

16’             Fagott

Saarbrücken

After a couple of days rest in Kiel we headed south to Saarbrücken on Friday August 15 to play at the Basilika St. Johannis. We met our host Bernhard Leonardy, organist of the basilica, later in the evening, and visited the town in his open top sports car. This was a first for us too, exhilarating to experience the fresh midnight air like this. We had only one hour on the organ before the 11:30 am recital the next day, but fortunately the five-manual Hugo Mayer from Saarland organ has a multiple memory system. Further information about the church and a specification of the organ with photographs of the console can be found at <www.basilika-sb.de/&gt;.

Wiesbaden

After the concert we ate at a small snack bar near the station because we had our luggage with us and needed to be at the station for the train that gave us good connections to Wiesbaden. Travel from Saarbrücken to Wiesbaden was plagued with rail problems, beginning with the non-arrival of the ICE that was running one hour late, forcing us to take a taxi from Mainz to Wiesbaden. Gabriel Dessauer, organist of  St. Bonifatius, had left instructions for us to be at the church to collect various keys after the Saturday evening Mass. He was away and was only returning in time for our concert on Sunday afternoon. Over the years we have developed a technique for working rapidly on a new instrument--we prepare for the eventuality that there is often a short amount of practice time on the instrument due to circumstances beyond our control--but we do find it is invaluable to gain access to the organ the day before the concert. On this occasion we almost missed an evening on the three-manual Mayer organ which has 640 pistons allowing for instant comparison of various registration options and is “user-friendly.” Information about the church and organ and music are on the church website <www.st-bonifatius-wiesbaden.de/&gt; and there is an English section too.

Gabriel Dessauer arrived the day of the concert to greet us. Our visit coincided with an annual Fest going on in the town, with a huge selection of wines, beers and food on stands in the main town square. It was so good to be part of this great celebration but a huge downpour of rain, essential though with the heat wave going on at the time, watered it down somewhat. The church with its vibrant acoustics was akin to a sauna bath.

Heiligenhafen

Following Wiesbaden we returned north to Kiel, breaking the journey for a second visit to Borken to see Kurt-Ludwig Forg for a couple of days. Such free days are much appreciated in a concert tour. The last concert in Germany was on Thursday August 21 at the Stadtkirche in the coastal town of Heilgenhafen which boasts much tourism and fish restaurants, but lacks reasonable public transportation, not being served by a railway, and a bus service that finishes before the end of the concert. David Pearson came with us for the day trip and we were well received by the organist Dörte Czernitzski. The concert was very well attended; one special characteristic was that the organ bench was polished to perfection, enabling us to slide forward straight into the pedalboard with effortless ease. So we had to be vigilant all the time! 

Paris

The next day we had an early start for the long train journey to Frankfurt airport from where we had an evening flight to Paris. Late trains and missed connections had become quite rife on this trip (not typical of Germany, I might add), so we decided it was better to be safe than sorry. In Paris we were met by Sylvie’s brother who has lived in France for more than thirty years. On Saturday afternoon we went to rehearse at La Madeleine to find that there were two weddings so we had to return in the evening.

General Kalck, who is in charge of concert organization, proudly demonstrated the organ to us. As he was explaining the various registers and their history, I was observing and memorizing their location. One interesting fact about this organ is its shortage of 8’ diapason stops. There is a wide plethora of sound at 8’ pitch, but only one Montre 8’ on the Grand Orgue and Positif respectively, and not on the other two manuals. The absence of more principal sound at 8’ pitch is not so noticeable. A multi-memory system accelerates matters much faster in the relatively short practice time available. He left us to it, giving us precise instructions and exact telephone numbers to call when we had finished so we could be let out of the building. Reassuringly, they matched those posted on the organ console, so we enjoyed exploring the delights of this wonderful monument of French organ building, with its grandstand view down into the nave (not so easy if one is afraid of heights).

La Madeleine has had a long succession of distinguished organists including  Camille Saint-Saëns (1857-1877), Théodore Dubois (1877-1896), Gabriel Fauré (1896-1905) and Jeanne Demessieux (1962-1968). After about three hours we had done all the necessary work and then telephoned but could not obtain a free line. Half an hour later, with no joy whatsoever, it seemed we were doomed to spend the night in the Madeleine. Sylvie stayed upstairs, trying the telephone again and again, while I went hunting for exit points and other telephones. Thus I discovered just about every door in the building, various tunnels, spiral staircases and iron grills. Tourists do not usually have the freedom and privilege of such explorations; what a wonderful place it is! In the sacristy I found another telephone in the dark but  still could not get a line, then a portable one that I took back into the church so I could see better. Between us we tried everything but nothing worked. I continued walking around, sincerely hoping I would trigger an alarm somewhere, but after about forty-five long minutes a voice shouted from high up over the high altar to enquire if we had terminated for the night because the organ was no longer being played. It was a janitor and we informed him that obtaining a telephone line was impossible. After checking the telephones and finding them to be in order he let us out. It was a relief to be outside on the street. The next day General Kalck greeted us with a question “what happened last night?” Then he added “did you add a zero to the number?” That was the key to the problem.

The concert was attended by over 500 people, many of them Parisians returning to the city after their traditional month away. Jean-Luc Perrot and his wife also came to hear the performance of his 2me Suite pour orgue à quatre mains which in fact was its première in France. François-Henri Houbart, organist of La Madeleine since 1979, was away for that weekend, performing a concert elsewhere so we did not have the opportunity to meet him.

The next day we flew back to Montréal, arriving home tired but fulfilled. Before the trip we purchased some good disposable cameras so we could have a record of everything because our own camera had recently become non-functional. We took numerous photographs including all the organs and their consoles and most of the people mentioned in this article, and eagerly awaited their development. When I went to collect them they were unrecognizable! The photographs had been mixed up with another customer when they were forwarded to a central processing plant and were never traced. The photos here are by David Rogers.

List of repertory performed on this tour (all organ duets)

*Sinfonietta, Denis Bédard (1950-)

Petite Suite, Bédard

Two Pieces for Organ Duet (1989), Ronald Arnatt (1930-): “Sarabande with Variations,” “Octopus Music”

Fantasie in f-Moll, KV 608, W. A. Mozart (1756-1791)

Fantasie in f-Moll, KV 594, Mozart

Fuge in g-Moll, KV 401, Mozart

*Dance Suite for Organ Duet, Jacobus Kloppers (1937-)

Fugue in D major, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)

Adagio, WoO 33/1, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

*2me Suite pour orgue à quatre mains, Jean-Luc Perrot (1959-)

Sonate g-Moll, op. 50, Leberecht Baumert (1833-1904)

Duet for Organ, Frederick R. C. Clarke (1931-)

*Toccata on “Vom Himmel hoch,” Ralf Bölting (1953-)

Toccata Française (sur le nom de H.E.L.M.U.T.), Bölting

Duet for Organ, Samuel Wesley (1766-1837)

Vier variierte Choräle für die Orgel zu vier Händen, op. 19, Christian Gottlob Höpner (1799-1859)

Fugue à six parties et deux sujets à 4 mains, Clément Loret (1833-1909)

Sonate in d-moll, op. 30, Gustav Merkel (1827-1885)

Präludium und Fuge in B-dur, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809)

Praeludium und Fuge in C-dur, Albrechtsberger

Introduction und Fuge in d-Moll, op. 62, Franz Lachner (1803-1890)

Fugue in e-Moll, op. posth. 152, Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

*Suite de noëls (extracts), Gilles Rioux (1965-): “L’Attente” (Venez divin Messie), “La joie” (Il est né le divin Enfant)

Bombardo-Carillon, Charles Henri Valentin Alkan (1813-1888)

* Organ duets commissioned and premièred by Sylvie Poirier and Philip Crozier

by Kay McAfee

The Eighth Biennial French Organ Music Seminar attracted 60 registrants for a commemoration of the centennial of the death of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. Hearing, playing, and studying the music written for the great instruments of Paris, Rouen, and Toulouse formed the focal point of the two-week schedule. French Classical and modern instruments at Versailles, Chartres, Bordeaux, Cintegabelle, and Albi rounded out the itinerary. Five recitals and three masterclasses by and for participants climaxed the events. The legacy of Cavaillé-Coll's work and influence was made vivid especially for those experiencing the instruments for the first time--from the first large-instrument contract for Saint-Denis (1841), the transitional La Madeleine organ (1845), to the late Saint-Ouen instrument (Rouen, 1890). His respect for the work of predecessors such as Thierry, Dom Bedos and Clicquot is reflected in the preservation of pipework for instruments restored after the damage left behind during the French Revolution. Cavaillé-Coll's close relationship with the premier organist/composers of his generation who were inspired by his instruments was made apparent many times over.

 

Even the finest recordings pale when compared to the experience of being present within the acoustical environments of these magnificent instruments.  The initial experience of hearing the Grande Orgues of Paris played by their artist-curators--the effect of the near-Positiv and distant Récit, the solid depth of bass voices, the reverberation through the vast naves--was moving beyond description.

Prior to and during the seminar, participants studied improvisation and repertoire both privately and in groups with master teachers including Marie-Louise Langlais, Daniel Roth, Susan Landale, Naji Hakim, and Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet. Lectures on the history of each church and its instrument were followed by a demonstration and improvisation by the titulaire organist. Participants also enjoyed hearing a wide variety of examples of French Romantic and Classical literature from one another. Generous playing time was allowed at each venue.

At the Paris Conservatory organ recital hall, Dallas flutist Debra Johnson played a virtuosic new work for flute and piano by Naji Hakim, accompanied by the composer. Marie-Louise Langlais introduced François Espinasse, titulaire organist at Saint-Severin, who conducted the first masterclass which addressed French Classical music. His comments focused on correct registration and the careful and sensitive employment of the French manner. Mme. Langlais gave to the participants an extensive handout on registration and interpretation.

Saint-Roch was the next stop for a recital by David Erwin who played works by Clérambault, Balbastre, and Langlais. Lefébure-Wély, at age 15, assumed the organist position there in 1832. The instrument dates from 1751 with several rebuilds, including one by Cavaillé-Coll 1840-1862.

At Notre-Dame-de-Paris, the group gathered in the organ loft for Philippe Lefebrve's demonstration of the famous Cavaillé-Coll in this most famous of churches. Lefebrve's exciting improvisation began with employment of Clicquot pipework--a Grand Plein Jeu with pedal en chamade. Next, an Adagio with variously the Voix humaine, Doublette, Cromorne, Hautbois, Strings, and double pedal. A Flute Scherzo with Vox Humana countermelody in the pedal was followed by a lively march with Trompette long-note melody in the pedals. The stirring finale was built from Fonds+Reeds+Cornets to full organ with pizzicato pedal sprinkled throughout.

In the loft at La Trinité, titulaire organist Naji Hakim, protégé of Langlais, and Messiaen's chosen successor, told of Guilmant's collaboration with Cavaillé-Coll for the 1871 instrument. Hakim, a charming man, successful composer, and virtuoso organist, spoke with great reverence of his predecessor, Olivier Messiaen. He played two unpublished early Messaien works, Offrande and Prélude, which showed influence of Fauré and Debussy. Amid telling delightful stories and putting off the vacuum-cleaner-wielding sexton, he played portions of his own Sinfonia and a new piece, Chant de Joie. He then assisted participants in trying the organ.

The first participants' recital, open to the public at Saint-Roch, featured nine performers in a program of Clérambault, Boëllmann, Balbastre, Dupré, de Grigny, Widor, Langlais, and Saint-Saëns.

Notre-Dame-des-Champs was Ca-vaillé-Coll's parish church. Today the two-manual mechanical action organ, with Barker machine and Appel lever, is 90% original Cavaillé-Coll pipework. Titulaire organist Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet demonstrated the beautiful Flûte Harmonique and rich Montre of the Grand Orgue division and improvised on Fonds and Anches. She played portions of pieces by seminar director Christina Harmon, herself, her husband Naji Hakim, and René Vierne, who was organist at the church before his death in WWI.

At The American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal), Ned Tipton, organist of the cathedral, explained the varied history of the 1845 Cavaillé-Coll organ and later rebuilds and additions by Mutin, Henry Willis, and others. The west-gallery 1970 neo-Baroque organ, added as an aid to congregational singing, was eventually revoiced and brought into compliance with the chancel instrument. To demonstrate the diversity of the organ, Mr. Tipton played works of Bach, Sowerby, and Duruflé. A masterclass followed, conducted by Lynne Davis, with participants playing works by Franck, Vierne, Dupré, Widor, and Tournemire. Miss Davis' succinct comments focused primarily on tempo, phrasing, articulation, and delineation of form. Following the masterclass, David Wilson, retired professor of music history and early-music ensemble director at Dalhousie University in Halifax, presented a lecture on the French Romantic Organ School.

The historically rich Schola Cantorum, located in what was an English Benedictine monastery, was founded by Guilmant in 1896 for the restoration of Gregorian chant after Solesmes, and for fostering the heritage of the organ in that tradition. A temple of "non-official"  music, it nurtured students such as Debussy, Milhaud and Roussel. Teachers have included Vierne, the Duruflés, Grunenwald, and Langlais. The organ, designed by Guilmant, who played the inaugural recital, is a 1902 three-manual Mutin after Cavaillé-Coll. Mutin worked for Cavaillé-Coll and took over the company after Cavaillé-Coll's death. Participants were treated to a fine recital by Lázló Deák, competition-winner and student of Mme Langlais.  Repertoire included works of Guilmant, Vierne, Duruflé, Grunenwald, Messiaen, Litaize, and Langlais.

Also at the Schola Cantorum, Marie-Louise Langlais conducted a master class on the Franck Choral in E Major and Cantabile, Duruflé Veni Creator Variations, Widor Salve Regina, Langlais Fantasie, and Vierne Prélude from Symphony #1. Besides telling of the rich history of the school's site and heritage and the attributes of the organ, she wove stories and anecdotes of Franck, Sainte-Clotilde, Messiaen, Duruflé, Litaize, and Langlais for performers and audience.

The Sainte-Clotilde Cavaillé-Coll was demonstrated by Jacques Taddei, titulaire organist and current director of the Paris Regional Conservatory. After playing the Franck B-minor Choral he demonstrated the colors of the organ beginning with Grand Plein Jeu (of Baroque influence from Dom Bedos) the Positiv Clarinet (Cromorne) which was moved to the Récit by Tournemire but later moved back to the Positiv, Fonds 8¢ with Oboe, Great and Positiv Trompettes, all reeds together, solo reeds Oboe, Vox Humana, Trompette; and the  Grand Orgue, Récit, and Positiv Harmonique Flûtes. He improvised on two melodies: Amazing Grace and the refrain of  Battle Hymn of the Republic--chosen by Marie-Louise Langlais for all of the Americans present. It is among the "sweetest" of Cavaillé-Coll instruments (1859), reworked by Beuchet-Debièrre in 1933 and 1960 and Barberis in 1983. The console was electrified after WWII. The assertive unenclosed Positiv, forward in the case, contrasts greatly with the recessed Recit, a factor affecting registration of Franck's music on American organs. We would return to Sainte-Clotilde to play the organ and hear an impressive participants' recital of music by Franck, Boëllmann, Tournemire, Dubois, Guilmant, Vierne, and Langlais.

Michel Chapuis was the host at the Palace of Louis XIV at Versailles.  In the royal apartments he demonstrated an 18th-century harpsichord (Blanchet) and chamber organ. The highlight of the visit was his demonstration of the magnificent organ in the chapel. After his presentation, members of the group were able to play briefly.

Philippe Brandeis, titulaire organist at Sacre-Coeur and co-titulaire at Les Invalides, demonstrated the organ at the beautifully resonant chapel at Les Invalides (Church of the Dome). The chapel, built in 1675 by Louis XIV, is now reserved for military events and services and is the seat of the bishop of the military. An organ was finished in 1687 (Thierry) and LeBegue played there for the king. The organ had a checkered history throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and in 1957 was reconstructed after Sainte-Clotilde, though the present instrument is considered neo-classic with only one stop left of the original. Brandeis played the Duruflé Sicilienne and The World Awaiting the Savior by Dupré.

The noble chestnut trees of the cloister of Saint-Severin welcomed us to the architecturally eclectic church in the heart of the Latin Quarter of Paris. A walk from the West end pillars to the apse ambulatory columns and new stained glass designs is for the eye a short journey from the 13th to the 20th century. François Espinasse, titulaire organist, demonstrated the 1964 Kern (case from the original 1745 instrument) with flutes, cornets, and Basse de Trompette. Assisted by Espinasse and David Erwin, participants played Bach, Couperin, LeBegue, Raison, and deGrigny.

Our next stop, Saint-Sulpice, a mammoth Roman-style church with interior arches and huge paintings, boasts a Cavaillé-Coll of five manuals and 102 stops. Daniel Roth, titulaire organist, presented an excellent history of the organ. Its original Cavaillé-Coll mechanical-action console and preserved pipework are due in large part to the legacy of two organists, Widor and Dupré, whose combined, unbroken tenure there spanned 100 years. Despite protests that he "played too much like a German," Widor was appointed "interim" organist at Saint-Sulpice at age 26 upon the strength of Cavaillé-Coll's recommendation. He stayed for 63 years. Cavaillé-Coll retained the 1781 Clicquot pipework from the instrument which miraculously escaped desecration during the Revolution. Roth played an extended recital including Guilmant First Movement from Sonata #5, Widor Scherzo and a Fugue in A Minor. After demonstrating the Grand Jeu and other combinations, he concluded with an improvisation to demonstrate all the solo colors, strings, flutes, and tutti. Ample opportunity for all to play this great instrument was provided later in the week, with M. Roth assisting on the bench.

François-Henri Houbart, 20 years the titulaire organist at La Madeleine, discussed the considerable visibility of the church and its 1845 Cavaillé-Coll in terms of its history of celebrity organist-composers: Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Nadia Boulanger, Gigout, Dallier, Jeanne Demessieux, and Odile Pierre, and of the state occasions observed there. Many great musicians played the organ, including Frederick Chopin, Clara Schumann, and Anton Rubenstein. The organ was Cavaillé-Coll's second large instrument after Saint-Denis and is reminiscent of the French Classical design, with Plein jeu principals after Dom Bedos. There is no cromorne or cornet. The voix celeste is in the Positiv rather than in the Récit, and the Positiv is placed above the Grand Orgue. Its four-manual console is electrified, and 46 of the original 48 stops are preserved. Houbart demonstrated the organ with a long improvisation, delighting and amusing his audience, on the theme from "Dallas." Afterwards he assisted participants for playing time.

The visit to Chartres, site of renowned international organ competitions on the Danion-Gonzalez reconstructed organ of 1969-71, proved more than just the opportunity to hear and play the organ. This Queen of Gothic Cathedrals stands above all others as witness to and testament of the Age of Faith. Malcolm Miller, who has made a career studying and lecturing on the Chartres Cathedral, gave a guided tour especially for FOMS participants. Its 400 stained-glass windows, unparalleled in beauty, and the 4000+ sculptures which adorn the exterior capture and mesmerize all who journey there. Tourist traffic has failed to destroy its atmosphere and radiance.

 On the northern environs of Paris, titularie organist Pierre Pincemaille was our host at the ancient basilica church of Saint-Denis, the place of coronation and burial for centuries of French kings. It was here where the influential Abbot Suger instructed his architect to open up the apse ambulatory to light and space. The resulting gothic arches and provision for walls of colored glass realized Suger's belief that God can be known through beauty on earth. The nave is wide and "open." The 1841 Cavaillé-Coll instrument, his first in Paris and first to use the Barker lever, was restored in 1987 by Boisseau.

On Sunday morning, participants had opportunity to hear our French hosts improvise and preside from their organ lofts: Lefebvre for hundreds of tourists at the Notre Dame Gregorian Mass, Espinasse at Saint-Severin, Pincemaille at Saint-Denis, Taddei at Sainte-Clotilde, Dufourcet at Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Fréderic Blanc at Notre Dame d'Auteil, and Roth at Saint-Sulpice.

At St-Etienne-du-Mont, Maurice Duruflé's church, titulaire organist Thierry Escaich demonstrated the 1863 Cavaillé-Coll. The four-manual organ of 89 stops has been rebuilt and electrified by Beuchet-Debierre (1956), and rebuilt again by Gonzalez (1975) and Dargassies (1991).

The group traveled to Rouen to hear the spectacular 1890 Cavaillé-Coll organ at the abbey church of Saint-Ouen, a site with a history of bishops dating to the 7th century. The present flamboyant Gothic-style church's cornerstone is dated 1318, and the nave was finished in the 16th century.  Organist George Baker, describing his passion for the instrument, mentioned that it was the last organ which Cavaillé-Coll personally supervised. Widor played the dedication recital in 1890. The four-manual organ has one of the most spectacular of cases, with five figures crowning the towers: the central one is Christ, with King David, Saint Cecilia, and two angels on either side. Marcel Dupré's father Albert was titulaire organist at Saint-Ouen from 1911-1940. The organ was demonstrated first by titulaire organist Marie-Andrée Morriset with trumpeter Michel Morriset, in works of Vierne and Morriset. George Baker and Fréderic Blanc treated the group to a lengthy recital which included music of Vierne, Duruflé, and Widor. Dale Peters, Professor of Organ at the University of North Texas, played the Toccata by Lanquetuit which was dedicated to Albert Dupré.

From Rouen the group arrived late in the afternoon at the Regional Conservatory of Rueill-Malmaison. Professor, organist, and musicologist Susan Landale treated the group to her recollections of Marchal, Messiaen, and Langlais. A student of André Marchal in the 1950s and early 60s, she played several recordings of performances by these master teachers and discussed their relationships with one another through many interesting anecdotes and stories.

The next portion of the seminar itinerary took us to the south of France, first arriving in Bordeaux to visit the 14th-century Gothic Cathedral of Saint-André and its Gonzalez organ of neo-classical design. Our organist-host played the Final from Symphonie II by André Fleury. Bordeaux was the birthplace of Charles Tournemire, who was  organist there at Saint Michel. After playing-time at the cathedral and lunch, the bus drove towards Toulouse through the heart of wine country with a short stop at the picturesque, ancient Roman town of St. Emilion.

Continuing on to Toulouse, traveling through the beautiful countryside, we arrived in this beautiful city ready for the two days of events scheduled there. Most participants were attracted to the south of France because of the promise of experiencing the great organ at Saint-Sernin, but many other delights awaited. Two churches were on the first-day agenda. First, Église de la Duarade ("golden" from the gold mosaics that once decorated the interior), a Roman-style church with rounded arches with varied past of pagan, Moorish, and eventually Christian dominance. The organ, an 1864 Poirer and Lieberknecht, is typically Romantic, including a lovely free reed Euphone. Lefébure-Wély dedicated the instrument. Participants had ample time to play, with the assistance of François Espinasse and Sylvie Mallot, assistant director of FOMS. The choir organ, by Puget, was a jewel of an instrument with its Baroque case. A walk past the Garonne river took us to Église de La   Dalbade, a Gothic interior with familiar brick exterior common in this city and region. The organ of three manuals and 50 stops is an 1888 Puget. Espinasse played Messiaen's Dieu parmi nous. The voix celeste was particularly beautiful and the reeds assertive.

The Basilica of Saint-Sernin, a magnificent Romanesque church with spectacular spire, houses one of the most powerful of Cavaillé-Coll's instruments. Built in 1887-88 and restored in 1996, its three-manual console retains the original mechanical action. The reputation of the 54-stop organ comes partially from the presence of Pedal 32¢ Principal and 32¢ Bombarde, Grand-Orgue 16¢ Montre, 16¢ Bourdon, reeds from Bombarde 16¢ to 2¢ Clairon-doublette, and Trompette and Clarion en chamades 8¢ and 4¢. The Positiv is unenclosed. The fifteen performers for the third participants' recital prepared repertoire by Dupré, Langlais, Widor, Guilmant, Gigout, Boëllmann, Vierne,  and Franck.

The second day in Toulouse commenced at the Musée d'Augustine for a recital on a neo-Baroque organ by Arendt (1981). Housed in what was the impressive Gothic chapel of a monastery, the instrument was built upon recommendation of Xavier Durasse, an advocate for organ restoration in the region, who felt that Toulouse needed a modern instrument of this type. The first event held there was a Bach competition. Tuned in Werckmeister III, the organ has three manuals, 30 stops and a beautiful case with side door-panels.

The Cathedral church of Saint-Etienne houses an organ restored by Cavaillé-Coll in 1849. It was restored again by Puget between the World Wars and by Kern in 1976 to become a neo-Baroque instrument of four manuals with an echo manual. François Espinasse played works of deGrigny, Marchand, and Bach. This organ is placed so high on the wall, with access to the loft so difficult, that one of the titulaire organists there was forced to resign because of acrophobia.

The last day brought visits to three towns: Cintegabelle, Albi, and Lavaur. Tiny, picturesque Cintegabelle boasts a Roman-style church of Moorish influence and a large French-Baroque instrument built by Boulbonne which was moved to the church from a nearby 17th-century monastery. Its magnificent case dominates the building. Of three manuals and 36 stops, the organ has the French pedalboard of short keys. Participants practiced for the fourth recital of the seminar for works by Couperin, Roberday, Dandrieu, d'Aquin, and deGrigny.

In the city of Albi, with its magnificent and imposing cathedral church of Sainte-Cécile, participants visited the fabulous Toulouse-Lautrec museum (he was born in Albi) across from the church and then returned for the fifth participants' recital. The French-Baroque organ by Moucherel was restored to its original voice in 1971-1981 by the firm of Formentelli. The recital, including works by Clérambault, de Grigny, Le Begue, and Corrette, was enjoyed by many ambulating tourists.

Lavaur, a peaceful town with its church of Saint-Étienne, was the last stop of the seminar. Like many places in the region, Lavaur suffered during the Albigensian Crusade in the early 13th century, a legacy of terror and destruction. Today the river Agoût flows peacefully along its edges and beautifully sculpted gardens welcome the visitor to the church. The organ is an 1876 Cavaillé-Coll, whose case resembles La Madeleine in Paris.  Within the quiet surroundings, participants again heard the Romantic sound of Lefébure-Wély, Franck, Chausson, and Tournemire.

Directors Christina Harmon and Marie-Louise Langlais and their associates planned the schedule for maximum use of time, and the seminar fulfilled its purpose as an educational experience and delight for the ear. The gracious hospitality of our hosts included a dinner at the home of Naji and Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet Hakim, a garden reception at the Schola Cantorum prepared by Mme. Langlais and her daughter Caroline, and two group dinners at private rooms in fine restaurants, one of which was for celebration with song and gifts on Mme. Langlais' birthday.

The first French Organ Music Seminar in 1987 attracted six students who spent five days studying with Philippe Lefebvre at Notre Dame in Paris. The eighth tour, with 60 students from age 16 to 75, provided experience of a wide variety of instruments and invaluable personal interaction with fine scholars and teachers.