review

Dutch Organ Tours
Organ tour to GRONINGEN 2010

“Learning by doing” might have been the by-line of Dutch Organ Tours spectacular guided visit to some of the many historic organs of the Groningen region of the Netherlands in April 2010. One can listen to any number of recordings; attend innumerable lectures and pay for repeated lessons; but there is simply no substitute for seeing and hearing the real thing in action and having a go. Whatever one’s personal leisure pursuits, most people would recognise that a live performance - be it opera, theatre, cabaret or even football - was better than an indirect experience through the television or on compact disc. Visiting Groningen on this tour was like an extended “live” performance in what the organisers justifiably call the “organ garden of Europe”. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that there is any pejorative slant in the term “historic” in this instance. The organs were no mere stacks of old pipes wheezing asthmatically in the distance – these are the stately homes of organ world.

So, what was the “real thing” at the heart of this trip? Essentially, it was the organs of the north German baroque (or Hamburg School) and their progeny as realised in spades in this unexpectedly organ-rich region of Holland. The bare statistics of this 5 day tour disclose the number and extent of the opportunities provided for participating organists and auditors. 13 organs (including a couple of unplanned “extras” slotted into the itinerary); 11 recitals and 9 chances for every participant to have a go for themselves. The instruments – all majestically restored and in fine fettle – included the 1531 “anonymous” instrument in the small Hervormde Kerk at Krewerd; the Faber organ at the Jacobuskerk, Zeerijp (1651) and the Arp Schnitger instrument at the Jacabuskerk, Uithuizen (1700).

As the week progressed so the organs of the region were presented in more or less chronological order (right up to the end of the nineteenth century) and an honourable mention should go to the 1831 Timpe instrument at the Nieuwe Kerk in Groningen town – dominating, rich, powerful and full of character like a resplendent dowager reigning over the church’s stark but grand interior. The repertoire heard and played ranged from Sweelinck to Mendelssohn via Buxtehude, Bohm and Bach with many other destinations along the way. This was a feast for all the senses, or, at the risk of flogging the organisers’ analogy to death, a garden of many colourful and exotic blooms.

Even those brought up on RCO pedal boards, electro-pneumatics and two-hundred channel sequencers could not fail to be impressed by the virility, boldness, richness and purity of sound produced by these magnificent instruments. Far from getting in the way of performance; tracker action, flat pedals, short compass keyboards, unequal temperament and draw stops cunningly positioned on the case of the Rugpositief behind the player really do inform the way in which the music is realised and projected from player to audience; from hand (and foot) to ear. Only by experiencing the sound “live” and trying the real thing does one get a true sense of the grandeur of the baroque chorale-based repertoire and a true sense of the panache underlying stylus fantasticus infused as it is with shock and surprise. The music is truly the product of the instruments. This we have been told repeatedly (as we have for other styles, for example, Cavaillé-Coll) but there is simply no substitute for experiencing the result for oneself.

At each venue along the way visitors were encouraged to play and were assisted by both guest recitalists and resident organists whose supportive objective was to help players maximise their individual but informal performances – whatever the level of attainment the performer could accomplish. Nobody was or ought to have been put off at the prospect of trying out these instruments. Flawless playing was not expected and not the point. All involved became steadily more comfortable at the console as the week unfolded. Inevitably, individual time on each instrument was limited, but never rushed. One suspects that each player left each console a little better informed and a little readier to meet the challenges presented by subsequent unfamiliar instruments. It is in the nature of such tours that just as one begins to get comfortable – the adventure ends.

It would be invidious to single out any of the many professional recitalists (each of whom brought their respective instruments to life). Suffice it to say that the standard of playing was nothing short of breathtaking and encompassed repertoire actually far wider than the north German baroque. Four hundred years of organ music was covered, including some convincing contemporary works and even a smattering of English romanticism – and it was refreshing to hear most recitalists produce chorale-based improvisations of style and originality and most definitely not in the ubiquitous French manner.

A postscript. At the St. Christophorus Kerk in Schagen they have an 1882 Nicholson (originally from Worcester) standing unenclosed and unconfined in the north aisle of a large Roman Catholic church from where it speaks with authority and power throughout the building. Here is an English Victorian organ convincingly restored that is not caged and throttled in a stone chamber. If only there were more like it at home. The Oxford Movement has a lot to answer for. So, if the chance presents itself, don’t just think about taking advantage of such a trip to experience for yourself the dynamics of different instruments in their home environments – do it.

Alan Saggerson
St Mary’s Parish Church,
London NW6

May 2010.