An organ
recital was a good excuse to drive to Friesland on a pleasant and sunny Saturday
in July. The drive along the Afsluitdijk
is rather boring, but at least the speed limit is now 130 km an hour, which
helps!
Once in rural
Friesland, the world is different. Big horizons, green pastureland dotted with
cows, copses around old farmhouses,
windmills and many ditches and canals, it is all there. Just as tiny hamlets,
always with a church surrounded by a churchyard, however small the village.
Immediately after crossing the Afsluitdijk, I took an unclassified road along
the dike of the IJsselmeer, the former Zuiderzee which is now a lake.
Unfortunately the sheep and cows on the dike had a better view of the
IJsselmeer than any car drivers or cyclists, as the road is below the dike and
not on top. So I got out occasionally to have a look at the beautiful skies
with the amazing towering cumulus clouds, reflecting in the water.
The first
stop was Makkum, a very Dutch town in miniature, popular with sailors but also
known for its hand
painted ceramics, too expensive to be tempted to buy anything at all.
To my
surprise there was an international egg
throwing festival, which sounded too odd to be true. But it was true. One
part of the contest was a sort of Russian roulette with raw and hardboiled eggs
which had to be cracked on one's forehead. I did not get the rules, but two
people sat opposite each other with caps on their heads and the loser got its
face more or less covered in dripping raw egg. Then there was an egg throwing
contest and a relay race. The spectators had to be careful not to be hit by the
flying contents of the cracked and broken eggs! I never even knew this was part
of the local folklore. It seemed rather medieval and wasteful as well.The centre
of this small but delightful yachting town was closed off for traffic for the
occasion.
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| Tichelaar Ceramics Works |
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| Instead of a front garden, Makkum |
I stopped
at Gaast, a tiny hamlet, to have a look at the graves in the churchyard, the
texts on the stones often in the Frisian language, more related to English than
to Dutch.
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| Gaast |
On to
Workum, a slightly bigger town also with harbours, formerly of course for freight
sailing ships, now just for pleasure boats. It had open access to the IJsselmeer.
There are a few sluices, but access is relatively easy. The town is rather narrow,
and long, originally built along the banks of a river which is now the main
street. With its raised sidewalks it is clear that once here was water. The
houses have beautiful gables and fronts and it looks as if once the town was prosperous, because of the fishermen and the traders,
goods being transported via the open sea.
There is a Roman Catholic church, and
a protestant one, before the reformation also Catholic of course, the St. Gertrudis,
dating back to the end of the fifteenth century, the late Gothic period. Because
of lack of funds the church was never fully completed on the west side, and so
the tower which dates from 1420, is not attached to the church. There is pulpit
which is beautifully carved and dates from 1718.
But most spectacular is the collection
of painted biers which belonged to the different guilds. There is one for the
builders, another for the bakers, one for the pharmacists , the carpenters, the
sailors and silversmiths. Most moving are two smaller biers for children.
I enjoyed
exploring the town, the old shipbuilding yard, the different harbours and
drawbridges, the imposing gabled houses and the tiny ones, but most of all the
church, the biers and the organ.
My friend was due to give an organ recital that evening, the main reason for my
trip. Just too bad that the attendance was so low. The organ dates back to the
17th century and although not too big, the sound is clear and
beautiful. The programme was varied, and included two of my favourite pieces.
The first one Larghetto and Allegro from Concerto nr. 13 in F by Georg Fr.
Handel, Cuckoo and Nightingale.
It took me back to my childhood when my father
took on the back seat of his bicycle to the Lutheran church in The Hague for my
first organ recital. Feike Asma was the organist and when he played this piece in
the semi dark church I was struck as if by lightning. It was absolutely
wonderful and I decided then and there that I wanted to learn to play the organ
as well. It was also the piece played during the private organ recital which
our organist friend played as part of the celebrations for my parents' 60th
wedding anniversary, in their local church. So all those memories came flooding
back during the recital in Workum.
The other piece
was the Suite Gothique by Leon Boellmann (1862-1897)
Here played
on the formidable organ of the St. Sulpice in Paris
The organ
in Workum is of course not comparable to the grand Cavaillé-Coll organ in Paris
and it needed some juggling to play the piece well. The organ has a will all of
its own and doesn't take kindly to weather changes, changes in humidity and
temperature. So halfway the organist had to stop to adjust the system combining
the two manuals, resulting in a loud and disconcerting bang! I thought he had become
unwell and fallen from his bench. Fortunately that wasn't the case. Once done,
he continued playing.
After the
recital we – the organist, the assistant and I – were invited for coffee at the
verger's house, which was nice. On my drive back the weather broke and I drove
through heavy downpours for the last 30 minutes or so. Home after midnight.
Some more pictures
of the trip.
Lovely music and description of your day. I am not familiar with these two Handel pieces but they are charming.
ReplyDeleteThe St. Surplice organ is a monster. I don't think we've visited this church when in Paris.
In our Anglican church singing days we worked a at church whose organ blew out at least several times a week and the organist had to crawl up into the pipe chamber and spray leaking pipes closed so they could sound in tune and not blow air.
I must admit to preferring the simpler organ pieces on less bombastic instruments.
Thanks for the articles.
The Suite Gothique is very varied and apart from pieces for the full organ, which almost make the church reverberate, there are wonderful quiet and lyrical parts as well. Beautiful music. Although the St. Sulpice is itself a monster, the organ really belongs there and fills the space. But it is not ear deafening because of the wonderful and huge space. So "Bbombastic" music is awe inspiring there instead of off putting.
ReplyDeleteThe Handel organ concertos are very well-known. I have several editions/recordings at home. Marie Claire Alain has recorded them and they are elegant and light.
In Workum they were not so much leaking pipes, as the mechanic system which kept blocking because of the changes in humidity. Wood is rather sensitive to that. So force had to be used either to open or close valves, or to connect manuals.
Have you been to visit the small islands in the North Sea that are part of Germany. Your pics remind me of those hamlets and old churches and graveyards. Whaling and sea trade was supporting community life. It's part of the Frisian Islands. We spent time on Fohr, in the North Sea.
ReplyDeleteThe tile you pictured here covered the walls in the kitchen of the old house we stayed. They were highly valued and appreciated by the family.
We also saw our first performance of the King Singers in one of their very old churches. It was quite special.