Aland: Jomala Kyrka

This cover is related to the Jomala Kyrka in the Aland Isands, near Finland. The stamp (Scott 8) shows a nice exterior shot of the historic church. The cachet however shows a somewhat enigmatic representation of the church interior. A little digging demonstrated for me that the cachet includes a bit of the organ in this famous church.

There is an annual organ festival in the Alands, I learned. Looking at the program for 2015 and cross-referencing artists and images I found what to me seems to be the organ inside the church shown on the stamp. Important markers for me were the historic crucifix, and the unique light fixture. I wish the photo below included the remarkable ship model hanging from the ceiling shown in the cachet! Lines in the cachet convince me that it includes a portion of the organ.

My friend Mark Jameson gave me this FDC. It's dated August 26, 1988, the day the stamp was issued in Mariehamn, Aland Islands.

The Aland Islands Organ Festival site was quite helpful. Under "ovrigt" near the bottom of the left column click on "orglarna" and scroll down the center section just a bit to get details about the Jomala Church's instrument.

Finland: Temppeliaukio Church

Finland issued this stamp in 1983 as part of its Europa observance. The Europa theme in 1983 was "inventions." The stamp (Scott #680) features the interior of the Temppeliaukio Cchurch, including the organ. The unique architecture of the church makes it a worthy representative of Finnish inventiveness. The church is built in the ground. The interior walls are unfinished exposed rock. The roof is a glass dome which allows in natural light. The church opened in 1969 after two design competitions and the intervening second world war. The organ was built by Veikko Virtanen. I haven't been able to find more information about the builder or the organ (other than the fact that it has 43 stops {from Wikipedia}); if you can share more, I would love to add details about the instrument.

Finland: Oskar Merikanto

Finland issued this stamp (Scott #477) on 5 August 1968 to honor the 10oth anniversary of the birth of Oskar Merikanto. Merikanto was born to Swedish parents who changed their surname after moving to Finland, to blend more easily into their adopted homeland. Merikanto was a very famous concertizer on both piano and organ, and composed numerous works for use in churches. The stamp features a portrait of the composer and an array of organ pipes. I haven't found any music in print for organ by Merikanto. Does anyone have any?