Slovakia: Reformation 500th, Kezmarok Wooden Church organ

The year 2017 elicited a number of stamps from various postal authorities markings the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, generally pinpointed to 1517 with Martin Luther's tacking the 95-Theses document to the Wittenburg church door. Slovakia was one of those nations marking the occasion with a  stamp, in this case a single-stamp mini-sheet. The only content is the facade of the organ, that in the Kezmarok Wooden Church. An information card was included in my FDC that gives the builder Vavrinec Cajovsky from Levoca, and the year of completion as 1720. The Church of the Holy Trinity is built entirely of wood, and according to one site the organ likewise uses only wooden pipes. I have not yet found a specification of the instrument. The selvage of the sheet includes more detail of the balcony railing in the church and an enigmatic mountain and river scene. The stamp gives no indication of the location of the organ itself.

Slovakia: Eugen Suchon

I have to admit I had never heard of Eugen Suchon before encountering this stamp. Born in 1908 his father was an organist. His early piano studies led to further training school. He studied in Bratislava and Prague. He has a nicely rounded oeuvre including music for a wide variety of instruments, voices and combinations. A psalm cantata and a folk-song -based opera sealed his place as a Slovak composer of considerable import.

The present stamp features an image of the composer, an organ facade, the composer's name and signature. The organ may be that in the Reduta concert hall, home of the Slovak Philharmonic orchestra. The image I found on the orchestra's site is rather distant, but one can discern the medallion on the facade, which seems to correspond to that pictured on the stamp.

Suchon's connection to the organ seem solid if somewhat slim. His father was an organist. As a composer, there seem to be three larger-scale works for organ, all with orchestra.


This stamp (Scott 539) was issued in 2008, to honor the 100th anniversary of the composer's birth.