Italy: Verdi

Italy issued this stamp in 1951 as part of a set of three stamps honoring the death of Guiseppe Verdi 50 years after his death in 1901. This is the middle-value stamp and features a church and an organ facade. I had for years not known that Verdi was an organist, but he's quite well-known for his organ skills. Verdi was born in Le Roncole, a village in Parma, Italy. Verdi spent the majority of his life in this region. He began playing the organ as a substitute at age 9 at the church of St. Michael the Archangel, and shortly thereafter took the same position permanently. The facade shown in the stamp could be that of the St. Michael church organ, but one can't be certain.

Hungary: Schweitzer commemoration

Hungary issued this stamp in 1975 as part of a set of seven stamps honoroing the 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), medical missionary and musician. The current stamp features a likeness of Schweitzer, his signature, an organ facade, and scroll-work with JS Bach's name and musical notation. It's impossible to determine which if any particular instrument these pipes are meant to indicate.

Hungary: Painting, angels playing organ and harp

Hungary issued this stamp in 1973 as part of a set of 7 stamps and 1 souvenir sheet containing a single larger-sized stamp). All of the stamps feature paintings by anonymous Hungarian painters found in the Christian Museum at Esztergom. This painting in this stamp, by an unknown painter, is of angels playing a portativ and a harp. Art critics will have more to say about the painting. One can see that the organ is placed on a table-top. It has a relatively short compass (few notes), as indicated by both the number of keys and the number of pipes. This stamp is HUngary #2254 in the Scott catalogue.

Hungary: Listz Music Academy

Hungary issued this stamp in 1975 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Franz Listz Music Academy (Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem). The stamp features a treble clef, an organ facade and an orchestra being led by a conductor.

One can view a virtual tour of the Great Hall here. From this tour one can learn that it is indeed the organ in the Great Hall that is featured on this stamp. I have not yet been able to determine who built this organ.

The academy's facility page mentions that reconstruction work has been taking place for the past two years, with scheduled completion in September 2011.

The organization, Friends of the Liszt Academy has this to say about the organs at the school:

The organ in the Bach-hall of the Old Academy of Music needs to be renovated urgently not only for the reason that it has been already used for fifteen years but because this is the only available organ for the Academy during the reconstruction period of the main building. The fundraising activity has already commenced for this special project.

The main organ of the Music Academy Main Building at Liszt tér has to be removed during the 2-year reconstruction time, and a new organ must be built. The financing of this huge project needs to get additional support.

The Organ Departments’ young and devoted professors envisaged an internationally active and attractive centre with other new small organs serving educational purposes. This long-term vision will need significant outside support as well.

So it seems there are two main instruments, but there are plans, it seems to replace the second of these two, which would seem to be that of the great hall.

Hungary: European Music Year

in 1985 Hungrary released a set of six stamps featuring composers and instruments. 1985 was the "European Music Year," as decided by the European Union. Other composers featured on stamps in this set included Handel, Cherubini, Chopin, Mahler and Ferenc. These stamps were issued on July 10. That year, 1985, was also the 300th anniversary of the birth of Bach (and of Handel).

The stamp including JS Bach includes the facade of the organ in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. This instrument by Sauer was built in the late 1800's and was never played by Bach. However, it's design is quite remarkable and easily distinguishable. This stamp is #2939 in the Scott catalogue.

Guinea-Bissau: Bach

Guinea-Bissau issued this souvenir sheet August 5, 1985 as the last in a set of stamp honoring musicians and instruments. Guinea-Bissau is on the western coast of Africa and is the region once known as Portuguese Guinea, until the nation declared independence in 1974. It includes the Bissagos Islands.

This souvenir sheet and its stamp feature a portrait of JS Bach and images from the Thomas Kirche in Liepzig Germany where Bach was cantor or music director. The Sauer organ was built in 1889, thus Bach himself never played it. It was restored in 2005. There is a second more Bach-like instrument in the Thomas Kirche now, but again Bach never played it; it was built by the Woehl firm in 2000.

Greenland: Jonathan Peterson

Jonathan Petersen (1881-1961) was an organist and composer living in Greenland. Most famously, he wrote the music for the Greenland national anthem; the lyrics had been written by Lutheran pastor Henrik Lund.

Nuuk is the capital of Greenland and there are two primary churches there, the cathedral and the Hans Egede Church. This article gives some basic information about the recent evolution of the Lutheran church in Greenland. Peterson conceivably could have been organist at either or both of them, though there is a bronze bust of him in front of the cathedral leading me to suspect his primary work was there.

The stamp includes a set of facade pipes in addition to Petersen's portrait. The pipes are not identified. They could however be representations taken from the facade from the in organ currently in either the cathedral or the Egede church. Both instruments are relatively new (1970 and 1971), so Peterson never played either of them. Absent any other information, one might conclude based on circumstantial evidence that the pipes on the stamp are part of the facade from the current cathedral organ.

Randall Harlow has assembled a very helpful website describing the pipe organs of Greenland. The page for Nuuk includes details about both the cathedral organ and the Hans Egede Church organ. Neither facade is exactly like the one in the stamp image however.

The stamp was issued September 5, 1991 as part of a set of three portraying famous men of Greenland.

.Marcussen organ in the Nuuk Cathedral (2 manuals, pedal, 11 ranks)

(Copyright 2010 Randall Harlow.)

Nuuk Cathedral exterior