Maldive Islands: Beethoven, part 2

This is a follow-up to my original post on the Maldive Islands stamp that features Beethoven and the Court Organ at Bonn.

In the August 2013 issue of The American Organist (TAO), the journal of the American Guild of Organists, there is a review (pp. 72-73) of a recently published book on the history of the organ in the Schlosskirche zu Bonn. The compelling review mentions a few tidbits that are helpful in understanding the content of the Maldive Islands stamp. The most recent work on the organ was completed in 2012 by the Klais firm of Germany. The organ in the Schlosskirche during Beethoven's time was by Riedler. The specification of that instrument is not known. Beethoven was the second court organist, serving from 1784 when he was age 14, for 8 years. The Schlosskirche provides quite a bit of helpful information about their Klais instrument on their website, including the specification.

Faroe Islands: Hvalvik Church

I got this stamp several years ago simply because I liked the view of the chancel area of this church. I have never been able to tell if there is a pipe organ in the chancel area also. The stamp, issued by Faroe Islands in 1997, shows the interior of the Church in Hvalvik. The church was built in 1928. It uses all wood for the construction, there no stone foundation. Hvalvik means "Whale Bay," affirming the priority of the fishing industry for the town. I haven't been able to find any information about the church's interior appointments, other than the fact that the pulpit dates from 1609. There is a Danish organ register, but it doesn't seem to include organs which may be located in the Faroe Islands. Until I can be certain there is indeed an instrument in the chancel area of the church shown on this stamp, I'm going to leave this post tagged "non-organic."

Malta: Francesco Azopardi

The island nation of Malta issued this stamp in 1985, the European Music Year, as part of a set of two stamps honoring Maltese composers. The low-value of the set features Nicolo Baldacchino. The present stamp of Azopardi includes organ pipes in the background. Azopardi (1748-1809) was a composer and music theorist. He was musician at St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina after study in Naples, and later added music leadership at St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta to his bailiwick. Azopardi has at least one chamber work which includes organ in the instrumentation. I have not done enough exploration to know if there are other organ works by him. The organ in the cathedral was begun in 1774 by Domenico Antonio Rossi. Restoration work beginning in 2003 was by Robert Buhagiar. He has helpful information on his firm's website. It is difficult to discern if the pipe faces shown on the stamp are indeed from the cathedral organ or not.

France: Carnet musique

France issued this booklet of stamp featuring musical instruments in 2010. January 29 was the first day of issue, with the pane available to the public on February 1. The stamps bear images of artistic representation from a variety of artists. The organ stamp is from a work of art by Francois Garas, completed in 1896. The original artwork utilizes pencil, ink, pen, watercolor, pastel, paper. It hangs in the Musee d'Orsay. As a work of art, I am assuming the original does not depict an extant instrument, but rather the artist's interpretation of an organ. The stamp does not appear yet in my 2011 Scott catalog. I found reference to it here with information from the French philatelic catalog.

Here is the catalog information:
Yvert et Tellier B390
Lyre 390
Harpe 391
Violoncelle 392
Guitare 393
Cor 394
Saxophone 395
Orgue 396
Clarion 397
Clavicen 398
Piano 399
Tambourin 400
Tambour 401

Here is an image of the original artwork: