Souvenir sheets and miniature sheets

Several items included in this blog are not common stamps taken from larger panes (sheets of 20 or more stamps for example). Often times stamps related to organs are issued in smaller groupings. These go go by a couple of different names (or more), and are imprecisely delineated even by professional collectors and tradespersons. I tend to use the terms "souvenir sheet" and "miniature sheet" or "mini-sheet" rather interchangeably. As this is cropping up more in recent months, I decided to investigate a bit. I was gladdened to learn I am not alone in my uncertainty about the differences, and my tendency to be indiscriminate in my use of the terms. This article attempts to clarify. In the US most stamps are issued in panes of 20, though commemoratives that are featuring multiple visual examples on a specific theme may use fewer stamps in a pane (10, 12, 15, 16, etc). Recent examples might include 12 different works by an artist, or 15 different examples of energy conservation. These might include a top banner that identifies the stamps or the set. Those are all still "panes" in my estimation. The 2018 Art of Magic pane of 3 lenticular stamps is a recent example of a souvenir sheet: small number of stamps in the grouping, decorative selvage. Also the 2016 Classics forever sheet of six Washington-Franklin stamps would be a souvenir sheet of 6, and it includes a somewhat decorative selvage.

Sweden: Christian art

Sweden issued a set of 5 stamps in 2014 commemorating 1000 years of Christian art. Two copies of each stamp appear in a single strip in a foldable booklet.

The second of the five stamps shows an angel from the 17th century pulpit in Brahekyrkan (Vaxjo Diocese, Smaland) and the 18th centuary organ in Askeryd's Church, also in Smaland.

http://www.filateli.info/nya_frimarken/2014/sverige_20140508_kyrklig-konst.php

The Askeryds Church is an ancient facility near Aneby within the state church of Sweden's (broadly Lutheran) Linkoping Diocese. This site (below) gives some general history of the church but includes remarkable details about the organ. Reading a translation of the Swedish gives mixed results: equal measures of clarity and confusion. The church dates from the 13th century. An organ is first mentioned in church records from 1590. An organ of 1 manual by Wistenius was installed in the west gallery in 1760. Pedals were added in 1770. The instrument was relegated to un-use by 1905 in favor of an instrument Zetterquist in one of the transepts. Ultimately the Zetterquist organ was moved to the gallery and the Wistenius organ was placed on the main floor in a transept. Frobenius (Denmark) restored the Wistenius organ 1961-1962. Frobenius does not list the work they did on this organ on their website, presumably because it was restoration work rather than a new instrument.

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Askeryds_kyrka

http://askeryd.se/Askeryd%20kyrka.htm

 

Zetterquistorgeln från 1906 på orgelläktaren i västra delen av långhuset.  Läktaren flyttades fram isamband med att man flyttade upp orgeln

The Zetterquist organ from 1906 on the organ bar in the western part of the longhouse. The stand was moved forward in connection with moving the organ up

https://jonkopingslansmuseum.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Askeryds-ka.pdf

Below are images showing the exterior of the booklet, including some of the descriptive material they provide. Also the interior with its information about the stamp run and the subject.

Romania: Buchhholz Organ

Romania issued this stamp in 2016. It was the third in a set commemorating Romanian "curiosities and superlatives." The instrument was built by Carol Buchholz in 1869 for the Black Church in Brasov, Romania. Renovations were done in 1966 including some stop changes, but these were un-done in 2003. I was able to find a stoplist within a database maintained by the Lutheran Church in Romania. The other two links below give some narrative history of the church and organ. I blogged about Daniel Croner and his relationship with this organ here. Since writing that post I have secured a handful of small-scale pieces by him.



http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/organs/germany/bra.html

https://www.honterusgemeinde.ro/die-schwarze-kirche/orgeln/

http://orgeldatei.evang.ro/organ/view/1230

Germany: Titanic organ

Titanic-Untergang mythos “Titanic-Orgel” Deutsches Musikautomaten-Museum Bruchsal

The epic sinking of the Titanic (represented by) the Titanic Organ at the Automatic Instrument Museum, Bruchsal.

Most are familiar with the tragedy of the sinking of the luxury liner, Titanic. It hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank, killing many, many people. One cannot over-emphasize the “luxury” descriptor. One symbol of this opulence was the plan to include a pipe organ in one of the ship’s salons. A sister ship the Britanic likewise was to have a “Welte Philharmonic Organ” installed. Using the most cut-edge technology of the day these instruments made the utmost of a limited number of pipes and included an automatic playing mechanism. The instrument for the Titanic was not installed before the first voyage. Ultimately the instrument made its way to the DMM in Bruchsal, Germany. Apporximately 100 years after the Titanic sank, the museum held festivities that featured the instrument that was spared. These several covers include various stamps and cachets, but the same pictorial cancel. The cancel includes information about the event and an image of the organ along with the postal code for Bruchsal.

Above is a stamp featuring a honey bee on a flower, meant to promote the need to protect pollinators. This stamp was issued in 2010, so I do not have a catalog number, as my catalog goes up to 2009 only.

At the bottom is a computer-generated postage label. The image on the label shows the Post Tower in Bonn, Germany.

Below a stamp in the “Famous Women” series that ran 1987-2004. This one shows Hildegard Knef, an actress (Scott 2186). All three are denominated 55c, the rate for the period, Germany having completed the transition to the Euro currency.

Finally at the bottom is a picture of the organ in its museum setting.

 

Germany: Reger

Germany issued this stamp honoring Max Reger on May 2, 1991, the 75th anniversary of the composer's death. The stamp (Scott 1645) includes an image of the composer and a collection of organ pipes in the rear. I blogged the stamp itself here. I have seen this first day cover in several places, so I know it's fairly common. The cachet features the same image of Reger, plus some organ pipes. The background in this case though is manuscript writing for organ. I have several works by Reger but I don't know them well-enough to identify the piece of music shown. The postmark also includes pipes and some music notation. It's a nice three-in-one combination of stamp, cancel, and cachet.

France: Luneville

I have blogged a couple of times about the organ at St Jacques Luneville, France. This post gives the most information about the larger stamps issued in 2012. These two postal items both relate. The first is simply an all-text postmark marking festivities related to the organ in 2003. It uses a common Marianne-type stamp (Scott 2835). The other is a cover that used the smaller Luneville organ stamp as postage.

France: Landévennec Abbey

The abbey at Landevennec was first established in the late 5th century. Its circumstances waxed and waned until the 1950's when the Benedictine order chose to reinvigorate the abbey and began adding buildings. The foundations of older parts of the abbey are still around. However a new sanctuary is the spiritual focus these days. In 1985 France issued a stamp (Scott 1973) honoring 1500 years of history at the abbey. It shows a rendering of the ancient abbey. On this cover, though, it is the cachet that is organ-related. It shows the interior of the "new" sanctuary, which includes an organ across the east wall. The cover includes the following information, "Premier Jour D'Emission No. 1421 Historique FDC." This refers to the fact that this is a first day cover, and presumably the cover is part of a series, or is perhaps #1421 in a print run of a certain number of copies of this cover. I have not been able to find out anything about the instrument, except that Jacques Berthier (of Taize fame) was somehow associated here, and recorded some of his compositions here.

DDR: Musical Instrument Museum

This cover includes two stamps from the former German Democratic Republic (Deutsch Democratische Republik, DDR). They are from a set of 4 stamps issued in 1979 showing various important instruments in the Musical Instrument Museum in Leipzig. The present stamps show a lira da gamba and a German tenor trumpet. But on the cover, the organ-interest items are not the stamps, but the postmark and cachet. Included in these two black-toned images are two different organs in the museum.  I was not able to find a list of holdings at the museum. The organ in the postmark thus remains a mystery. The cachet, we are told, shows an Italian positiv from the 1500's. The stamps (Scott 2031 and 2034) and the postmark include 1979 dates. The museum began as a private endeavor in 1886. It was absorbed by the University of Leipzig in 1929 and has been under their aegis since.

Austria: Nico Dostal

Austria issued a set of 2 stamps honoring composers of operettas in 1995. The 6 shilling stamp showed Franz von Suppe and a scene from "The Beautiful Galathea." The cover above shows Nico Dostal and a scene from his operetta, "The Hungarian Wedding." The stamp in this case is not the stamp-related item, but rather the postmark. It is a commemorative postmark dated April 26 1996,  about one hundred years after the death of composer Anton Bruckner. Better known for his non-organ compositions, Bruckner did produce a handful of organ works with which many organists are familiar. The postmark includes an image of the composer along with some representative pipes. While I have not investigated, I suspect there is no (strong) relation between Dostal and Bruckner, nor between Dostal and the pipe organ. Sergio Berti is the name of a stamp dealer in Italy with whom I have dealt some in the past, though this cover itself was a gift from Mark Jameson.

Alderney (UK): Christmas

Alderney issued this set of stamps in 2017 for Christmas. The stamps reference the carol, "The Holly and the Ivy," and illustrate the song. The stamps include a mix of outdoor and indoor scenes. The 73p stamp shows stylized organ pipes, similarly stylized keyboards, and music. The border of the stamp includes the relevant lyric, "...the playing of the merry organ.