Germany: Schnitger Organ, Hamburg

I have written about this stamp here. This item is a first day cover for the stamp, issued 16 November 1989. As is the case with several other countries, there are two impressions of the FDC postmark: one cancels the stamp to a greater or lesser extent; the second is in a blank space on the envelop so one can clearly see the cancel. It is also interesting to note that German FDCs are numbered; my copy is #10753.

Italy: Palestrina

In 1975 Italy issued a single stamp to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the birth of the musician Pierluigi da Palestrina. Scott 1195 describes him as a "composer of sacred music." Indeed he was. His influence of musical art cannot be overestimated. The stamp shows the composer with a book of music, and his dates (died 1594). the postmark is text plus a posthorn. The cachet on my cover shows a portrait of the composer along with a representation of an organ: two keyboards (with many, many notes!) and a row of pipes. Palestrina's career carried him around Italy with stints at the Vatican in Rome. He is known for his sacred choral and instrumental works more than his secular pieces, but all of it demonstrates his mastery of polyphony and counterpoint.

France: Lulli

Jean-Baptiste Lulli (or Lully) (1632-1687) was a musician and dancer working in the court of King Louis XIV. He wrote music for many instruments in many different forms. He was adept at violin and guitar but as a court musician had deep familiarity with most instruments in use at the time. I am not familiar with organ works by Lully, though several of his pieces for other instruments have been arranged for organ.

The present cover shows a stamp issued honoring Lulli on 10 November 1956. Scott 812 was part of a set of 6 stamps featuring famous men who lived in France. Lully was Italian-born though he became a French citizen late in life. The stamp is a simple portrait. The postmark is all text. The cachet however shows a violin and musical scores in the foreground, and an organ facade in the background. I do not know which organ this may be, but the specificity of the image suggest that it is indeed a specific instrument, rather than an abstract representation for the cover. The front of my cover has been scuffed a bit; some of the text is hard to decipher. I would be happy to hear in the comments which organ this is!

France: Saint Jacques, Luneville

The stamp on this First Day Cover is one of two that were part of a mini-sheet issued in 2012. I discussed the sheet here. The cover here includes the 1.45 Euro stamp. The postmark shows one of the violin-playing putti that adorn the organ. The cachet is a close-up of the statuary of the organ.

France: Couperin 2

This First Day Cover includes the same stamp discussed here. The major difference between the covers is only the cachet. The present cover's cachet shows a portrait of Couperin with an organ facade in the background. While one might hope that the facade is that of the Saint Gervais organ, with which Couperin is associated, that does not appear to be the case. This page discusses both the gallery instrument and the choir organ, neither of which resemble the instrument in the cover. Couperin was also a court organist, and the instrument could be that at court, rather than at the church.