Czech Republic: Natural beauties

 

 

The Czech Republic issued this pair of stamps in 1995 celebrating two large rock formations, under the category of "natural beauties" in that nation. Of course there is no organ present; the basalt formation shown on the 8k stamp looks somewhat like organ pipes. I have included the stamp in this pipe organ stamp inventory for completeness, as this stamp has appeared on "pipe organ" lists for some time. There are several basalt formations that mimic organ pipes. I think this is the only one that features on a postage stamp. The stamps were issued 3 May, 1995. My copies are in mint condition, purchased from County Stamp Center.

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.

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.

 

France: Couperin

France issued a semi-postal stamp honoring Francois Couperin in 1968. Couperin le Grand ("the Great") was born and died in Paris, 1668-1733, so the stamp was in honor of his 300th anniversary. Couperin was a composer, organist and harpsichordist. His organ works generally appear collected in a single volume, arranged as two Masses. They are staples for beginning organists, but are satisfying for performers of all types. To compare, there are four volumes of harpsichord music extant.

I have an FDC of the 1968 stamp. Interestingly, the French postal authority usually  provides to impressions of the first-day cancel, one touching the stamp to actually cancel it, and a second placed so one can see it clearly. The stamp, cancel and cachet all feature likenesses of the composer. This stamp was part of a set of four, the others depicting General Louis Desaix de Veygoux; a painting by Saint-Pol-Roux, or Paul-Pierre Roux; and Paul Cloudel, poet and diplomat. All the stamps are denominated 30c + 10c. My catalog does not mention for what the surtax may have been designated. The Couperin stamp, Scott B417, is in purple with a portrait of the composer and a collection of instruments including a harpsichord,a  couple of stringed instruments, and a metronome.

Francoise Couperin was for many years organist at St Gervais in Paris, a position held by both his father, Charles, and his uncle Louis. This in addition to musical duties at court.

 

Facade at St Gervais

Vatican City: Euphrasian Basilica

Vatican City issued this set of three stamps (Scott 960-962) in 1994 to mark the 13th International Convention of Christian Archeology, which was held in Split, Croatia. The images on the stamps are details from the Euphrasian Basilica in Porec, Croatia. The mosaics depicted are located in the east-end apse of the basilica, and are indeed quite dramatic. The 700 lira stamp shows Bishop Euphrasius, Archdeacon Claudius, and Claudius' son; the 1500 lira stamp shows the Madonna and Child with two angels; the 3000 lira stamp shows Christ and the Apostles Peter and Paul. In addition to the persons on the stamps, the overall mosaic includes all twelve of the disciples of Jesus, plus numerous saints. When this set was recommended to me, I inquired as to the organ "tie-in." I was told that while an organ is not present on any of these stamps, there is an organ visible elsewhere in the mosaic. I have searched for a couple of years now and have yet to find any hint of an instrument, nor pipes, nor even anything like a pan-flute within the mosaic. I am including this post for the sake of completeness, but I am not convinced that there are any pipes, let alone an entire instrument, present in the mosaic. I will be happy to be corrected by anyone who knows better. I have included a couple of detailed photographs of the mosaic for any who wish to explore and seek to discern a pipe or two! I do note that Euphrasius is holding a church building, which may be a representation of the basilica; within the basilica there may be an organ (I have not found information about one yet), and by extension the Bishop is holding a representation of an organ?

Maldive Isands: Bach anniversary

In 1985 the nation of Maldive Islands issued a set of 4 stamps plus a souvenir sheet (Scott 1106) of a single stamp in honor of the 300th anniversary of the birth of JS Bach. The stamps all include a portrait and either a piece of music or a musical instrument. The souvenir sheet is a portrait with the St Thomas Church, Leipzig in the selvage. Bach's connection with St Thomas is well-known. The organs contained therein are likewise well-known. The image in the selvage is an older engraving, before the very famous Bach statue was erected on the grounds. Thus the stamp is actually non-organic, but the connection is none-the-less strong.

France: music boxes

 

France issued a mini-sheet of six stamps in 2015 featuring elaborate music boxes. Among the very creative and fanciful devices is one that looks like a pipe organ and includes a clock. While the design may represent a specific instrument, I suspect it is a generic representation to suit the creator's artistic desires. My copy of this stamp sheet was a gift from Mark Jameson. I have tagged this as "5 ATA" as it may be considered an artistic form of an organ, but I suspect it is essentially non-organic. Each of the music boxes shown on the sheetlet are marvelous works of art and clever machines to boot!

Aruba, music box

The Caribbean nation of Aruba declared independence from the Netherlands in 1986, shedding the name "Netherlands Antilles" in the process. Their post office issued a set of regular issue stamps that year, and a follow-up set in 1987 filling out missing denominations. The stamps features simple images of items related to Aruban life. Mysteriously this included this small musical instrument. Scott 11 has a deep red background and is denominated 75c. Scott calls it a music box; it has been on the organ topical list since its inception. But I cannot, looking at the stamp closely, agree that it is an organ. The interior parts look remarkably like the innards of a piano: tuning pins and strings, and the (steel) resonator. I had once imagined the strings were pipes, but the pins belie that possibility. The hand crank on the left-front of the instrument is curious, but not in itself indicative of this being an organ of any type. Hans Timmerman includes this stamp in his database, FWIW. He names it a draaiorgel, or barrel organ. These are popular in the Netherlands. But again, looking at that mechanism, I'm just not sure it's an organ. I am including this stamp here for the sake of completeness, but not with any sense that it truly belongs.

Sweden: Christmas 1980

Sweden issued this stamp for Christmas on 18 November 1980. It shows a form of artistic representation of an angel blowing a horn.Scott 1339 was issued as a booklet stamp, not the more common coil format.

For years I have heard that this stamp's design is based on case decoration on a specific pipe organ in Sweden. At this point I don't remember who has said such, or where I might have read it. I have never found any confirmation of this however. I would love to know the details behind the stamp's design. I think I will try to determine who designed the stamp and see if it's possible to contact them. I am willing to concede that the decoration may not be organ-related at all.

DDR: Handel

The DDR issued a pair of stamps honoring Handel on 27 April, 1959, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the composer's death. Handel was born in Halle, Germany which between the end of World War II and reunification, was situated in East Germany. The 10pf green stamp shows a statue of Handel from Halle. The 20pf red stamp shows the composer as depicted by Thomas Hudson in a painting of 1748. There is nothing particularly organ-related about the stamps, other than the fact that Handel composed for the instrument, and was a proficient player.

DDR: Schweitzer

The German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR) issued a set of three stamps honoring Albert Schweitzer on 14 January 1965. It was the honoree's 90th birthday. The stamps are denominated 10pf, 20pf and 25pf and are distinctly green, red, and blue. The third stamp shows the doctor seated at a console, presumably that of an organ. The background shows the score for the B-minor prelude (and fugue) for organ. The stamp is not directly organ-depicting, but has enough organ-related interest to warrant inclusion here. The stamps are SCN 748-750.

Australia: Royal wedding

HRH Prince William married Catherine Middleton in 29 April 2011. The wedding took place in Westminster Abbey. Australia issued a mini-sheet of two stamps in anticipation the event on 12 April. The two stamps include a $2.25 denominated stamp with cream-colored background and a 60c stamp with gold-colored background. Both stamps feature the same straightforward image of the couple. The selvage of the mini-sheet, however, shows the interior of the Abbey, including the organ. The history of the Westminster Abbey organ is well-documented.

Handel memorial

This mini-sheet consisting of a single stamp was issued in 2009 by the Handel Haus Stiftung (Handel House Foundation) to commemorate the 250 anniversary of the death of Handel. Located in Halle, Germany the Handel House preserves and promotes all things Handelian.This bespoke stamp was a promotional item in 2009. The stamp consists of a portrait of Handel, that by Thomas Hudson from the 18th century, hanging in the Handel House facility. For our purposes, however, it is the selvage that is more compelling, for it contains elements of a pipe organ, along with potions of a musical score. The facade shown is not familiar to me; others may recognize it. The mini-sheet also includes what seems to be a slogan of sorts, "Es lebe der liebe Sachsie." That seems to me to render as "love live the beloved Saxon" (Handel), but my knowledge of idiomatic German is limited.

Italy: Mercadante

Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870) was in Italian composer of some import. He was known during his lifetime for his operatic compositions. After his death his fame receded; he is not so nearly well-known as other Italian opera composers. However, his technique was much-respected, making his influence on composers later in music history significant.

Italy issued this stamp in 1970, for the hundredth anniversary of the composer's death. The image includes a likeness of Mercadante and stylized "something" in the background. This stamp has appeared on the organ topical list for some time, I believe the assumption being the background somehow is stylized organ pipes. I am not convinced however. They could just as easily be piano strings in my opinion. Mercadante was a composer of operas. He has a single organ work in his oeuvre, an "Homage to Bellini." That work was recorded in 1995, that being the best single reference to the work I could find.

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."

Grenada: JS Bach omnibus

Grenada issued this stamp (Scott 2954) in 2000 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of JS Bach. The stamp is essentially a mini-sheet of one stamp with a large selvage. The stamp features an image of Bach from a painting. The selvage is the score to a "Prelude and Fugue in E Minor" seemingly for piano/harpsichord. Several small postal entities issued similar stamps for the anniversary year hence the collective term "omnibus."

Germany: Paul Hindemith

Germany issued this stamp (Scott 1910) of Paul Hindemith on 9 November 1995 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the composer's birth. The stamp image include a profile of the composer against a plain solid color background; no organ is referenced.

However, Hindemith composed a very small handful of organ works. The three sonatas for organ are staples of many organists. Hindemith was an active musician during the period when Nazism was in the ascendancy in Germany, and his relationship with it is complicated. Ultimately he left Germany for Switzerland for a period of time. Hindemith was also in Turkey and finally the US; he became a US citizen for a time. In 1953 he returned to Switzerland and ultimately died in Frankfurt, Germany at age 68.

Hindemith was a very detailed composer with meticulous markings in his scores, such that while the music itself may not be considered overwhelming, the performer has no question about how to perform it. He was a compelling music theorist who wrote a text describing his composing method, and a set of piano fugues outlining the same. In addition to the three sonatas there is a concerto for organ with orchestra written in 1962. He wrote music for vocalists and choral ensembles, but none with organ accompaniment.

Germany: Bruckner

Germany issued this stamp (Scott 1947) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Anton Bruckner on 9 October 1996. The stamp itself shows Bruckner and a musical score, but no reference to the organ. Bruckner was however an organist and wrote a handful of pieces for the instrument. In fact his Opus 1 is a set of four organ preludes. After his father's death, when Bruckner was 13, he was sent to the Augustinian School in St Florian. There he studied violin and organ, and became enamored of the Baroque organ at the school. In 1845 Bruckner returned to St Florian now as a teacher at the school and organist. The instrument he played now bears his name, "The Bruckner Organ." The instrument itself has been featured on an Austrian stamp. In 1868 Bruckner accepted a teaching position at the Vienna Conservatory, previously held by his own teacher, Simon Sechter. Bruckner remained an active organist while in Vienna, concertizing in France in 1869 and in England at the Royal Albert Hall in 1871. Bruckner died in 1896 and was buried in the crypt of the St Florian monastery. Though his oeuvre contains no significant organ works, there are a handful.

Iceland: Pall Isolfsson

 

Iceland issued this stamp honoring Pall Isolfsson on 14 August 1991, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of the musician. This stamp (Scott 744) was part of a set of two, the other honoring Ragnar Jonsson, an arts patron. The Jonsson stamp is configured horizontally compared to the Isolfsson's stamp vertical orientation.

Pall Isolfsson studied organ in Germany and Paris, after which he returned to Iceland. In 1938 he became organist of Reykjavik Cathedral and appointed director of both the Reykjavik Conservatory and the Icelandic Radio. His published works include piano pieces, chorus music and cantatas.

This stamp includes no representation of an organ. It took considerable searching to learn of Isolfsson's connection to the instrument.  The current instrument in the Reykjavik Cathedral is a massive instrument by the German firm, Klais, installed in 1992. I have not found any information about the instrument Isolfsson might have actually played.

Germany: Mendelssohn

Germany issued this stamp (Scott 1980) in 1997 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the composer's death. The image depicts Mendelssohn in profile on the right, with a score facsimile on the left. Without studying the music too closely, the music doesn't seem to be from one of the composer's organ works, though I would welcome correction by anyone willing to compare. Otherwise, the stamp does not include any elements that relate to the organ. The selvage includes the composer's signature and a five line/four space pattern that is likely intended to bring to mind music staves. Mendelssohn was famous for bringing about a revival of interest in the compositions of JS Bach. Too he composed a compelling oeuvre of organ music.