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.

Hinners and Albertsen (USA)

I'm not certain my source for this cover.  It's an advertising cover or otherwise business cover from the Hinners & Albertsen firm in Illinois (USA). It is addressed to a professor at the American School in Marsovan, Turkey. The envelope had pre-printed postage in the amount of 2c. Two stamps were added to that to get up to the cost of sending a letter to Turkey. Sadly one of those stamps is now missing. The postmark on front indicates March 7, but I cannot decipher the year. There is an additional postmark on the reverse, perhaps made in Turkey which seems to read 1891.

This Washington stamped envelope is one of two types. Scott designates them as U70 and U71. Mine is U71. It is the more common and less valuable version on oriental buff-colored paper (U313). Since this envelope was produced beginning in 1887, it's entirely possible that it was used for mailing in 1891. Hinners would have purchased a number of these from the post office and then had their business information added by a local printer.

Hinners and Albertsen existed in Pekin,  IL 1898-1902. Predecessor and successor firms in the same town can be found.

The American School in Marsovan (or Merzifon) was a high school, college and seminary, as well as an orphanage and hospital, located in the Rum Province of the Ottoman Empire. It existed in Turkey 1886-1924. It was destroyed by the Aermenian Geneocide of 1915 and further crippled in its mission by World War 1. It ultimately moved to Greece.

J J Manissadjian is mentioned in this catalog of the college as teaching Natural Sciences. I would have guessed "music" but another person is named as faculty in that area. He is listed as "secretary and librarian" in the faculty list, perhaps serving as the point of contact for the faculty as a group. He emigrated to the US after the collapse f the Ottoman Empire. He catalogued bulbous plants and butterflies and other insects. Two plant species are named after him.

It is the cachet of this cover that is remarkable for this blog. It shows a Hinners instrument of one manual and pedal. The facade pipes are decorated. It looks just as one might imagine a very small instrument for a struggling school in Turkey having in its music department.

Without knowing details, one can imagine the faculty inquiring of the Hinners firm about installing a reed or pipe organ at the school as part of their music department. The envelope may have contained the reply.

France: Evreux Cathedral

This cover is from the Cathedral in Evreux, France. The postage is printed on the envelop and shows the reliquary of St Taurin, bishop 375-425 AD. The cathedral has a long and complex history. The cachet on the cover shows the interior of the cathedral facing the west gallery, including the organ. This site includes a stoplist. The instrument was completed in 2005. Elements of the cathedral date from the 11th century. There was a re-furbishment which was completed in 1896. Bombing during World War II destroyed stained glass which was replaced by 1953.

France: Mechanical Instrument Museum

Les Gets is a city in western France surrounded, peninsula-like, by Switzerland. There is a museum of mechanical musical instruments there.  The cachet on this cover commemorates that museum. The cachet shows a figure holding one the more important holdings at the museum, a portativ organ. There is also some scenery from the area. This is a piece of postal stationary: the postage is printed on the envelop, rather than the user having to apply postage. The image on the stamp is the "Marianne" rendering first used in 1997 (with "La Poste" in the LL corner) and redrawn in 2003 with RF in that corner. The cover is non-denominated, so it could be sold for a longer period of time despite rate changes. Scott catalogs do not list foreign postal stationary so I do not have a number for this item. Presumably the museum purchased a quantity of the envelops and had their cachet added, and then sold them in their boutique/store at the museum.

Austria: Dostal and Bruckner

This cover is interesting in a couple of ways. Primarily, it has a nice Bruckner commemorative postmark that includes some organ pipes. But curiously the stamp (Scott 1687) is commemorating a composer known for his operettas, which was issued in 1995 (September 15), while a stamp for the 100th anniversary of the death of Bruckner was issued a few months later on 26 April 1996. I am reminded of a scene in a television show in which a character tries to get a famous person's signature on an item not at all related to said person, for the curiosity factor, to confuse future generations. That's what this cover does for me. I've discussed Bruckner and the Austrian stamp related to him in other posts.

Salzburg: Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Stille Nacht Church

This cover marks Christmas 1982 in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, and a new organ for the St. Nicholas Church there. The church is most famously associated with the creation of the "Silent Night, Holy Night" Christmas carol. However neither the church of that era (1818) nor the organ of legend exist now.

In 1982 the church got a new organ built by the Rieger firm. It is this organ which is commemorated on this cover from that same year. The new pipework was installed in casework from an earlier instrument of 1912. The stamp on the cover (Scott 1228) shows a creche scene from 1630 found in Vorarlberg.

Obviously this is not the instrument was is part of the "Stille Nacht" legend. A church in Oberndorf is first documented in 1160. However a fire in 1769 destroyed that church along with many other buildings. Reconstruction began right away in 1770 and was completed in 1798. Because of problems with river flooding over the next several years plans were made to demolish the church and move it to higher ground. This was done finally in 1906. Whatever organ was in the church at the beginning of the 1800's, by 1821 the Tyrolian builder Karl Mauracher declared it was mostly useless. This is just a few years after the Christmas Eve debacle (non-playing organ in 1818 which led to the creation of the famous Christmas carol). The instrument was sold off and ultimately discarded by the new owners, and replaced at St. Nicholas Church in 1825 by an instrument built by Mauracher. Franz Gruber, organist in 1818, was able to play this instrument during the latter part of his tenure (1816-1829).

Austria: Millstatt Organ Music Week

The town of Millstatt, Austria is probably best known for its Abbey. The Abbey in turn is highly regarded for its emphasis on arts appreciation and music appreciation. Since 1981 it has sponsored a series of music weeks including an Orgelmusikwochen. This cover includes a postmark that celebrates the organ music week in 1981. The postmark includes a row of organ pipes. One of the instruments available for concerts in Millstatt is an 18th century "chororgel." A section of its facade may have been the inspiration for the postmark's design. The abbey church's construction was begun in the 12th century; the onion domes were completed in 1670. The stamp itself is fairly common, from a series issued 1973-1978. This one (Scott 963) shows the Bishofmuetze area near Salzburg.

France: Daumier painting

The date of this cover is 23 March 1967. The stamps are fairly common for the era, and the postmark is unremarkable. The cachet, however features a positif organ in a painting by Honore Daumier. The reverse of the cover has this to say about Daumier and the painting.

Honore Daumier est ne a marseille ie 26 fevrier 1803. Son pere etait vitrier mais, so croyant poete, il abandonne en 1814 sa boutique pour monter a Paris. Deux ans plus tard, il fait venir sa femme et son fils. A 13 ans honore travaille chez un huissier puis devient commis dans une librairie du Palais Royal. Mais il est instable et prefere le dessin. Il parcourt le sues de paris, frequente les artistes de l'epoque et s'enflamme pour les idees republicans. En 1830 Louis Philippe prend le pouvoir et Daumier commence ses dessins satiriques. Il fait un Gargantua representant Louis Philippe gave et distribuant autour de lui des profits et des decorations. Cela lui rapporte 300 francs d'amende et six moin de prison. En 1835 les lois deseptembre, severes pour la presse, l'obligent a suspendre ses dessins politiques et a produire quantite de lithos "sujets de moeurs," pour pouvoir vivre. En 1845 il s'installe dans l'ile Saint-Louise, se met a peindre et a sculpter. Puis, en 1865, a Montmartre, il continue a dessiner pour la presse mais, mal pae, vit peniblement. A 65 ans, il loue une maiconnette a Valmondoins, Menace de padre la vue, il se troupe dans une situation difficile. C'est grace a la generosite de ses amis qu'il peut demeurer dans son lieu de repli. (Corot avait achete la maison et lui en avait fait cadeau pour sa fete.) En 1877 le gouvernement lui accorde une pension de 100 frances par mois, portee a 200 frances l'annee suivante. Daumier neurt a valmondoi . Son corps est transfere au Pere Lachaise en avril. Le timbre reproduit une peinture datant de 1860 set se trouvant au Musee du Louvre. On connait de lui d'innombrables lithographies et peintures, dans de nombreux musees du monde.

Honore Daumier was born in Marseille on February 26, 1803. His father was a glazier but, being a poet, he left his shop in 1814 to go to Paris. Two years later, he brings his wife and son. A 13-year-old honore works at a bailiff and then becomes a clerk in a bookstore in the Royal Palace. But he is unstable and prefers drawing. He travels the sweats of Paris, frequents the artists of the time and ignites for the republican ideas. In 1830 Louis Philippe took power and Daumier began his satirical drawings. He makes a Gargantua representing Louis Philippe gave and distributing around him profits and decorations. That brings him a fine of 300 francs and six months of imprisonment. In 1835 the laws of September, severe for the press, forced him to suspend his political drawings and to produce a quantity of lithos "subjects of morals," to be able to live. In 1845 he moved to Ile Saint-Louise, began to paint and carve. Then, in 1865, in Montmartre, he continues to draw for the press but, badly, lives painfully. At the age of 65, he rents a scrap at Valmondoins, threatens his view, he finds himself in a difficult situation. It is thanks to the generosity of his friends that he can remain in his place of withdrawal. (Corot bought the house and gave it to him for his birthday.) In 1877 the government gave him a pension of 100 francs a month, raised to 200 francs the following year. Daumier neurt a valmondoi. His body is transferred to Pere Lachaise in April. The stamp reproduces a painting dating from 1860 set at the Louvre Museum. He is known for countless lithographs and paintings in many museums around the world.

Most sources indicate Daumier painted "The organ player of Barbary" around 1864-1865. The painting is now in the possession of the Musee Petit-Palais in Paris, France. 

The "arms of Auch" stamp (Scott 1142) was issued in 1966. The Marianne type stamp (Scott 653) was issued in 1951. So it would seem the date of the cover is not related to the issuance of either stamp. Above the cachet the the FDC indication along with "No. 586 Historique FDC. And overprinted atop that is the single word, "Imprime." A circular red mark at the bottom of the cover reiterates that same information with what may be the printer's insignia; it's not quite legible to me. The date of the postmark seems to correlate to neither the painter's birth nor death dates. So the "why" of this cover remains a bit of a mystery to me. My cover was a gift from Mark Jameson who for several years has been associated with the Berkshire Organ Club, which explains that notation on the reverse. It would seem that at some point it passed through the hands of the Empire Philatelic shop in Paris.

Italy: Valvasone, 2

This cover was produced September 15, 1974, and seems to celebrate the "return to service" of the organ in the Duomo in Valvasone, Italy. I have written about this organ in a previous post, for a different cover. That cover marked the 30th anniversary of the 1970's restoration. This cover is contemporaneous with the restoration. The cover uses a stamp (Scott 1149) issued to commemorate athletic games in Rome (28 June 1974). It is not a first day cover, simply a postcard with a special postmark. The Italian in the postmark reads:


manifestazione inaugurale restauro organ servizi distacati
inaugural event restoration of organ services

This site gives some information on the duomo and the organ. The Italian version includes some pictures. The instrument has been recorded in 2003, and thus includes all of the restoration work of which I am aware.  

The back of this postcard includes a photograph of a woman holding flowers in front of a depiction on the Madonna and child. No information about the photo is included on the card. The only other word on the card is "rotante" which means, enigmatically, means "rotating."

 

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: 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.

France: Arles sur Tech

The remarkable aspect of this cover is the postmark. Arles sur Tech, France is home to the Abbey of Saint Mary. Contained therein is an organ dating from the mid-1700's by Godefroy Schmidt. It has been cared for over the years and according to this site substantial work was done in 1989-1990. Bernard Cattiaux' site describes the work as

1990 : ARLES SUR TECH (66) Restauration : Schmidt 1750 : III/P 24 jeux

Further work was done in 1998, after the date of the present cover. This cover includes a rather common stamp of the era (Scott 2196), the Marianne type of 1990-1992. The whole thing is unremarkable save for the postmark. It shows a representation of the Abbey organ and the date. One wonders about the text, "Abbatiale XIe..." I am not sure enough of French idiom to know what "eleven" refers to.  A stoplist is included in the page at the first link above.

Romania: Daniel Croner, music day

This envelop is rather unremarkable save for the postmark. And it is somewhat blurry. It seems the Music Lovers Circle of the Romanian Philatelic Society was busy in 1990, as this cover looks much like others they prepared that year. Their name does not appear on this cover, but the looks is strikingly familiar.

ziua internationala a muzicii (the international day of music)

October 1 1990

The line above Croner's name is blurred but a couple of the words seem to read composition/composer and organist. His dates are given 1655-1740. I have never heard of Croner before, but was able to find a couple of websites that had information about him and his compositions

http://www.musicstamps.com/mjoomla/index.php/c/1285-croner-daniel

A review of a recording that includes some of his works:
http://pamelahickmansblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/romanian-organist-and-harpsichordist.html
Daniel Croner (1656-1740), apparently a native of Kronstadt (now Brasov, Romania), a theologian and composer of organ music, completed four books of organ tablatures. A scribe, he was known to have spent four years copying works from the Brasov manuscript, mostly for his own use and for the Lutheran service. The Magnificat 8 toni, from the Brasov manuscript, consists of five verses, based on a traditional cantus firmus, probably originally alternating with sung chant. In four of them, the cantus is presented in long note values in the pedals, with the two manuals creating contrapuntal lines boasting much imitation. Garai’s playing offered an informed glimpse into the articulate and imaginative style of German pre-Bach organ composition, conservative and unpretentious in nature, yet innovative and certainly not lacking in dissonance.

A concert performer comments on some of the works he performs, including b Croner:
http://regizene.ro/html/2017/en/index.php/artist/fazakaz-adam-sandor-ro/
Daniel Croner, born in Brașov, was a Transylvanian Saxon composer, organist and theologian. His legacy includes several manuscripts which contain shorter pieces, such as the three compositions included in the programme: a toccata in the South German style, a bicinium-adaptation of the chorale “Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ” (“I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ“), a fugue for four voices.

https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n90622695/
Since I had not heard of him before, I was curious if Croner had any organ music available. A WorldCat search revealed some possibilities. I have requested on title from Duke University.

Daniel Croner has an association with the Marienkirche or Schwarze Kirche (Black Church) in Kronstadt. The facade of the current instrument, by Buchholz in the late 1800's (itself the subject of a Romanian stamp in recent years) is not that shown in the postmark above. There was, however, an instrument prior to this which may be the basis for the postmark. This article gives a great deal of information about the organs' history at this church.

 

The stamp on the cover is a very common 1.50 lei stamp from the 1982 "Popular Arts" (folk art) series, showing a (rather ornate) wooden scoop. Scott #3104

Romania: Rupea organ

This cover shows an organ facade in the postmark, and also includes a full-color cachet of the same instrument. The cover was postmarked October 1, 2001 in Rupea, Romania.

ForumArte Romania 

was born out of a desire to contribute to the promotion and diversification of the cultural life of the Braşov area, to the awareness of the integrating role of the culture for the city and its people. Through creative impulses and novel events, the foundation aims to combine traditions with contemporary. Three key elements define the work of the Foundation: Education, Music and Heritage.
 
Their site has a fairly detailed discussion of the Rupea organ along with several helpful photographs. It would seem that the church in which the organ is located underwent renovations beginning in 2005. By 2008 the organ was re-installed in a second church and work undertaken upon it. It was then that an inscription was found within the instrument, dating it to at least 1699. It is believed the original organ was built by Zackarias of Crit. The restoration was done by S.C. Construcţii Orgi şi Tâmplărie S.R.L. The latter's site gives some nicely detailed photos and a stoplist. Work was completed in 2012 at the instrument was re-installed in its original location, on its own rather substantial platform. The article tells us there are a scant 12 registers, making it s fairly small instrument. The postmark and cover seem to simply commemorate the 275th anniversary of the organ 1726 apparently being the year it was installed in this particular setting, on its dedicated gallery near the chancel arch. Who knows if this recognition might have goaded certain powers to undertake the restoration work begun in 2005.

The stamp on this cover shows the first electric tram in Romania, dating from 1896. The original stamp was issued with a denomination of 1615 lei in 1995 (Scott 4060). However this stamp has been surcharged to 2500 lei. The surcharged stamp (Scott 4477) was issued in 2001, in an era of hyper-inflaation. 

Romania: Fall Music Festival

This cover shows a fairly common, regular issue stamp from Romania. However, the postmark is remarkable. Cluj-Napoca is apparently a fairly important city in the Transylvania part of Romania. They had in 1996 a fall music festival, which is the point of reference for the postmark. The festival began in 1965. It is known for the shear number of music events, and the span of musical eras represented, from early music to contemporary. Apparently, at least in 1996, Bach and the pipe organ featured to some degree. The 2017 edition of the festival was the 51st, and it now ranks as the largest such event in Romania. I have not been able to find mention of a specific organ used for festival concerts, so I cannot determine if the pipes shown in the postmark are from a specific instrument, or are rather an artistic representation. My cover was a gift from Mark Jameson. The stamp on the cover is a very common specimen from the large "hotels, lodges, and resorts" set begun in 1991. The present, violet-colored stamp (Scott 3667) shows the Lebada Hotel in Crisan, a town known for its tourism.

Romania: Madrigal Choral Ensemble

This cover is distinguished by the presence of an organ in the cachet/illustration, and in the postmark. The cover seems to have been produced by the Music-Lovers Study Circle of the Bucharest Philatelic Association. The postmark includes the dates 1965 and 1 October 1990. I am supposing that the cover was issued on the latter date. The cover celebrates the national choir of Romania, the National Chamber Choir. The ensemble was established in 1965 (or rather 1963 according to their website. The founding conductor was Constantine Marin. The cover marks the 25th anniversary of the choir.

The stamp on the cover is Romania Scott 3619, issued September 8, 1990, marking the Romanian-Chinese Philatelic Exhibition in Bucharest. No connection to the musical aspects of the cover other than the proximate dates of production/issue. The cover illustration shows a somewhat dated picture of the choral ensemble (notice the television camera at right) in their primary performance space, the George Enescu Hall in the Bucharest Athenaeum. That hall got commemorated in 2017 with its own mini-sheet of stamps that I have written about here. George Enescu instigated the building of the organ which was completed in 1939. This cover was a gift from Mark Jameson.

Here is the text included on the cover and a rough translation:
asociatia filatelistilor bucuresti
cercul bucur grupa muzica
corul madrigal
dirijor marin constantin
ziua internationala muzicii
25 ani de la debutul international al corului


the philatelist association bucharest
circle enjoy group music
the madrigal choir
conductor marine constantin
the international day of music
25 years since the international debut of the choir