Reims rhymes with....

Here's some pictures from Reims. I enjoyed it very much; it's very much a party town and a beer town. I went to a microbrewery (as mentioned before) and met some nice British women who told me that going to France is just something the Brits do for a weekend trip! Must be nice, although I wouldn't give up "up north" for anything.

The prime attraction, to me, of Reims, nay, all of France, is the mighty Reims Cathedral...


Count 'em. Not one, but four rose windows. You can't imagine how huge this place is.


Close-up of one of the smaller rose windows


Detail of the flying buttresses. Hehe. Buttress.


The organ, in the French classic tradition. It has a spectacular statue of Christ on top of the middle pedal tower.


The great American capitalist Andrew Carnegie built a library in Reims.

I went on a champagne tour:


This kept me occupied for about an hour and a half.


Different sizes of champagne bottles, excluding the Nebuchadnezzar, which holds 24 regular bottles' worth


Quickly, Robin! To the Champagnemobile! 25 km of Champagne cellars...


I didn't realize it until I got home and checked my guidebook, but this is an ancient Roman doorway to the city that still stands!

And tomorrow I leave France for Germany. I can't say I liked France as much as Holland... the people are MUCH worse at English than the Dutch; they have more silly rules on etiquette (vous/tu) but ignore common-sense ideas (don't use your cell phone at dinner, clean up dog leavings, respect for bicyclists). And yet, as much as I'm ready to move on to elsewhere, I'm sad that Recklinghausen will be the last leg of my trip!

Playing at Caen

This is some pretty bad playing, but this organ (and the space) took some getting used to! Obviously the audio can't best capture the sound of this organ, but you get some idea of how incredible it is. You can at least tell it's Cavaille-Coll...

couple cities behind in posting...

I've just arrived at a surprisingly nice hotel in Strasbourg. I have a very nice view of the market outside, although the room is terribly tiny. I thought I'd get around to some pictures from my visit of Caen and playing the organ at the ancient L'Abbaye aux Hommes. Since then I've also been back to Paris, to Reims, and now Strasbourg, but I'm trying not to leave anything out! I have more from Caen that I'd like to share, but it'll wait until later because the Cathedral museum here in Strasbourg closes at 6 PM.


The abbey seems to be next to the town hall or something. It has a lovely garden. The church is built out of a special stone available only in Caen.




The Cavaille-Coll organ, finished in 1885, making it one century and one month older than myself. Cavaille-Coll was one of the greatest organ builders anywhere. His instruments have defined French music since the late 19th century. This organ was restored recently to the original specification, and impressed me more than any other instrument I've played!


At the console, with my tres a la mode t-shirt I bought at a French department store.




The grave of William the Conquerer is directly in front of the High Altar.

Bonjour, Paris!

Yesterday I arrived in Paris. I should have more time and energy to blog now that the Haarlem Festival is over! I'll wrap up with a few more photos from there, then start sharing my French experiences (and I already have a few)

I think last Tuesday (not sure) we went to the Laurenskerk in Alkmaar to hear a recital on their organ, another wonderful 17th century instrument. Mr. Radulesco played a grueling recital of the Bach "Wedge" Prelude and Fugue, "St. Anne" Prelude and Fugue, the most recently discovered Bach piece (from 2007), An Wasserflussen Babylon, AND a work of his own, RESURREXIT. His piece was based on the Easter sequence "Victimae Paschali", and used lots of clusters and special effects. It was something that a lesser composer would have turned into noise, but Radulesco really did a great job with it.



Due to the secularization of Europe, most Dutch churches are shut down. I recall one professor telling us that one of the churches where we had lessons has a congregation of 8 people. The Laurenskerk is now an art museum and concert hall. The church has been completely redesigned - I said it's the only thing worse than what the Reformation did to these places.


It's a pig. Made out of chairs. In a church.

One of the last concerts was an "interpretation concert" where two performers played the same pieces on harpsichord and organ, then entertained discussion afterward as to why they played them as they did. It was interesting, although I found the Muffat fugue to be deadly dull on harpsichord. That and my last class were at the Nieuwe Kerk, which has a cute little organ:



And today, my second day in Paris, I just walked back from the Louvre to my hotel in the Latin Quarter in pouring rain. So I thought it'd be appropriate to post this picture not from today, but after the trip to Alkmaar last week. Due to missing a train, we all wound up in Haarlem rather late. Due to construction on the station, I had to walk 5 blocks or so to get my bicycle, and then it started pouring rain! So this is me much as I am now, after biking about 3 miles in the dark in pouring rain!



I'm going to really miss the great food, organs, and people in Holland, but France is looking like tons of fun! Stay tuned for updates!

Tweede Haarlemse Orgeldag

Yesterday was the 2nd Haarlem Organ Day, with some 8 churches having organ concerts! Due to the scheduling, it would be impossible to visit all of them, but I did get to four! Let me sum them up for you:

Lutherse Kerk



I'm guessing this is the Lutheran church? The concert consisted of works by Mozart arranged for two hands, including the famous K608, Fantasy in f minor for an organ-clock. The organ was small, but had a nice sound.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Bavo



This was a truly impressive structure! The church was constructed in the 19th century as the new cathedral for the Roman Catholic diocese of Haarlem. The Bavokerk used to be the cathedral until, in the 16th century, it was forced by the city to reform. The structure is an example of Catholic triumphalism, even in the face of persecution, and clearly imitates the great cathedrals in Europe. And it is BIIIIIG!!



The concert was upon the church's main organ (I counted at least 3 independent organs), which was constructed in the early 20th century. I would describe its tone as similar to a modern Casavant or Austin organ that you might hear in America. It is also VERY loud, which seems to be a welcome feature of Dutch organs - I approve!



The concert started with Mozart's Fantasie und Fuge, with which I was unfamiliar but greatly enjoyed, then had some pieces inspired by Mozart such as the Variations on Mozart's famous "Ah, vous dirai-je..." by Christian Rinck (1770-1846) and an arrangement of the Kyrie fugue from Mozart's Requiem by Adolph Hesse (1809-1863). The final work was a stunning and little-known toccata by Hendrik Andriessen, written when he was 25 in 1917. I will have to write to the organist at the cathedral (who played the concert) and ask where I can buy sheet music to that piece!


Two views of the massive dome at the Cathedral

Josephkerk



The cathedral is all the way across town, so I had to walk back to the Josephkerk, and wound up a little late for the recital. The church's organ was entirely removed for restoration, and the concert was played on a small positiv organ. It was a recital of late baroque keyboard works.



Waalse kerk



The last concert I went to yesterday was at the Waalse kerk, next door to the Joseph kerk. What I didn't mention is that both churches are in the town's "red light district", so it was rather odd to walk from church to church with the "merchants" working around you! Amsterdam's de wallen (red light district) also sprung up around the Oude kerk - it makes one wonder why those pop up around churches! At any rate, I think this was a French Reformed church. Everything was in French, and the church itself was white-washed, with some pre-Reformation artwork visible under the white paint! This too had a smaller organ, but with a nice full sound. The organist improvised variations on some popular song, and everyone sang along loudly (in Dutch) at the last variation.. I'm wondering if it was their national anthem or something? The other works were baroque-era pieces, including Buxtehude.



Throughout the concerts, it was satisfying to see churches so packed with attendees. They were mostly elderly people, but they had a definite pride in their city's musical heritage and historic organs. Do we have that kind of pride in the United States? I'll address the issue of historic American organs later on in my travels, and how it applies to my church, so keep watching the blog!

Today I have to check in with the academy, and don't have much else to do besides explore and eat. Expect a few more blog posts, including: more on Dutch food, about the Requiem concert, and more...

Here's the thing with trains...

...you have to check the schedule to get there and back. I went to the Haarlem Organ Improvisation Competition, then explored Haarlem a bit more. It looked like they were having some sort of large party in the Grotemarket (open town square outside the church). It didn't appeal to me (looked like pickpocket central), but I saw most of the city, now deserted at 9:30 PM. I decided to get back to my room. When I got to the station, I swiped my card to pay for the train, and looked at the schedule: the next train to Heemstede is at 1AM! I checked all the schedules, same thing. I checked out of the train station and wondered if I could find something to do until then..

It didn't seem I had much to do. Then it hit me - I could get a taxi, given these were dire circumstances! I kept my eye open for one, and walked by the bus stop - the bus is of course not an option, because every Detroiter knows buses are slow, confusing, and dirty. Well, I glanced at the bus stop sign.. and it had a full schedule on it! This bus didn't go to Heemstede, however.. but there was a clear sign that said which one did! Long story shortened, I rode the bus back to my place! I did forget to "check out" on the bus, thus incurring a fine of 4 Euros, but it's still cheaper than a cab!


the organ competition