Denmark and Sweden 2015
København – renowned for its harbour and Little Mermaid statue, has tall temple-like buildings lining very wide streets with cycle tracks on each side. Cyclists streamed past us every day on their way to and from work; they rule, having priority over other traffic at the junctions. Opposite the station are the beautiful Tivoli Gardens, with the roller coaster riding high above the ornamental trees. Behind the gardens is the Cabinn City Hotel. Here we resided for twelve days in cosy cabin-like rooms, congregating in the foyer before supper each evening, and before each new day’s venturing forth to churches and organs.
There were sixteen of us on this NHOA trip, including twelve organists. This article will take the form of a diary describing each day’s visits, meticulously planned beforehand by Jeff and Gillian Lloyd.
Tuesday, 18th August, 9.30am, Vor Frue Kirke, Køpenhavn (Copenhagen’s Cathedral). This stunning Neoclassical cathedral with cream colonades houses an organ with 5 manuals and 87 stops, its burnished pipes in gold lattice spanning the full width of the west end. The organ was built by Marcussen and Sons in 1995. We were to hear much of this firm during the trip. The resident organist, Hanne Kuhlmann, didn’t just demonstrate the organ, but gave an outstanding 40 minute recital beginning with Oliver Messiaen’s ‘Apparition de L’Eglise Eternelle’. This slow meditative sonorous piece reached every part of the gallery where we sat. It’s music that you feel as well as hear.
After the recital we each clambered onto an organ seat richly upholstered in red velvet. Hanne enhanced some of our pieces by adding extra stops such as the tremolo when Gillian played Bach’s ‘Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich’. She congratulated Jeff on his and Michael Lloyd’s ’Visit to Denmark and Sweden’ brochure, and said the itinerary was superb. The organists of all the churches agreed with this.
An historical timeline in the south gallery shows King Harald Bluetooth introducing Christianity to the Danes in 965, and such notable events as Nelson defeating the Danes in 1801, and the British Navy bombarding the city in 1807.
2pm Trinitatiskirke, Køpenhavn. King Christian IV, a great patron of the arts, had this church and its adjoining tower built in the mid 17th century with a threefold aim: a place of worship, a royal book collection and an observatory. The church and main organ have been restored many times, (often due to fires), the organ most recently by Marcussen and Son in 1956. We all had a go, James West (who stayed for the first week), playing the splendid Toccata in D minor by Gordon Balch Nevin.
But the most precious organ here is an original 2 manual Italian Baroque organ, found in an Italian antique shop in 1970. The organist Søren Christian Vestergaard told us that the organ builder Gerald Woehl and his team restored it in Marburg with a combination of old and new pipes. They are very excited to have the authentic Baroque sound, mainly with string stops, and complete with a nightingale stop. The pedals are short and there is only one stop, Principal 16. The organ is tuned to ‘pure mean tone’ where most major thirds are pure, making some other chords unplayable. Søren demonstrated the new bellows, and then we were allowed to play the instrument. It will be used in a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers this Autumn.
Wednesday 19th August 10am Konservatoriets Koncertsal, København The organist Rikke Hjortkjaer welcomed us to this magnificent concert hall built during the second world war, with a Marcussen and Son organ made in 1942. Rikke told us that it has a ‘functionalist modernist design’, and has 84 stops and 4 divisions. The consul sits on one side of a vast stage, with the pipes filling the wall behind the stage like a mini Festival Hall in London. Rikki treated us to the 1st movement of Vierne’s 2nd symphony. Ian Harrison set up his tripod to start filming, and repeated this in every venue we visited. We’ll see the finished product in due course.
Then there was just time for a few NHOA members to play. John Mansfield played ‘The Shepherd’s Song’ from ‘Songs of the Auvergne’ by Joseph Canteloube. It was very delicate, and not often heard on the organ.
Afterwards, in the nearby cemetery, a few of us visited the grave of Hans Christian Anderson. It was decorated with bright begonias, and a fresh bouquet of flowers. In another part of the cemetery we saw the bleak tomb of the philosopher Kierkegaard.
2pm Helligåndskirken, København The Church of the Holy Ghost was built as part of a monastery in the 13th century. It was destroyed by the Great Fire of København in 1728, but restored a few years later. The organ was designed by Hermann Storck in 1879, and the latest reconstruction was done by Marcussen and Son in 1986. It has a ‘Romantic symphonic French tone’, and is one of the largest organs in København with 75 stops and nearly 5,000 pipes. The organist Hans Ole Thers demonstrated a variety of beautiful flute stops, and ‘British trumpets’, and a cromone with an ethereal sound – not like the harsh ones you often find in England. We put the organ through its paces as usual, Jeff playing a very lovely Lament by Arvo Pärt.
4pm Sct Petri Kirke (Deutsche Kirke), København Some churches stand out very clearly in the memory. The Rough Guide describes Sct Petri as ‘one of the city’s best preserved medieval buildings’. It is a German Lutheran church with a German organist – the immaculate Mark Baumann. His other role is Director of music at the local school with a 140 in the children’s choir.
The 1938 organ, white with silver pipes, has a computer inside, making it programmable for any era of music. Mark played us Bach’s Prelude in G major, before helping us each to register our pieces.
Wednesday 19th August 10am Konservatoriets Koncertsal, København The organist Rikke Hjortkjaer welcomed us to this magnificent concert hall built during the second world war, with a Marcussen and Son organ made in 1942. Rikke told us that it has a ‘functionalist modernist design’, and has 84 stops and 4 divisions. The consul sits on one side of a vast stage, with the pipes filling the wall behind the stage like a mini Festival Hall in London. Rikki treated us to the 1st movement of Vierne’s 2nd symphony. Ian Harrison set up his tripod to start filming, and repeated this in every venue we visited. We’ll see the finished product in due course.
Then there was just time for a few NHOA members to play. John Mansfield played ‘The Shepherd’s Song’ from ‘Songs of the Auvergne’ by Joseph Canteloube. It was very delicate, and not often heard on the organ.
Afterwards, in the nearby cemetery, a few of us visited the grave of Hans Christian Anderson. It was decorated with bright begonias, and a fresh bouquet of flowers. In another part of the cemetery we saw the bleak tomb of the philosopher Kierkegaard.
2pm Helligåndskirken, København The Church of the Holy Ghost was built as part of a monastery in the 13th century. It was destroyed by the Great Fire of København in 1728, but restored a few years later. The organ was designed by Hermann Storck in 1879, and the latest reconstruction was done by Marcussen and Son in 1986. It has a ‘Romantic symphonic French tone’, and is one of the largest organs in København with 75 stops and nearly 5,000 pipes. The organist Hans Ole Thers demonstrated a variety of beautiful flute stops, and ‘British trumpets’, and a cromone with an ethereal sound – not like the harsh ones you often find in England. We put the organ through its paces as usual, Jeff playing a very lovely Lament by Arvo Pärt.
4pm Sct Petri Kirke (Deutsche Kirke), København Some churches stand out very clearly in the memory. The Rough Guide describes Sct Petri as ‘one of the city’s best preserved medieval buildings’. It is a German Lutheran church with a German organist – the immaculate Mark Baumann. His other role is Director of music at the local school with a 140 in the children’s choir.
The 1938 organ, white with silver pipes, has a computer inside, making it programmable for any era of music. Mark played us Bach’s Prelude in G major, before helping us each to register our pieces.
John Chambers played Postlude in D by Armstrong-Gibbs. When we’d all played Mark graciously thanked us for sharing our ‘beautiful pieces’ with him, before launching into a composition of his own. There was just time to gaze at two paintings: an Ascension painting with Calvin and Luther on each side, and a modern Crucifixion painting where Christ envelops the thieves in his cloak.
Thursday, August 20th 10am Domkirke Skt. Olai, Helsingør An hour’s train ride brought us to this busy harbour with its constant ferry service to and from Helsingborg on the Swedish coast.
Through quaint streets with old houses we came to St Olaf’s, nestling in a glade of magnificent lime trees. It’s named after the 11th century Norwegian King, who ‘tramped on the dragon of paganism’. The church is described in the leaflet as a three aisled basilica built of large medieval bricks. It achieved cathedral status in 1961. Here, and in many other churches, we saw large models of ships suspended from the vaulting – emblems of a maritime nation.
We were welcomed by the delightfully droll Bo Grønbech, a proud successor to Hans Jensen Buxtehude, organist from 1642- 1672, father of the very famous Diderik Buxtehude (1637-1707), who was organist for 8 years at the nearby St Mary’s church. Bo Grønbech’s wife just happens to be priest at St Mary’s, which wasn’t on our schedule. Assuring her that we weren’t a bunch of terrorists, he arranged for us to go there later!
The organ at St Olaf’s was built in 1969 by P G Andersen of København. With 54 voices and 3,000 pipes, it is one of the largest in Denmark. After various Buxtehude offerings from NHOA (at both churches) Bo played Schubert’s ‘To Music’, arranged for organ by Henry Ley. Then we walked past the yellow painted cottage where Didrik Buxtehude had lived, along Buxtehude Way to St Mary’s. It’s quite something to say you’ve played Buxtehude’s organ.
3-5pm Free Time to explore the lake-encircled Frederiksborg Castle. It was named after King Frederik II who bought the castle in 1560. His son, Christian IV erected a huge gate tower early in the 17th century, making the castle ‘one of the most magnificent in northern Europe’.
The treasures within include 4 organs, the oldest of which was perhaps the most thrilling of the trip.
5-7pm Frederiksborg Slotskirke The castle chapel is the only part of the castle to survive a serious fire in 1895. Its jewel is the Compenius organ, built by Esias Compenius for Duke Heinrich Julius, a sister of Christian IV, and completed in 1610. It was played by the Duke’s kapellmeister, Michael Praetorius. It was reconstructed in 1895 by Cavaillé-Coll.
Our host, Sven-Ingvart Mikkelsen delighted in opening up the richly ornamented cabinet to reveal ivory keys, and ivory pedal board which pulled out. It has a bagpipe stop and a ‘Kleinhümlichen’ (Bumble-bee). This was another organ tuned to a ‘mean-tone temperament’ – the sound hanging in the air in a different way. Sven-Ingvart then played ‘The Duke of Denmark’s Galliard’ – with NHOA’s help – we had to operate the four wedge bellows behind the instrument. The piece sounded beautiful.
A bigger sound is needed to fill the church. Paul Gerhard Andersen built a four manual organ in the east end in 1864 with a romantic symphonic tone. Modern features have since been added such as a dial to show that the swell box is opening, and a TV screen so that the organist can see the choir down below. The organ is also very suited to French Baroque, and is perfect for Mendelssohn. It has a cornet instead of a mixture, so keeping with Sven’s view of organ building: ‘Don’t change old organs; keep them true to their history’. Friday August 21st 9.30am Christiansborg Slotskirke, København This is a church with political and royal associations. We walked past the royal stables where horse and carriage were exercising, then across a building site into the round church, known as the castle church. We were met by the youngest resident organist, Erik Kolind. He was a choir boy here in 1997. Queen Margarite of Denmark attends services here, and it is used by Parliament once a year. The organ was built by Marcussen and Reuter in 1829, the oldest one to exist in its original form. Erik played a delicate andante in F by Mozart, and then a Danish piece. He was full of praise for each of us as we took to the bench, giving enormous help with registration, and even pointing to the manual we should be changing to! Pete Curry played ‘Gjenndine’s Lullaby’ by Grieg, a small echo sounding on the first manual. 1pm We followed Erik to Holmenskirke, København, the converted anchor forge of King Frederik II, consecrated as the Royal Navy church in 1619. Queen Marguerite was married here. The organ has the original facade of 1738, and the organ was last restored in 1956, by Marcussen. My clearest memory of this church is the 1662 pulpit – a large carved wooden Moses leaning on the tablets of the law, and supporting the pulpit on his head. |
After his talk, and playing of ‘The Sugar Plum Fairy’ on the glockenspiel stop, Erik again helped with our registrations, eg. adding full reeds to John Chamber’s ‘Brideshead’ theme tune. This embellishment was ‘over the top’, but great fun!
4pm Vor Frelsers Kirke, København where we were met by Lars Sømod.
This Baroque church boasts 38 elephants – carved on doors and columns, and some are bronze, hanging from chandeliers. Christian V instigated The Order of the Elephant in 1693, the highest Order in Denmark. It was conferred on Sir Winston Churchill at the end of the World War 2. The church has more references to Christian V than to God!
The organ was built by Johan and Peter Botzen in 1698, and restored by Andersen in 1965. Among the NHOA offerings was ‘Pachelbel’s ‘All people that on earth do dwell’ from Bob Batchelor.
Saturday 22nd August 10am Frederikskirken – ‘The Marble Church’, though not entirely marble, as the organist, Jens Kaas, told us that ‘the rich guys’ ran out of money during the building in Frederik V’s reign around 1760! Eventually, using an array of materials, the massive circular nave and dome dominating the middle of København was consecrated in 1894. St Peter’s in Rome was the inspiration for it.
The church now has a modern Marcussen and Son organ, built in 1963, but with pipes from a much older organ. It has a small chorus chamber organ, and many 16′ stops, but no 32′ ones. One suggestion was that 64′ stops could have been curled round the dome! It has 2 cymbals, and a computer drawer. Rob Goldfinch tried out sounds on the full organ to hear the mighty reverberation around the dome.
After lunch in Christiania – ‘the hippy area’, Paul and I walked past St Alban’s Anglican church – the only Anglican church in Denmark, where a traditional English church fête was in full swing. We met Bob and Mary Batchelor picnicking on a bench in the shade, and enjoying the river scene. We were soon to meet up again at:
3pm Kastelskirken, København – a church built for King Frederik IV in 1704. It’s a working military church with a Chaplain for the Army, and it ministers to civic and military congregation alike. Lasse Ewerlöf demonstrated the 1969 Andersen organ, calling out the pitch of each stop, 8, 4, 2, etc. as he played them. He then gave quite a long recital of Bach and Buxtehude.
This church had the intriguing feature of adjoining prison cells with spy holes, so that court marshalled soldiers could see the Host raised, but not partake. Ian Wickens played ‘Dialogue de Voix humaine’ by Jean-Adam Guilain, making full use of the trompets on manuals and pedals.
Sunday 23rd August – Day Off, with freedom to wander at will. Four of us attended services at the Buxtehude churches in Helsingør, before either exploring the castle, or gazing at the Mirós and Henry Moores in the sculpture park at ‘Louisiana’, before Paul dived into a choppy sea for a quick swim. So ended a beautiful sunny week.
Monday 24th August 10am Domkirke Sct. Lucius, Roskilde The majestic cathedral organ (Johann Lorenz 1654, and Marcussen and Son 1991) graces the cover of Jeff and Michael’s brochure.
Harald Bluetooth built the first church on this site, and was buried here in 985. It has been the burial place of Danish kings and queens ever since. Funerary chapels abound, and, rather eerily, Saint Birgitta’s Chapel displays Bjørn Nørgaard’s model of a glass sarcophagus – the real one intended for Queen Marguerite and her consort in years to come.
The cathedral has a very striking West ‘Royal Door’, created in bronze in 2010 by Peter Brande, with motifs of the twelve apostles. He also refurbished St Andrew’s chapel, making an altar piece with thousands of glass mosaic tiles. Rob’s partner, Jane Jacobs, dubbed this the best place of worship she’d ever seen, and took many pictures on her tablet.
We were rather disappointed that the organist, Kåre Nielsen, didn’t demonstrate the organ to us.
2pm Jørgensbjergkirke, Roskilde After lunch at the nearby Viking Centre, we received a warm welcome from the larger-than-life Claus Christian Heilmann, tall and lanky, flamboyant in rose-rimmed glasses and floral shirt, and with a terrific laugh. Over refreshments he told us about the organ, and the church which rather resembles a white-washed chapel. Built in 1080, it’s the oldest church in Denmark.
The Wilhelm Sauer organ is built in the style of the Danish organs from the mid 19th century. It has no harsh sounds, but gentle diapasons, which sounded very lovely as Claus played over a hymn, calling out, “solo, for the first verse”, etc. He said that his moods dictate his style of playing, and he learns hymns by heart, so that he’s free to sing them.
Tuesday 25th August saw the first of three days’ forays into Sweden. Kersti Chambers, who has Swedish family connections, described the southern Swedes as ‘relaxed and jolly’ in her introduction to our brochure.
Crossing the Öresund bridge by train, we came to Malmö’s main church, Sankt Petrikyrka, built in the 12th century. The very enthusiastic Christian Schultze, one of three organists at the church, has launched a huge organ project to have a six manual digital console in the nave, operating the organ in the gallery.
This organ, with a unique case approved by Gustav III in 1785, is now in pieces prior to its eventual link up with the nave organ. Christian told us that the church has many baptisms and weddings, and five to six funerals a week. Gay couples are welcome to marry here, and so the church is popular, and seen as ‘up to date’. This wealthy parish can well sustain Christian’s ambitious scheme costing £1½ million. It is his mission to keep organ music alive, and relevant to the 21st century.
2.30pm Johanneskyrka, Malmö This is ‘the church of the roses’ in the Art Noveau style, consecrated in 1907, and the largest church in Malmö. The Romantic organ was restored by Åkerman and Lund in 2008. Christian Schultze was practising the organ as we came in, and then played us a mighty Swedish piece, not using the mixtures, he said, but making good use of the new reeds, (Cavaillé-Coll like), and coupling them with the 4′ flutes.
Christian took great delight in showing us the workings of the restored organ which fill the old choir room. And he mentioned the St Petrikyka’s former medieval pipe organ, now residing in Malmö’s Castle Museum. This was well worth a visit, though we weren’t allowed to play it.
Wednesday 26th August 11am Allhelgonakyrka, Lund There’s a coffee house opposite this church where Ian and Charmian, Paul and I were invigorated with an endless supply of strong coffee before we all met Johan-Magnus Sjöberg, who was waiting to show off his Mårtenssons Orgelfabrik 1969. He is the organist, composer and Director of Music for the whole of Lund.
This church of Sweden, built in 1891 in the Gothic revival style, is celebrating the life of Martin Luther with many concerts of Bach, Shultz, and Lutheran masses
After we’d all played, there was a bonus for those who could stay. A short prayer service is taken at noon every day, with just one hymn. Today Johan-Magnus was joined in the last verse by a saxophonist. At the end of the ¼ hour they joined forces in a dramatic piece (probably Swedish), which started with a soft tremolo organ, soon joined by the sax, then building up to a climax with high flute notes on the organ and a shrill outburst from the sax. Stunning!
3pm Trefoldighedskyrka, Kristianstad Kalle Engquist played us Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C on the Johann Lorentz organ of 1631, restored by Frobenius and Sons in 1961. Kalle told us that 70% of the population belong to the Swedish church, and they all pay a little towards it. The organ has its original case, and the stops have a neo-baroque style. Appropriately, Pete played a Swedish hymn, and Ian H played ‘Praise to the Lord, the Almighty…’
Afterwards Kalle supplied us with coffee and cake in the church hall, and Rob, seizing the chance to play a piano, entertained us with all sorts of pieces, and then Kalle took over and played Elgar’s ‘Ave Verum Corpus’. The singers amongst us gathered round and joined in this and other anthems. Jane captured this spontaneous music making on her tablet.
Then off we went to the station, but the overhead cables were down. We had a convivial meal in the nearby O’Leary’s Sports Bar, and by that time a coach was waiting at the bus stop to take us to Lund, and hence to Køpenhavn.
Thursday 27th August 10.30am A short ferry ride from Helsingør brought us to Sankt Mariakyrka, Helsingborg – a town known as the ‘Pearl of the Sound’ – on the banks of the Öresund, though today it was pouring with rain! At the church Mats Hultkvist introduced us first to the chancel organ – a gem – as it’s a near replica of Diderik Buxtehude’s own when he was organist here in the 1660s, (at the same time holding the post at St Mary’s in Helsingør – see above.)
Robert Gustavsson built the organ in 2000, copying much of the registration. Mats played it with great affection, saying it has a beautiful difference between the dissonance and the harmony.
The main organ, built by Åkerman and Lund in 1928, was restored by Marcussen and Son in 1959. Connected to it is a ten stop echo organ. Many of us clambered up into the roof to see the echo choir. Then Mats helped us with our pieces, and registered it for me to play Jean Langlais’ ‘Flutes’ using just flute stops on 4 manuals.
2.30pm Sankt Nikolaikyrka, Halmstad, a medieval town where the river Nissan flows into Laholmsbukten, a beautiful place to visit our last church. The organist Anders Wilhelmsson played Bach’s D major fugue on the two manual chancel organ, built by Åkerman and Lund in 1979. A harpsichord sits beside it.
The main organ was built in 2003 by the Dutch organ firm, Pels and Van Leeuwen. There are stops with quirky effects such as rain, hail and thunder. I’m not sure if Anders used them as he played a 15 minute piece by the living Swedish composer Tommie Haglund. It’s impressionistic with a nice melody. Tommie had played the organ when it was commissioned.
At each church Ian H thanked the organist, and showed NHOA’s appreciation with a bottle of wine. He was often the last to play, having filmed us lot, and here he played ‘Nun Danket’ – ‘Now thank we all our God’ –a very fitting closure to a fantastic organ trip.
Frances Whewell