Overview
Perhaps something is lost in translation, but ‘Land of Organs’ is not the most alluring of epithets. It’s what the Dutch (or a fairly specific segment of the Dutch population) call their own country. The fact is that there is probably a greater density of top quality historic organs here than anywhere else. Moreover, in the last few decades the Dutch have probably been world leaders in the restoration of historic instruments, as well as in the building of new ones. The consequence is that there is an impressive number of sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth-century instruments which are in good working order and whose sound is probably very close to the original.
This tour is an organ-lover’s paradise. Fifteen instruments (give or take: a chamber organ might be added, a funeral might take away another) are seen and heard and explained. A leading specialist in performance on early instruments, James Johnstone, who studied in the Netherlands, leads the tour, and a number of Dutch organists contribute as well. Participants hear the styles and capabilities of three hundred years of musical enterprise and ambition, and are exposed to various regional and personal styles of organ building.
The instruments are located in mediaeval churches which are mostly voluminous, often architecturally very fine indeed and are all distinctly Dutch in a way that is familiar from the paintings of Saenredam and De Witte. The characteristic chasteness of decoration, however, ceases with the glorious burst of sculpture and architectonic joinery of the organ cases covering the west wall.
The cities, towns and villages in which the churches are located are, at the very least, charming, and often much more. Dating in large part from the period of greatest prosperity, with characteristic gabled brick buildings alongside the ubiquitous canals, their descent into backwater status until relatively recently preserved them wonderfully. Striking is the absence of unsightly industrial or high-rise suburbs. Countryside is properly rural, despite the high density of population, and intensely alluring despite the lack of elevation.
At the time of going to print not all organ recitals were confirmed.
Day 1
Leiden. Fly at midday from London Heathrow to Amsterdam Schiphol (British Airways). Drive to Leiden, one of the best preserved and most appealing old cities in Holland (the birthplace of Rembrandt). The vast Gothic Pieterskerk (Church of St Peter) has a Hagerbeer organ of 1643, enormous for its date and fulsome in sound. Continue to Haarlem where the first two nights are spent.
Day 2
Alkmaar, Haarlem. Morning excursion to Alkmaar in North Holland. The Grote Kerk Sint Laurens has two important organs. That of 1511 is one of the oldest functioning organs in the world, the other is another by Hagerbeer (1637). Back in Haarlem, hear the instrument in the small, architecturally classical Nieuwe Kerk. The church of St Bavo (1370–1538) is one of the grandest in the Netherlands and retains many pre-Reformation furnishings. For a while the organ by Christian Müller (1738) was the world’s largest, and it remains one of the most sought-after historic instruments.
Day 3
Oosthuizen, Edam, Harlingen. The organ in the church in the village of Oosthuizen is an exceptional survival from the beginning of the sixteenth century and earlier. The former port of nearby Edam, stunted by the silting of the Zuiderzee, is a delightful little town with an outsize church in which there is a 1663 organ by Barent Smidt (known as ‘Father Smith’ when he emigrated to England). Cross the 1930s causeway between North Holland and Friesland to hear the organ in the Grote Kerk at Harlingen, built by the great Dutch master A. A. Hinsz in 1781. First of two nights in Groningen.
Day 4
Leens, Uithuizen, Groningen. Towards the north coast of the province of Groningen there are two fine organs. Leens is but a village but possesses a fully-vaulted Romanesque church with a well-preserved instrument by Hinsz of 1734. The slightly larger community of Uithuizen has an organ of 1700 by Arp Schnitger from Hamburg, one of the most influential and productive of organ builders. Free afternoon in Groningen, a lively university city. Public evening recital (subject to confirmation of the summer recital series) in the Martinikerk on a magnificent Schnitger instrument of 1692, modified by his son Frans Casper and the young Hinsz forty years later.
Day 5
Kampen, Zutphen. Kampen is a delightful little town beside the River Ijssel. The very fine, and very large, Gothic Bovenkerk has an outstanding organ by Hinsz of 1743. Break for lunch in the nearby Zwolle, equally historic and attractive. Zutphen has one of the loveliest and best preserved old city centres in the country. The Gothic church of St Walburga has one of the three remaining chained libraries in Europe and a organ by Heinrich Bader of 1639, famous for its brilliant sound and one of the largest of its time. Overnight Utrecht.
Day 6
Amsterdam. Travel to the capital where the Nieuwe Kerk houses two organs, one 16th- and one 17th-century, and hear the Müller organ in the Waalse Kerk. Fly from Schiphol, arriving London Heathrow c. 7.30pm.
Price, per person
Two sharing: £2,310 or £2,130 without flights. Single occupancy: £//// or £//// without flights.
Included
Flights (Euro Traveller) with British Airways (Airbus 320/321); hotel accommodation; travel by private coach; breakfasts; 4 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all recitals and entrance to churches etc; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturers. Single supplement £290 (double room for single occupancy).
Accommodation
Amrâth Grand Hotel Frans Hals, Haarlem, a modern 4-star hotel, comfortable, unpretentious, welcoming and located 200m from St Bavo. Prinsenhof Hotel, Groningen, 4-star hotel close to the main church, opened in 2012 in a sequence of historic buildings converted with taste and restraint. Excellent restaurant. Hotel Karel V, Utrecht, a 5-star hotel converted from a 19th-century hospital in a quiet location within the city walls.
How strenuous?
Unavoidably, there is quite a lot of walking involved, and the tour would not be suitable for anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stair-climbing. Coaches cannot get close to many of the churches. Average distance by coach per day: 59 miles.
Are you fit enough to join the tour?
Group size
Between 18 and 32 participants.
Travel advice
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
'The resident organists were invaluably agreeable and interesting.'
'It was great fun to share the tour and holiday atmosphere with several like-minded individuals; a memorable occasion.'
'Excellently conceived and conducted - taking into account the very large number of organs distributed within the Netherlands!'