Introduction
By Bjorn Isebaert
Hello there! As promised, I will finally introduce myself. (Jody asked me for this some weeks ago.)
I am an 20-year-old student from Kruishoutem, a small place in Belgium. I'm studying Latin and Greek at the University of Ghent. For several years, I've been busy with mechanical music (MM), especially with Belgian dance organs. My favorites are Hooghuys organs, because of their unique sound.
In Belgium there are about 8 Hooghuys organs left, for example, the 100-key "Condor" and the 57-key "De Witte Merel". That's the reason why I wrote a little book about the Hooghuys family some years ago. It was a writing project concerning our leisure, and of course, the booklet was written in Dutch.
I am also a member of the "Kring van Draaiorgelvrienden" (KDV) of the Netherlands, which also does a very good job in Belgium, since the government here doesn't do much about supporting owners of mechanical music instruments.
As some know, Belgium had its own organ museum once, and it was situated at Bruges. Some years ago (in 1989 I believe), the entire collection was sold to a Swiss owner, although some instruments did go to Japan.
I am really impassioned with MM, and usually I get up and go to sleep with organ music. I have about 100 records, 40 cassettes and 25 CD's of MM (including music boxes and reproducing pianos). Since I am still young and can't afford to buy an organ myself, I have to rely on these recordings, although I try to visit as many owners and festivals as possible.
Fortunately, I have a very good friend, Marc Hooghuys, who is the last descendant of the Hooghuys family being busy with organs. Another friend of mine is Jan van Dinteren. Actually, I have to say that only the elder people are still useful to people like me, since they know a lot about the time during which organs and other MM were still very popular. In fact, I don't even know if there are MM-lovers which are my age. Can anyone let me know ?
Actually, I don't know if there are a lot of members of the KDV outside Europe. The periodical of this society, "Het Pierement", often brings some interesting information (of course, mostly about Dutch organs). So, If there are, let me know, since I'm curious to know what they think of Belgian organs and the KDV !
For those who want to write me, my complete address is:
Bjorn Isebaert
Fonteinstraat 32
9772 Kruishoutem
Belgium
Tel: 09/383.59.43
E-mail: bjorn.isebaert@rug.ac.be
So, I hope I did my job well. I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year !
Greetings, Bjorn.
[ Editor's note:
[
[ Bjorn, I think you are a "natural writer"! Please tell us more about
[ the mechanical music in Belgium. Do you think that it will survive,
[ without the government support as in the Netherlands?
[
[ Robbie Rhodes
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(Message sent Wed 18 Dec 1996, 07:31:27 GMT, from time zone GMT+0100.) |
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