I just returned today from Holland after visiting the Orgelhall
in Haarlem last Sunday. It was full of enthusiastic organ friends.
Haarlem is a very pretty Dutch city with several interesting
museums, including the "Teylers", the oldest in The Netherlands,
and "The Frans Halsmuseum". I've visited the organ hall, "Stichting
Het Kunkelsorgel" twice before over the past 10 years.
This is not a "museum", as mentioned before. It's housed in a
deteriorating industrial building not far from the center of town.
The crowd sits at tables in the middle of a large room rather like
a German beer hall. Elderly ladies sell beer, sodas and great Dutch
fare like ertensoep (a thick pea porridge with sausages) and waffles.
It seems nearly everyone smokes, and by early afternoon the room
assumes dreamlike misty ambience. The dream for the organ lover is
that every organ (around 10) plays beautifully and each in their turn.
The clientele are mostly Dutch people with a smattering of foreigners
like me.
Each week, a "guest" organ arrives, and this visitor gets the spotlight
and the most play. Last Saturday, it was "De Pluto", a very nice
street organ in fine voice. The recently restored Marenghi/Frei
"Kunkelsorgel" is a treat to hear.
This is the best place to hear street and dance organs. You can sit
and listen all day, take photographs, buy recordings and souvenirs,
and try out your Dutch. People sing, laugh and sway to the music, all
for free. All this is not widely-known, even to the Dutch, but it is
one of the reasons I love this country.
Philip Jamison
West Chester, Pennsylvania
[ Visit http://www.draaiorgelmuseum.org/ -- Robbie
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