West Sussex Organists' Association

To Switzerland April 2004

Our Spring Trip this year was to Geneva and Lausanne - not only beautiful places to visit in fine April weather, but full of magnificent new organs ,inspired by Lionel Rogg and his colleagues at the Conservatoire and funded by generous local benefactions. In our five days there we were able to hear and play the organs in two Cathedrals and seven Churches, as well as enjoying the splendid scenery, good food and very congenial company.

22 members and partners gathered at Gatwick on Thursday 15th April for our flight to Geneva. We were met at the airport there by one of our hosts and guided (in a mix of languages) past UN headquarters, lakeside and city centre to our accommodation at "Le Cenacle",a pleasant hostel owned by the city's RC community,set in spacious grounds 2 kilometres from the centre. The rooms were basic, but the hostel was well-kept, welcoming, great value, and very convenient for all our excursions.

Friday was a day to explore Geneva's range of ecclesiastical architecture and music - four official visits plus incidental visits to places like St Josephs RC church with its dramatic modern stained glass and ornaments as well as two organs. Our first formal session was at the Temple d' EauiVives, in a characterful market and entertainment area of the city. Here we met Lionel Rogg for the first time, playing host to us in the place of the organist Norbert Broggini. The church acquired in 2002 a neatly-cased two-manual Grenzing organ to replace a large and ailing 19th century instrument. The organ has by design a German Baroque tone from its 25 stops, sounding just left for the Buxtehude and Bach pieces Professor Rogg played for us, and also for some of the chorales and interludes he had composed for his students. It was fascinating to watch at close quarters his technique with hands and feet, and we greatly appreciated his guidance when we had the opportunity to play this fine "baroque" instrument. Then on foot to the city centre, to the 17th century Classical Temple de la Fusterie, a galleried square stone shell now used largely for meetings and concerts. A large plaque recalls the sanctuary given here to Huguenots fleeing France after 1685. We met Humberto Salvagnin, organist here and at the Cathedral, who demonstrated for us the fine 3-manual. 35 stop instrument by Quorin installed in 1979. The prevailing style here is French Baroque and we listened to some Couperin pieces before exploring the instrument ourselves.

After a quick lunch at the nearby Dept Store, a short walk to a quite different building, the 15th century guild church of St Gervais with its massive gothic tower and recently restored medieval screens, stalls and wall-paintings, complemented by discreet modern stained glass. St Gervais has since 1996 a new Felsberg two-manual 31-stop organ in Flemish style. The organist Francois Desbaillet kindly demonstrated it for us, with pieces by Vivaldi as well as Couperin, before letting us loose on the instrument. Then on, by one of Geneva's meticulously punctual "bendy-buses" to one of the residential suburbs, and a strikingly modern round concrete RC church, St Jeanne de Chantal, in which we found an even more strikingly modern organ by Formentelli completed in 2000. This has 2 manuals and 23 stops, with very much an Italian character, and was made possible when the church gained a lottery grant. The case and console were beautifully crafted but we struggled with the "split accidentals" on manuals and pedals. An expert with the instrument can no doubt achieve refined tuning of early and baroque pieces, but when our fingers strayed onto the wrong parts of the divided black notes it could sound less like Bach and more like Les Dawson! Nonetheless we greatly appreciated the opportunity to try this very modern instrument, and the kind hospitality of church officials there. This is the church where Liz Alder's redoubtable aunt Nancy worships and we were delighted to meet her for supper at a nearby restaurant. In her nineties she is still working part-time at the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Officer.

On Saturday we made an early start to catch the train along the lakeside to Lausanne, where we climbed to the top of the old town to the Cathedral, finest of the Gothic buildings in the country, and dating from the 13th century. There they installed in 2003, at a cost of 5 million Swiss francs, a magnificent five-manual organ with 98 stops by the American organ-builder Fisk. An impressive achievement in construction as well as public fundraising, because of the height, narrowness, and fragile vaulting of the nave. A steel platform had to be built above the narthex supporting two tall narrow towers of pipes either side of the main console. There is a separate electronic console on the floor of the nave, and a linked chancel organ is in plan. The five manuals allow for a rich variety of sounds and styles, from Classical and Baroque to French Romantic and even "English" and our organist host Jean Christophe Gaiser played examples from 17th to 20th centuries, before letting us play.

Suitably exhilarated we entrained again for Montreux and then the old cog railway which carried us steadily up the mountain to the snows around Roches de Naye 6000 ft up. Here we lunched at the "Plein Roc" looking out over as dramatic a mountain view as one could dream of, the weekend skiers out there enjoying some fresh late snow. Then down again to Montreux's elegant lakeside in the sunshine, for a gentle walk or boatride to the Chateau de Chillon, which leans out over the water and has a fascinating 1000 year history, vividly told us by our guide. W 6pm sharp back by train to Lausanne to visit the Church of St Francis in the heart of the town. This has an elegantly cased organ which has evolved since the 18th century through various re-designs, most recently by Kuhn in 1995. It now has five manuals and 75 stops. Although described as "neo-classical" in style, the improvisations played by the organist showed its versatility and it responded well to most of the pieces we played. Then by train again (and again bang on time) back to Geneva, taking in supper on the way.

Our Sunday rendezvous was again with Lionel Rogg, who allowed us in via the stage door to the magnificently ornate Victoria Hall near the central park in Geneva. This is the home of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romand, with a splendid acoustic and an even more splendid organ at the rear of the stage. The hall was personally funded by the British Consul in 1891 and still has a very British feel, with red and gold seating and boxes and the royal coat of arms prominent. The five-manual 71-stop concert organ is French in design and sound, especially after a major rebuild in 1995 (by Van den Heuvel) which followed a fire in the hall. Professor Rogg has made several of his recordings on the instrument and his short recital, which we listened to from various parts of the hall, showed just why this is such a famous acoustic. Again Prof Rogg was more than generous with his time and help as we each found our way around the elaborate console. Afterwards Prof Rogg and his wife joined us for an excellent lunch in one of the restaurants in the old town. Then the afternoon was free for exploring, and for many a boat ride along the lake, although after three sunny and balmy days the wind suddenly got up and a damp mist descended on us.

Our last visit, on Monday morning, was appropriately to Geneva's dramatic Cathedral of St Peter in the old town, where Humberto Salvagnin again hosted us and demonstrated for us the two contrasting organs in the building. In the elaborately decorated 15th century "Maccabees Chapel" (used for weddings and funerals etc) a delightful two-manual 10-stop Walcher organ of 1888 in a neo-gothic case - the oldest surviving organ in the city and area. In the austerely  Calvinist main nave, a magnificent 68-stop Metzler organ of 1965 in a striking metal case. The Metzler did, on closer inspection, cover a wide range of sounds and styles and we found the tab stops and shaped pedal boards congenial to use.

We were driven unwillingly away from our playing by the verger closing the place for lunch, but it was in any case time to say a reluctant farewell to all these wonderful organs and to make our way to the airport and home.

Our thanks to Professor Rogg and our other Swiss hosts for their time, help and kind welcome.

And special thanks to one person who put together our itinerary and brilliantly organised every detail of this most memorable trip and musical feast - Elisabeth Alder.

Nigel Brown