Organ spring in Moscow by Jan Raas

Jan Raas Organ spring in Moscow
Het ORGEL 104 (2009), nr. 3, 40-45 [summary]

The second ‘Open All-Russian Competition Young Organist’ was held in the first week of February in Moscow, a competition for youth under 19 years of age. The article gives an impression of this competition, comparing it with the Dutch situation. The Dutch wealth of old and new organs and a rich church-organ tradition are absent in Russia. But that seems not to hinder Russian youth from taking organ lessons relatively more often than in the Netherlands. Many music schools in Moscow are forced to give lessons on electronic organs. Though electronic organs in the Netherlands are seen as instruments that threaten our organ culture, it appears that they are necessary in Russia for the nourishment of organ culture.
 

Photo’s: Jan Raas