Antique pipe organs in danger as city faces scarcity of players

[KB7DQH]

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/13/2011 11:07 PM
The oldest pipe organ in the city, installed in the 1800s at the GPIB Sion church in North Jakarta, is now unusable.

Organist Flora Makamiman was about to rehearse for the Sunday service in early November when she discovered the organ made no sound. "We had noticed that the organ had not been quite right for months. But it was alright on Nov. 6 when it suddenly stopped working altogether," she told The Jakarta Post Sunday.

"I don't know what made the organ breakdown," she said.

But another organist, Antonius Soetanta, may have a possible explanation. "It is the organist who keeps the instrument alive," said Antonius, senior organist and teacher at the Jakarta Church Music Foundation to the Post.

"If we only have a few players, the instrument will be neglected," Soetanta said, adding that it was not the biggest problem faced by pipe organ lovers.

Soetanta acknowledged the reason why few people wanted to learn to play the formidable instrument was because it was so difficult to play and that young people were dissuaded from even trying.

Pipe organs, which once were the most complex man-made devices, may have anywhere from a dozen pipes and one keyboard to more than 20,000 pipes and seven keyboards. With the stop knobs and multi-layered keyboards, organists must move their eyes, hands and feet simultaneously. "Young people love piano much more than the pipe organ. The piano is simpler and more modern," he said.

According to Soetanta, in the foundation, there are only three to four young players who are consistently practicing the pipe organ.

With few young people willing to play the instrument, Soetanta said that the five pipe organs in Jakarta, three of them belonging to Protestant churches and two belonging to Catholic churches, could be in danger. "An organ will easily break down if we don't play it often," he said.

Flora said that she hoped the church administration would repair it soon.

Suwandi, the only organ mechanic and maker in the city, said that the Sion Church's pipe organ was in terrible condition.

Suwandi, who has been a mechanic for more than 20 years, said that pipe organs near the sea should be cleaned more often than in any other place. "The atmosphere near the sea is never good for pipe organs," he said.

"The air is dry and may contain sand, more like dust, which is dangerous for the pipes," Suwandi said. "That is what we find in Sion."

Suwandi said that the organs needed total restoration. "We are lucky if we can fix them in one month," he said.

While the regular maintenance cost ranged from Rp 8 million (US$888) to Rp 20 million, Suwandi said that the Sion church's pipe organ would need more.

"Maybe it could take more than Rp 100 million," he said.

While the Sion church's organ is in danger, the one in the GPIB Immanuel church in Central Jakarta is in better condition.

The 172-year old organ is in good condition and is played five times every Sunday.

Calvin Eko Saputro, the advanced organist at the church, said that the organ receives more attention than others found in the city.

"I can proudly say that the organ is well maintained," he said.

Eric
KB7DQH