T

he popular Christmas carol “Angels We Have Heard on High” can be heard anywhere in Jakarta in the days leading up to the Christmas holiday.

But to enjoy it played live on a pipe organ in this capital city, one needs to visit old churches, and hope that the instruments are in good condition, and more importantly to find available players.

Vicky Andreani, 29, was one of the rare pipe organists who made one of Jakarta’s only five existing organs come to life.

“Playing a pipe organ requires coordination from many parts of our body: our eyes, our two hands and our feet,” Vicky said. “It takes time and continuous practice before your body is familiar with the organ.”

Playing the Christmas carol for The Jakarta Post with the 75-year-old pipe organ of the GPIB Paulus church, Central Jakarta, on Friday, Vicky said that performing on the instrument so that the music rose and fell rhythmically was never easy.

However, Vicky found that all of her efforts and the challenges she faced were worth it, equal to the splendid sensation she gets from hearing the beautiful sounds of the instrument, which was developed by Europeans in the 17th century.

“I have a big interest in music, including violin and piano. But the classical pipe organ is more fascinating,” she said.

Vicky has been playing piano since she was a child but started to learn the pipe organ six years ago.

Pipe organs, which once were the most complex man-made devices, is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes.

Each organ may have anywhere from a dozen pipes and one keyboard to more than 20,000 pipes and seven keyboards.

Having a skill on piano is not the most important thing, strong will is.

“I am lucky that I was a pianist when I became interested in the pipe organ,” Vicky said. “At least I didn’t have to learn the basic musical skill, only the technical know-how.”

Another young organist, Ariwandira Pratama Siagian, said that he needed three to four months to get himself used to the device.

“Like Vicky, I was a classical pianist before I was an organist,” said the-21-year old, who likes being called Ari. The student of the Jakarta Theological Seminary said that the most difficult part was to
adapt to the additional tools in the instrument, such as stop knobs to control the different timbre, pitch and volume.

Ari said that continuous practice with the instrument would quickly improve the organists’ skill.

Due to the complicated design of the organ, with all the pipes and stop knobs and multiple-layer keyboards, the organs are only available in few churches in Jakarta.

“To practice, we have to go to churches where the instrument is available,” Ari said. “So, playing this thing also requires strong dedication.”

Both Ari and Vicky believed that the existence of such instruments relied on the sustainability of organists. “There should be a good regeneration to maintain the number of organists,” said Vicky.

“Otherwise, the organs will be abandoned in years ahead.”

Calvin Eko Saputro, an advanced organist and teacher to the younger players, said that the instrument was not too popular among the youth.

“It is not about how many young people are eager to play it. It is about how many of them know it,” he said. “Sadly, many of them don’t even know what the pipe organ is.”

Eko, the organ teacher at the GPIB Immanuel church in Central Jakarta, said that there were about 16 organists in the church alone.

“Most of them are young organists,” he said.

He said that the instrument, due to its beauty and long history, deserved better attention. “The organ can be performed for many occasions other than religious events.”

However, Eko acknowledged that the organs available for playing in Jakarta were too limited.

“Classical pipe organs can only be found in three Protestant churches and two Catholic churches,” he said. “Even if there are more people who are willing to play it, there are not enough places,” he said.

Suwandi, the only mechanic and organ maker in the city, said that expensive production cost and maintenance had dissuaded people from having more organs.

Cheap organs, with pipes of bamboo or metal, can cost Rp 500 million (US$55,500) whereas expensive ones can cost up to Rp 1.5 billion.

“The maintenance costs range from Rp 8 million to more than Rp 20 million,” he said.

Suwandi, who has been an organ maker and technician for more than 20 years, said that restoration costs were also pricey. “If an organ is badly broken, it can take more than Rp 500 million and more than one month restoration time.”

He regretted that several people, including the church officials, did not show enough concern about pipe organs.

“I have seen many organs broken because of neglect by church administrations,” he said. (lfr)