Do you ever wonder why they call it “sightseeing”? It’s such a curiously redundant expression. If you were to tell me that you saw a sound or heard a vision, I would be all ears (so to speak). But if you simply want to tell me that you saw sights, I will simply congratulate you on having eyes.
So I did not go sightseeing today. I did, however, visit the historic Fara church in the middle of historic Poznań, where I saw the glories of the Baroque era in Poland and heard a tantalizing teaser of an organ concert.
I will not tell you much about the history of the church, because Wikipedia can do a better job of that. I will tell you that the organ (built by Friedrich Ladegast in 1876) is a beautiful specimen of German organbuilding, and I will simply leave you with a few pictures.
One fun note for pipe organ nerds: the Ladegast organ is one of a handful of instruments in its era and region that included uncommon “free reed” stops–basically, an amplified version of the sound that a harmonium or an accordion makes. The free reeds were not used during the concert today, but you can hear them here at approximately 0:46.
Until next time!
Michael
From Pole to Pole 