The organ of the Sint-Bavo church (the Christiaan Müller organ) is one of the world’s great organs. It was built by Christian Müller and Jan van Logteren, from Amsterdam, between 1735 and 1738; upon completion it was the largest organ in the world with 60 voices and 32-feet pedal-towers. In Moby-Dick (1851), Herman Melville describes the inside of a whale’s mouth:

“Seeing all these colonnades of bone so methodically ranged about, would you not think you were inside of the great Haarlem organ, and gazing upon its thousand pipes?”

Many famous people used this organ, including Mendelssohn, Händel and the 10-year old Mozart who played it in 1766. The organ was modified a number of times in the 19th and 20th century. These changes were undone in the renovation between 1959 and 1961. Between 1987 and 2000 work was performed on the voicing of the organ. Today concerts are regularly held in the church, and all through the year special opening times are organized so the public can walk in free of charge to listen to this famous organ in action.

A local story goes to say that the bass of the organ was so low, the mortar in between the brimstones started to brittle to nothing.

Mozart´s piano made in 1780 by Anton Walter.

Some Mozart Trivia

• Mozart presented his first public recital at age five. 
• Mozart said his best musical ideas came to him when “travelling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep.” 
• Mozart was a member of a freemason’s lodge in Vienna, and achieved it’s highest rank. 
• Mozart played in a string quartet that also included Haydn, Johann Vanhal, and Karl Dittersdorf. 
• Mozart’s father Leopold was a well-known violin teacher/scholar, and Mozart learned the violin from him. 
• Mozart loved to play Billiards, and would sometimes play all night, composing symphonies as he played. 
• Mozart had a pet Starling who he taught to sing some of his works! He also had a dog named Trickster, but he just called her “Sugar”.

The Mozart family circa 1780. The portrait on the wall is of Mozart’s mother.