The instrument that once symbolized the future and prosperity has been predicted its demise by music historians. This is the story of the fall of the stove organ. – I was asked to accept one, and I answered yes. Then the phone calls started coming, laughs Mats Systaddal. He is the headmaster of cultural schools in Fjaler, Askvoll and Hyllestad and above average interested in music. – I cheer for all instruments! Nevertheless, Systaddal cannot save all the organs that people no longer want. There are simply too many of them. Mats did not grow up with such an organ himself, but has found joy in playing with what he received. Photo: Ingrid Nedrebø / news Large and heavy on lead It is rare that an old instrument does not score high in value, both financially and in terms of affection. A Harding fiddle made by great-grandfather is, for example, not only a cultural-historical treasure, but also worth sums of at least five figures. This is the case with almost all instruments. Apart from good, old stove organs. You definitely remember them: Big, bulky, tall. The sound of the stove organ is something in itself. The sour, flimsy imitation of orchestral instruments in concert with bossanova and samba rhythms takes every soul raised with an electric organ back to their mother’s stove in a second. Photo: Ingrid Nedrebø It took up a lot of space in the living room and in dressed dark brown mahogany imitation, equipped with two manuals, a pedalboard and a rhythm box with associated lights. Not to forget the huge stool and the sheet of music that were always in front. The notes usually contained what you might call “slagers”. This for love and trouble. No more trouble. Did you or someone you know have an electric organ as a child? The status symbol “everyone” had Those who grew up in the 70s and 80s are the generation that had to brush up on pedal playing and finger technique. In 2011, journalist Geir Evensen went so far as to call the entire stove organ culture child abuse. The organ course literature was enormous in the 70s. Nevertheless, there were several who only mastered the “one-finger technique”. Photo: Ingrid Nedrebø But it is no coincidence that a whole generation had to go through correspondence courses in organ playing. When Norway was experiencing economic growth in the 70s, ordinary people could begin to afford to buy electronics and technical innovations such as color television and electric organs. The latter itself became the symbol of prosperity. This is according to associate professor of musicology at NTNU, Knut Anders Vestad. – It was status to have in the house. “Everyone” had it. – The dream was an organ that almost resembled a spaceship, with buttons that flashed and all kinds of sounds, says Knut Anders Vestad. Photo: Ingrid Nedrebø But technical development in the 1980s moved quickly. When smaller synths and practical keyboards came on the market, it was a new and modern status symbol. And at home there were thousands of family members, not with their beards in the mailbox, but almost involuntarily with a giant organ in the living room. An abundance of unused organs Under the “given away” category on the sales website Finn, there are literally dozens of organs out there. Because the stove organ was never able to regain the status it once had. In fact, one should almost call the status the organ has now non-existent. People are so uninterested in playing in houses that it can be called a national “organ problem”: There are far too many organs, and far too few enthusiasts. Getting rid of the mahogany lump is almost impossible. The desperation to get rid of the organ became clear to Mats Systaddal when he took over the job as rector in 2020. – One of the first things that happened when I took up the position was to be offered an electric organ. I thought that it was rare to have good, free instruments, and therefore accepted. But after he agreed to one, the villagers heard that he willingly took over the organ. – Perhaps people saw an opportunity to finally get rid of the two square meters of organ that was just standing and taking up space. Then I had to draw a line, laughs Systaddal. He still receives calls from hopeful (and possibly desperate) organ owners. But does anyone really want them? – No! They just stand around! laughs Systaddal. Gloomy future for the rhythm box Trends come and go. Items of clothing, hairstyles and music styles that you wish to forget, surprisingly come back when enough time has passed. Take the vinyl player as an example: who would have thought 20 years ago that record collections would be “in” again? Or hockey welding? Both have, for one reason or another, had a new flowering period, a renaissance. Perhaps this could also be the case for the stove organ? Should the electric organ have its renaissance? Diversely, associate professor Vestad predicts a bleak future: – Things like this can often come back, but not the stove organ. Not in the format it was. Page up and page down with organ in the “given away” category on finn strengthens Vestad’s theory. The solution Someone who has found a solution to the “organ problem” is Odd Erik Lothe. And the solution is not to call desperately around to cultural school principals, or to cover the organ with a crocheted cloth. The solution is simple: To use it as it is, with its thin sound and tango rhythms. – There is something charmingly helpless about the way such an instrument is supposed to imitate all sounds. The result is a very approximate sound that is completely in its own right. There is something comical, but completely peculiar about it. Odd Erik Lothe is one of three members in the well-dressed popular orchestra with the somewhat unusual cast. The origin of the group came about when he and Finn Tokvam explored what musical possibilities there are in just a stove organ. Photo: news Lothe plays the organ herself, and together with the group has created comic versions of well-known songs such as “Smoke on the Water” and “Stairways to Heaven”. But he himself singles out the version of the popular Christmas carol “Det lyser i stille grender” as his favourite. For those who grew up with an organ in the house, it may not be a real Christmas atmosphere “as it used to be” but rather traditional Christmas carols combined with a rhythm box. By playing Christmas music on the stove organ, Finn-Erix combines exactly what the organ was meant for: Slægers and stove entertainment in a modern way. So if you are one of those who can’t get rid of that brain organ, or want to use old arts, you should heed the call of the “last enthusiast”: – The stove organ is here to stay, so use it!
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For love and trouble in thousands of stoves – news Vestland
