This morning we schlepped our luggage down to the Zattere dock where we took a ferry to Fusino. I have neglected so far to tell you that the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, blue skies, clear, cool (about 78 deg. F) with a light wind. Picture postcard perfect! What a difference from the last time I was in Venice with my husband and son four years ago when the heat was in the high 90s and the humidity was unbearable!

Our bus picked us up at the dock in Fusina and took us to Treviso, 20 miles away. We went to a church which had been turned into a museum, Museo Chiesa di Santa Caterina, which had a new organ (1998) built in a Renaissance style. I loved this organ! The sound of the instrument was colorful and the principal stops were understated but very beautiful. 

Unfortunately my number didn’t come up so I wasn’t able to play, but the deputy mayor came over to bring us greetings on behalf of the city of Treviso. They are very proud of this organ and rightly so. 

Here is an excerpt from Grant Hellmers’ turn at this organ.

The vast majority of organs we have seen (and will be seeing) on the Historic Organ Study Tour have a first short octave. This means either the keyboard or pedalboard has an incomplete bottom octave. At first glance it starts on E instead of C. In actuality the lowest note is a C, followed by F, then D, then G, then E, then A. Huh? 

Here is a diagram:

The reason organ builders did this was to save money and space in the case—after all, who needs those notes anyway? In Italian music before 1800, those notes were seldom used.

When it was my turn to play the organ at the Chiesa di Santa Croce (which is no longer a chapel but is part of the university) it completely threw me for a loop! I know I didn’t choose the right music when the tour leader, Roberto Antonello, told me my Bach piece wouldn’t work. So I chose a canzona by Andrea Gabrieli, but there were still a few weird notes when I forgot about the short octave in the bass.

I had the same result with the piece I chose for the Chiesa di San Leonardo, the next church we visited. I played Bach’s C Major Fantasy for manuals only and had a few oopsy moments when I forgot about the short octave in the bass. The extremely narrow and short keys on the keyboard also felt strange. Oh well, if I had an organ with a keyboard like this, I would get used to it. 

We checked into our Treviso hotel—my room is so cute with its single bed and modular furniture. This hotel is definitely a step up from our Venice accommodations. We’ll stay here two nights and then will return at the end of the trip.