Our first stop today was at the St Urban Zisterzienserkloster (Cistercian) Monastery Church which is a sight to behold from the time you approach the intricately-carved doorway.

Open the door and your eyes are greeted with a massive kaleidoscope of white and gold —almost too much to take in. Can you imagine coming to church here every Sunday?

Even the choir stalls have elaborate carvings and are not to be missed.

Turn around and look at the 1717-1722 Josef Bossart and Victor Ferdinand Bossart organ which is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Notice the crosses in the top of the case.

I took one look at the pedalboard and decided that I would play it safe and choose a piece for manuals only. That is because the lower octave sequence of keys is as follows:

C F D G E A Bb

— and if you are not used to it you could get seriously confused! The normal sequence is:

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B, of course!

I chose Johann Gottfried Walther’s “Concerto in B minor,” second movement for manuals only. After I finished, Bruce Stevens told me about a misprint in the score, and of course I have been playing it differently (wrong!) all these years! Live and learn, right?!

Another thing was that the bench was permanently fixed—too far away for me—and could not be moved any closer, so because we did not pull out any pedal stops, I could rest my feet on the pedals without having them sound.

Our next church, in Muri Kloster, was even MORE over the top, if you can imagine it! The smallest organ had only 8 stops with a 1743 Josef Bossart & Victor Ferdinand Bossart organ on the Gospel side. Opposite was an organ, built the same year by the same builder; it has 16 stops and is a mirror image of the small organ in appearance and is located on the Epistle side.

Christophe Mantoux, our tour leader, and the local organist, improvised on the two organs, each playing about 16 bars each and then throwing it back to the other side. What fun!

Larry Schipull and Grant Moss (who came to Hawaii a couple of years ago) played the Sixth Soler Double Organ Concerto, the same piece I have programmed for the finale of the upcoming October concert for 1, 2 and 3 organs in Honolulu.

But wait, there’s more! A 1630 Thomas Schott organ is located in the rear gallery and is the biggest of the three instruments.

Finally it was my turn and I chose Georg Boehm’s chorale prelude on “Christ lag in Todesbanden,” which sounded absolutely gorgeous on this organ.

The traffic going back to Zürich was terrible, causing us to be nearly one hour late for our appointment at the Grossmünster, which is the large cathedral. My friend, Vreni Griffith, had been waiting patiently for us to arrive, and I invited her to come up to the organ console with the rest of the group. This is a large 4-manual organ built by Metzler & Söhne in 1959 and is one of the finest in Switzerland. I played Bach’s “Heut triumphiret Gottes Sohn” from the Orgelbüchlein, which was enormously satisfying.

Tonight was our farewell dinner at a nearby restaurant. The food was delicious, and the company was very enjoyable. By the time we had finished eating, it was pouring rain and cold—unfortunately some of us made the decision to walk back to the hotel while others took a taxi. I was in the walking group and luckily had my umbrella. What a range of temperatures we have experienced in these 10 days! From hot and humid to cold and rainy!

It has been a fantastic tour—and tomorrow is our last day.