UPDATE -- Church organs saved from EU threat

By Aussiegirl

Whew, at last a sane conclusion from the EU! You will remember that on March 18th I posted Requiem for church organs, an article that described the peril that English church organs faced from an idiotic EU directive. Well, it looks like common sense has prevailed, at least this time -- until the next idiotic EU directive.

Print Story: Church organs saved from EU threat on Yahoo! News

Church organs saved from EU threat.

Brides and grooms can breathe easy -- they can still walk down the aisle to the strain's of Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba".

The European Commission said on Tuesday it had decided church organs are not covered by a directive that bans the use of hazardous substances, such as lead, which is used to make pipes for organs.

The country's organ industry had feared the worst, arguing that there was no satisfactory substitute for lead which would give the same quality of sound.

Several leading organ scholars warned in a letter to the Times newspaper earlier this year that the directive, aimed at new organs, would "threaten the survival of an industry and a tradition which has been at the heart of Europe's musical culture and liturgical practice for centuries".

The head of the European Commission in London, Reijo Kemppinen, said: "British organ builders need not fear for the future of their art and craft. The European Union has no wish to jeopardise this ancient tradition."