The church of Reconciliation in Taizé had a monstrosity of an organ mounted on the wall on the left-hand side when looking to the altar end of the church. Tall pilgrims could hardly stand beneath it and I have seen one man hit his head. Frère Roger thought that the organ was too big, pompous and loud for the community. Taizé’s music is simple and requires little or no accompaniment, so the little organ, played by one of monks within the “garden”, that usually sounds like a guitar, suits the whole service. 
During the refurbishments of two years ago, this ghastly thing was thankfully removed which did wonders for the simple beauty of this end of the church. The orange curtains draped at the altar end church and the small stain glass windows are the only adornments in the church and they achieve the right effect. So what has happened in the last two weeks? Suddenly a new organ has appeared, at the same spot as the old one and as big and as ugly, just a little bit more shiny and maybe with a bit more head room underneath. It could even be the old one polished up and returned, I don’t know. It looks like it could blast out music and drown the singing. At the service today it was not in use, so I will have to wait and see whether it is as loud as it looks. What would Frère Roger make of this?
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