On 33 rpm to an hour of Mozart

In recent years, just about every self-respecting band has been releasing new music on vinyl. So you could say that vinyl is back on the scene. That's not true of Haarlem. Here it never really went away. In fact, our city is home to one of the largest and oldest vinyl pressing factories in the world: Record Industry. Founded in 1958 and still alive and kicking. And the latter also applies to a new Haarlem tradition: Haarlem Vinyl Festival. In 2023 was the first edition and it tasted for more, for much more. And so for the next few years, our city will be the heart of the international vinyl world, the place where the love of music and the passion for vinyl come together. With numerous performances, activities, an exhibition and, of course, a huge record fair. For three days, the city breathes vinyl culture, a paradise for music lovers. The same goes for the rest of the year. Because Haarlem is bursting with record stores, such as Sounds HaarlemDe Platenslager and North End Haarlem, of pop venues such as Patronaat and of initiatives where young talents get the chance, such as Slaughterhouse and Popronde.

And then there is also a large number of bands and artists coming from Haarlem: Chef's Special, VanVelzen, Krezip, Alain Clark and Boudewijn de Groot. In other words, Haarlem is a real city of music. It has been that way for centuries. Literally. For this, we take you briefly to one of our city's most eye-catching historic buildings, the Grote or St.-Bavokerk.. It was built between 1370 and 1520 and is constructed in the Brabant Gothic architectural style. But that's not the point for now, what we want to talk about is the organ. It is as imposing as the church itself. This gigantic pipe organ was built between 1735 and 1738, and when it was finished, it was the largest in the world. It has about fifty thousand pipes, the largest is ten meters long, the smallest as big as a pencil. But what makes it really impressive is that the musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played the organ at the age of ten. For an hour. Too bad vinyl didn't exist back then.

While you're there

The other major church in Haarlem is the Dome Cathedral. A special feature of this cathedral is that you can climb the tower. This involves quite a few steps, but the reward is great: a magnificent view of the city and the surrounding nature where you can take a lovely walk. In silence or listening to the Haarlem playlist on Spotify with She Has Enchanted Me, by Haarlem native Raoul Michel.

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