EU environment law could alter church music
http://euobserver.com/9/21201
23.03.2006 - 09:26 CET | By Teresa Küchler

 
A European Commission move to ban hazardous metallic waste from electric equipment has met with unexpected resistance, with music-loving MEPs claiming the ban may put an end to church music as they know it.

Two directives from 2002, soon to be enforced, restrict hazardous substances and waste from electrical and electronic equipment, and aim to put an end to the growing level of heavy metals in the European landscape.

As a consequence, the making of traditional pipe organs for cathedrals, concert halls, colleges and churches will be banned, because of their high content of lead, protestors now claim.

According to the directives, set to be enforced in July, musical instruments run by electricity are not allowed to contain more than 0.1 percent of lead.

Traditional church organ pipes normally contain between 17 and 75 percent lead, in order to create the unique, soft sound of the instrument.

Different interpretations
British conservative MEPs fear the wording of the directive could mean that organ pipes are covered by the directive even though the pipes themselves are not electrical - only the engine that blows the air into them to give them sound.

"Anyone applying common sense should see that the directive should apply to the electronic motor powering the organ, and not the organ pipes," MEP Caroline Jackson told EUobserver.

"This is an absolutely unnecessary battle [with the commission]," she added, saying that as a musician herself she fears that the sound of organ music will change if the pipes are to be covered by the directives.

According to the organ builders association in England, their unique handicraft is seriously endangered, while Swedish organbuilders told EUobserver they were "surprised" by the question itself, saying it should be obvious the directives do not cover the pipes but only the air engine.

An environment ministry official in Stockholm said however that the directive should, as far as she interpreted it, cover the pipes too if they are electrically-operated.

Responding to the criticism, the commission said that new organs cannot contain more than 0.1 percent of lead if they use electric power, but that organ-manufacturers who want to continue to use lead in their pipes can apply for an exemption.