Hans van Nieuwkoop taught me to play the church organ many decades ago, in the early 1970s. By then I was a beginner, with a similar enthusiasm for the budding early music movement, and I was enthralled by the way Hans instructed me, on the Hagerbeer organ in Leyden's St Peter's church, by what means to obtain certain effects the way these pieces must have sounded when performed for the first time. It is very touching to find this CD, of which I have owned a copy for a long time, now placed on TH-cam, for all the world to hear it if only one wishes to. I am moved in partlcular by van Nieuwkoop's rendition of Sweelinck's Echo Fantasy, as it reminds me so vividly of when and how he taught me to play that wonderful piece in about the manner one hears Hans perform it here. Thank you, Joannes Couchet! And above all, thank you, Hans!
Thank you! He is a remarkable organist indeed. The Leiden Pieterskerk organ is one of my favorite organs in this world, but I assume that you played on it before the 90's restoration?
@@joannescouchet7038 That's right; the instrument was not in great state in the 1970s and 1980s, as by then the parish had left the church, and therewith the organ, essentially to its own devices. I did attend the festive occasion when the Verschueren firm had so excellently (and in so nicely purist a manner) completed the restoration, and there I had a chance to see Hans back and fondly renew our conversation. Before the restoration I used to have a nightmare every next year or so in which the Hagerbeer organ figured prominently; after the restoration, never again. By the way, I always remained an amateur organist, a bit more gifted than I expected at the outset, but still an amateur with no pretensions at all but an urge to master the greatest (and largest) of all musical instruments.
The piece of Dr. John Bull was giving me a vision of nobles and rich people entering to a church in a snowy Christmas Day, one of the years before Rampjaar. All in fine cloths, with their slides embellished with golden bear heads and the family`s insignia. Inside the Church is a lot of light and decorations.
The Organ of Oosthuizen: An Assemblage of Materials from the Utrecht School? The organ of Oosthuizen is regarded os one of the most important instruments in the Netherlands. Many organologists fix the date at 1521, a truly respectable age of nearly 500 years. The year 1521 was once found on o piece of parchment inside the organ. G. H. Broekhuyzen in his list of organ specifications mentions the even earlier date of 1414 apparently 'stumbled upon' at one time inside the organ. The builder is not known, although M. A. Vente in his "Brabanter Orgel" suggests that the instrument is the work of Jan van Covelen. Ever since numerous books about Dutch organ history hove stated that Jan van Covelen built an organ for Oosthuizen church in 1521. Up until now this information has been token for granted, albeit with some difference in opinion over the exact date. It was never doubted that the organ was built expressly for this church. It was in fact difficult to ascertain, since the church's archives remained only partly preserved. Nevertheless there is reason to question the authenticity of the organ, or rather the presence of a pre-Reformation instrument in the church at Oosthuizen. The question is whether on organ from the period of Catholicism would hove survived the alteration to Protestantism. While town organs were maintained by the municipal authorities, organs in the provinces had less chance of survival. There are no indications that Reformed churches in the Dutch provinces maintained instruments from the Catholic period. It is therefore unlikely that an organ in Oosthuizen, dating from the construction of the church, should have become an exception to this practice, surviving intact for many centuries. A pipework survey carried out by Jan van Biezen and Koos van de Linde has shown that a large proportion of the pipework is indeed very old, but that not a single pipe is the work of Jan van Covelen. Is it not more likely that the organ arrived in Oosthuizen as a used instrument at a much later time? The results of Van Biezen and Van de Linde' s work seem to support this hypothesis. The survey also concluded that the pipework is of heterogeneous character. A large number of Preston! 8' pipes are very old, possibly even fifteenth-century. They have a characteristic high-lipped form. The Octaaf 4' is older still, perhaps dating from the first half of the fifteenth-century. Due to the lack of pipe inscriptions, identification is problematic, but according to Van Biezen and Van de Linde the pipework shows characteristics of the work of the Utrecht School before Cornelisz Gerritsz, that is to say Peter Gerritsz or Gerrit Petersz, or partly earlier still. The Bourdon 16' is actually a reconstructed Holpijp 8' which, like the Woudfluit 2', dates from the sixteenth-century. One of the most interesting discoveries was that the present front pipes were not designed for this front but were once part of a 16' front. It is also noteworthy that a number of pipes of the Octaaf 4' are coated with tin foil, for these must at one time have served as front pipes. The original compass must have been very archaic: F G A - f". The extension f#" g" a" is from a later date. The pipework survey led to the conclusion that the Oosthuizen organ is a typical 'assemblage-organ' made up of different pipe material from early Utrecht builders. Anything more than just a casual glance at the Oosthuizen organ in its present state brings several important aspects to one's attention. There are, for instance, a number of remarkable features in the case construction. An almost random impression is given by the distribution of the embossed front pipes, where sometimes three such pipes stand next to each other. Although the carved ornamentation gives an impression of authenticity, the strength of its cohesion with the design of the case is not consistent. It is also interesting to note the unconnected pipes of the upper flats. These former speaking pipes have been shortened so that they could be used in their present optical role. There are also doubts as to the authenticity of the pinnacles. In contrast to the rest of the casework, not only are they grossly out of proportion, but are also made out of pine. A glance at the interior of the lower case brings some fascinating discoveries to light. In the present rollerboard there are some much older grooves. These reveal an earlier compass of 41 notes, probably corresponding with that of B C D E F - f". It is known that the early Utrecht builders employed this ancient compass for the Principaalwerk. One can also find, to the left of the keyboard, that there are holes for a further four stopknobs. These observations suggest that the lower case was originally designed as part of a much larger instrument. In the aforementioned collection of organ specifications Broekhuyzen states that the organ, "deemed unworthy even after many repairs", was put back in working order by Amsterdam organ builder A. F. Sommer. Should we not seriously consider the possibility that Sommer, who had previously relocated organs and made then playable again, is the man behind the assembling of the Oosthuizen organ? Could he not have bought reusable material from a discarded organ with the intention of using it to construct a new instrument? As we have seen, that organ must have been based on 16' pitch. The crucial question is whether somewhere in the area, in the years preceeding 1829, an organ was dismantled which displayed the following characteristics: 1 ) it must have had a 16' based chorus; 2) the construction of the chorus pipes must have shown characteristics of the work of the Utrecht School before Cornelisz Gerritsz; 3) the original compass of the Principaalwerk must have been BCD E F - f"; 4) it must have included a Holpijp 8' and a two-foot flute. Taking into account the above, there can be no doubt that we are dealing with a town organ from the provinces of Holland or Utrecht. But which organ could this have been? There are strong indications that the Oosthuizen instrument is a reworking of the old organ in St-Laurens' Church, Weesp. Usable parts from this three-manual instrument were reassembled into a single-manual, quasi-gothic organ. The Weesp organ was dismantled in 1822 to make place for a new instrument by Jonathon Bätz. The original instrument, for which a dote is unknown, was described by Joachim Hess in 1744. He praised the organ's tonal qualities, but was less positive about its compass which he described as "of the most ancient design". Evidently Hess had encountered the archaic compass mentioned above. The presence of a Touzijn 8' in the Bovenwerk con be considered choraclerisic of the Utrecht School. It con be assumed that the organ was originally the work of Petersz Gerrilsz or Gerri! Petersz. I do not even exclude the possibility that slops were incorporated from the organ which stood in the former Romanesque church. The presence of foil-covered pipes in the Oosthuizen organ indicates that this may hove been the case. Could the dote 1414 mentioned by Broekhuyzen contain some truth after all? Certainly the main case seems to be of fifteenth-century origin. I assume the following happened between the years 1822 and 1829. When the old organ at Weesp was dismantled usable material was bought up by the church at Oosthuizen, either directly, or with the help of an organ builder, perhaps Sommer. A note in the church archives at Weesp states that parts from the old organ raised 301.45 guilders. This material was provisionally assembled in Oosthuizen. Probably the old Bovenwerk wind chest with compass F G A -f'' was used. Pipes of the slops still present today were placed on this chest. When in 1829 a substantial amount of money was available Sommer was able lo modify the organ. He constructed a new wind chest with compass F GA-g" a" and provided space for seven slops. It is unusual that the extension f#" g'' a'' was not consistent with sixteenth-century practice. Above the existing lower case a new upper case was constructed making use of existing materials, and in addition, all kinds of visual embellishments were added. For instance, a new balustrade was built. [Taking into account stylistic features I question the accuracy of the usually quoted date 1871.] Probably the organ doors and pinnacles were also added at this lime. The specification was and still is: Bourdon 16' Prestont 8' Octaof 4' (from a' doubled) Quint 3' Woudfluit 2' (Broekhuyzen mentions Octaaf 2') Sexquialtera II (treble) Mixtuur 11-111 Tremulant The compass is F GA -g" a". Stops are brought info action by pushing in the stopknobs instead of pulling them out. The original wind supply consisting of three diagonal bellows has disappeared. The organ is now supplied by a single reservoir lo the side of the case. The wind pressure is 87 mm, and the pitch just more than a semitone above al = 440 Hz. The temperament is mean-lone. The sound of the organ is especially intensive as a result of high wind pressure, wide flues and high cut ups.
Programme notes The music played on this CO was chosen to demonstrate the personality and versatility of the Oosthuizen organ. The diversity of pipework makes ii possible lo render a breadth of organ works from the fifteenth lo the seventeenth-century. Furthermore, I have chosen a programme which draws music from different countries and style-periods. One of the earliest collections of organ music is the southern German Buxheimer Orgelbuch dating from about 1470. From this collection come three transcriptions of chansons from Burgundy. This is fascinating music with extraordinary rhythmic vitality. The Oosthuizen organ, which contains some fifteenth-century pipework, is an almost ideal vehicle for these pieces. Hans Buchner was organist of Konstanz Minster. He studied with Paul Hofhaimer. Buchner composed many works for liturgical use, but also wrote music of a more secular nature. The intabulations (instrumental arrangements of vocal compositions) recorded here are good examples of this work. For these intabulotions organists used the most popular chansons of their days. Moving from South Germany to Italy. Andrea Gabrieli was for many years organist at St Mark's, Venice, one of the most important musical centres of Europe. Gabrieli demonstrates his skill in writing counterpoint in this Ricercare del primo tono. The ricercare, because of its serious character, was ployed on the foundation stops of the organ. The canzona, on the other hand, employed a lighter style of ploying, and with it a lighter registration. This can be heard in Canzon XXI by Fiorenza Maschera, who was a pupil of Claudio Merulo and organist in Cremona. A remarkable feature of this fine canzono is the triple time section at the beginning of the piece. From Spain, music by Antonio de Cabezon and Francisco Peraza. Differencias sabre la Gallardo Milanes a appears in Cabezon's most important work "Obras de Musico". This collection includes, amongst other items, nine works in variation form. Francisco Peraza was an important innovator in the field of the organ. Media Registro is the earliest example of a composition which makes use of divided stops. Turning now to the Netherlands, there ore three pieces by Jan Pietersz Sweelinck. His Echo Fantasia in A Minor has three sections - ricercore, echo section and toccata -ployed without a break. Here Sweelinck employs the technique of echoes displaced at the octave and without change in dynamic. During the eighteenth-century the melody of the English balad Fortune my Foe was very popular in the Dutch Republic. In one of the copies of Sweelinck's variations on this melody the title "Von der Fortuna werd ich getrieben" is used. Sweelinck's Ricercare forms the centre of gravity of this CD. This is one of his longest and most interesting compositions, and attests to a superior mastery of architectural design. The following section is concerned with typically Dutch practice of Psalm playing. A trio of Psalms forms the basis for this combination of arrangements and settings. The transcriptions were made by Henderick Spuey, Samuel Mareschal and Sweelinck. The settings ore drawn from the Suzanne van Soldt manuscript of 1599. These were certainly not meant as Psalm accompaniments, since the accompanying of congregational singing at this time was strictly forbidden. The Englishman John Bull spent the final years of his life in the Netherlands. From 1617 until his death in 1628 he was organist of Antwerp Cathedral. In this period he was inspired to write a number of variation works based on Dutch folksongs. Around the turn of the sixteenth-century the allemande was the most popular dance in England. The "Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" contains some twenty-three olomons, including these by William Byrd. The CD ends with an allemande consisting of seven variations on the theme Also geht's, also steht's from Samuel Scheidt's 'Tabulotura Nova". Hans van Nieuwkoop (1948) studied organ with Albert de Klerk at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. In 197 4 he received the Prix d'Excellence and in 1976 the jubilee prize from the "Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Toonkunst". He received the first prize during the Internationale Orgel dagen Rijnstreek at Nijmegen in 197 6. Hans van Nieuwkoop also studied musicology at the University of Utrecht. He published several articles on varying sub jects and wrote his thesis about "Haar lemse Orgelkunst van 1400 tot heden". He also acts as an advisory person in regard to organ restoration and and building of new organs. Hans van Nieuwkoop teaches organ at the Sweelillck Conservatory at Amsterdam. He is organist of the St. Laurens' Church at Alkmaar.
It is indeed a mighty fine organ to have survived for five centuries! (Although it is really a patchwork of discarded old pipework and casing thrown together a la Frankenstein)
@@VVeltanschauung187 Wait til you listen to the oldest piano still in existence which dates from the early 1700s. You won't be disappointed by its incredibly unique sound!
Hans van Nieuwkoop taught me to play the church organ many decades ago, in the early 1970s. By then I was a beginner, with a similar enthusiasm for the budding early music movement, and I was enthralled by the way Hans instructed me, on the Hagerbeer organ in Leyden's St Peter's church, by what means to obtain certain effects the way these pieces must have sounded when performed for the first time. It is very touching to find this CD, of which I have owned a copy for a long time, now placed on TH-cam, for all the world to hear it if only one wishes to. I am moved in partlcular by van Nieuwkoop's rendition of Sweelinck's Echo Fantasy, as it reminds me so vividly of when and how he taught me to play that wonderful piece in about the manner one hears Hans perform it here. Thank you, Joannes Couchet! And above all, thank you, Hans!
Thank you! He is a remarkable organist indeed. The Leiden Pieterskerk organ is one of my favorite organs in this world, but I assume that you played on it before the 90's restoration?
@@joannescouchet7038 That's right; the instrument was not in great state in the 1970s and 1980s, as by then the parish had left the church, and therewith the organ, essentially to its own devices. I did attend the festive occasion when the Verschueren firm had so excellently (and in so nicely purist a manner) completed the restoration, and there I had a chance to see Hans back and fondly renew our conversation. Before the restoration I used to have a nightmare every next year or so in which the Hagerbeer organ figured prominently; after the restoration, never again. By the way, I always remained an amateur organist, a bit more gifted than I expected at the outset, but still an amateur with no pretensions at all but an urge to master the greatest (and largest) of all musical instruments.
Thank you Hans, still remember you as a young man, goin on a tour with pupils amongst
antique organs around Friesland and Groningen!
The piece of Dr. John Bull was giving me a vision of nobles and rich people entering to a church in a snowy Christmas Day, one of the years before Rampjaar. All in fine cloths, with their slides embellished with golden bear heads and the family`s insignia. Inside the Church is a lot of light and decorations.
37:13 Ricercare Nono Tono- Jan Peterszoon Sweelinck
The Organ of Oosthuizen:
An Assemblage of
Materials from the
Utrecht School?
The organ of Oosthuizen is regarded os one of
the most important instruments in the Netherlands. Many organologists fix the date at 1521, a truly respectable age of nearly 500 years. The year 1521 was once found on o piece of parchment inside the organ. G. H. Broekhuyzen in his list of organ specifications mentions the even earlier date of 1414 apparently 'stumbled upon' at one time inside the organ.
The builder is not known, although M. A. Vente in his "Brabanter Orgel" suggests that the instrument is the work of Jan van Covelen. Ever since numerous books about Dutch organ history hove stated that Jan van Covelen built an organ for Oosthuizen church in 1521.
Up until now this information has been token for granted, albeit with some difference in opinion over the exact date. It was never doubted that the organ was built expressly for this church. It was in fact difficult to ascertain, since the church's archives remained only partly preserved. Nevertheless there is reason to question the authenticity of the organ, or rather the presence of a pre-Reformation instrument in the church at Oosthuizen.
The question is whether on organ from the period of Catholicism would hove survived the alteration to Protestantism. While town organs were maintained by the municipal authorities, organs in the provinces had less chance of survival. There are no indications that Reformed churches in the Dutch provinces maintained instruments from the Catholic period. It is therefore unlikely that an organ in Oosthuizen, dating from the construction of the church, should have become an exception to this practice, surviving intact for many centuries.
A pipework survey carried out by Jan van Biezen and Koos van de Linde has shown that a large proportion of the pipework is indeed very old, but that not a single pipe is the work of Jan van Covelen.
Is it not more likely that the organ arrived in Oosthuizen as a used instrument at a much later time? The results of Van Biezen and Van de Linde' s work seem to support this hypothesis. The survey also concluded that the pipework is of heterogeneous character.
A large number of Preston! 8' pipes are very old, possibly even fifteenth-century. They have a characteristic high-lipped form. The Octaaf 4' is older still, perhaps dating from the first half of the fifteenth-century. Due to the lack of pipe inscriptions, identification is problematic, but according to Van Biezen and Van de Linde the pipework shows characteristics of the work of the Utrecht School before Cornelisz Gerritsz, that is to say Peter Gerritsz or Gerrit Petersz, or partly earlier still. The Bourdon 16' is actually a reconstructed Holpijp 8' which, like the Woudfluit 2', dates from the sixteenth-century. One of the most interesting discoveries was that the present front pipes were not designed for this front but were once part of a 16' front.
It is also noteworthy that a number of pipes of the Octaaf 4' are coated with tin foil, for these must at one time have served as front pipes. The original compass must have been very archaic: F G A - f". The extension f#" g" a" is from a later date. The pipework survey led to the conclusion that the Oosthuizen organ is a typical 'assemblage-organ' made up of different pipe material from early Utrecht builders.
Anything more than just a casual glance at the Oosthuizen organ in its present state brings several important aspects to one's attention. There are, for instance, a number of remarkable features in the case construction. An almost random impression is given by the distribution of the embossed front pipes, where sometimes three such pipes stand next to each other. Although the carved ornamentation gives an impression of authenticity, the strength of its cohesion with the design of the case is not consistent. It is also interesting to note the unconnected pipes of the upper flats.
These former speaking pipes have been shortened so that they could be used in their present optical role. There are also doubts as to the authenticity of the pinnacles. In contrast to the rest of the casework, not only are they grossly out of proportion, but are also made out of pine.
A glance at the interior of the lower case brings some fascinating discoveries to light.
In the present rollerboard there are some much older grooves. These reveal an earlier compass of 41 notes, probably corresponding with that of B C D E F - f". It is known that the early Utrecht builders employed this ancient compass for the Principaalwerk. One can also find, to the left of the keyboard, that there are holes for a further four stopknobs. These observations suggest that the lower case was originally designed as part of a much larger instrument.
In the aforementioned collection of organ specifications Broekhuyzen states that the organ, "deemed unworthy even after many repairs", was put back in working order by Amsterdam organ builder A. F. Sommer. Should we not seriously consider the possibility that Sommer, who had previously relocated organs and made then playable again, is the man behind the assembling of the Oosthuizen organ? Could he not have bought reusable material from a discarded organ with the intention of using it to construct a new instrument? As we have seen, that organ must have been based on 16' pitch.
The crucial question is whether somewhere in the area, in the years preceeding 1829, an organ was dismantled which displayed the following characteristics:
1 ) it must have had a 16' based chorus;
2) the construction of the chorus pipes must have shown characteristics of the work of the Utrecht School before Cornelisz Gerritsz;
3) the original compass of the Principaalwerk must have been BCD E F - f";
4) it must have included a Holpijp 8' and a two-foot flute.
Taking into account the above, there can be no doubt that we are dealing with a town organ from the provinces of Holland or Utrecht.
But which organ could this have been?
There are strong indications that the Oosthuizen instrument is a reworking of the old organ in St-Laurens' Church, Weesp. Usable parts from this three-manual instrument were reassembled into a single-manual, quasi-gothic organ.
The Weesp organ was dismantled in 1822 to make place for a new instrument by Jonathon Bätz. The original instrument, for which a dote is unknown, was described by Joachim Hess in 1744. He praised the organ's tonal qualities, but was less positive about its compass which he described as "of the most ancient design".
Evidently Hess had encountered the archaic compass mentioned above. The presence of a Touzijn 8' in the Bovenwerk con be considered choraclerisic of the Utrecht School.
It con be assumed that the organ was originally the work of Petersz Gerrilsz or Gerri! Petersz. I do not even exclude the possibility that slops were incorporated from the organ which stood in the former Romanesque church.
The presence of foil-covered pipes in the Oosthuizen organ indicates that this may hove been the case. Could the dote 1414 mentioned by Broekhuyzen contain some truth after all? Certainly the main case seems to be of fifteenth-century origin.
I assume the following happened between the years 1822 and 1829. When the old organ at Weesp was dismantled usable material was
bought up by the church at Oosthuizen, either directly, or with the help of an organ builder, perhaps Sommer. A note in the church archives at Weesp states that parts from the old organ raised 301.45 guilders. This material was provisionally assembled in Oosthuizen.
Probably the old Bovenwerk wind chest with compass F G A -f'' was used. Pipes of the slops still present today were placed on this chest. When in 1829 a substantial amount of money was available Sommer was able lo modify the organ. He constructed a new wind chest with
compass F GA-g" a" and provided space for seven slops. It is unusual that the extension f#" g'' a'' was not consistent with sixteenth-century practice. Above the existing lower case a new upper case was constructed making use of existing materials, and in addition, all kinds of visual embellishments were added. For instance, a new balustrade was built.
[Taking into account stylistic features I question the accuracy of the usually quoted date 1871.]
Probably the organ doors and pinnacles were also added at this lime.
The specification was and still is:
Bourdon 16'
Prestont 8'
Octaof 4' (from a' doubled)
Quint 3'
Woudfluit 2' (Broekhuyzen mentions Octaaf 2')
Sexquialtera II (treble)
Mixtuur 11-111
Tremulant
The compass is F GA -g" a".
Stops are brought info action by pushing in the stopknobs instead of pulling them out. The original wind supply consisting of three diagonal bellows has disappeared. The organ is now supplied by a single reservoir lo the side of the case. The wind pressure is 87 mm, and the pitch just more than a semitone above al = 440 Hz. The temperament is mean-lone. The sound of the organ is especially intensive as a result of high wind pressure, wide flues and high cut ups.
Programme notes
The music played on this CO was chosen to demonstrate the personality and versatility of the Oosthuizen organ. The diversity of pipework makes ii possible lo render a breadth of organ works from the fifteenth lo the seventeenth-century. Furthermore, I have chosen a programme which draws music from different countries and style-periods.
One of the earliest collections of organ music is the southern German Buxheimer Orgelbuch dating from about 1470. From this collection come three transcriptions of chansons from Burgundy. This is fascinating music with extraordinary rhythmic vitality. The Oosthuizen organ, which contains some fifteenth-century pipework, is an almost ideal vehicle for these pieces.
Hans Buchner was organist of Konstanz Minster. He studied with Paul Hofhaimer. Buchner composed many works for liturgical use, but also wrote music of a more secular nature. The intabulations (instrumental arrangements of vocal compositions) recorded here are good examples of this work. For these intabulotions organists used the most popular chansons of their days.
Moving from South Germany to Italy. Andrea Gabrieli was for many years organist at St Mark's, Venice, one of the most important musical centres of Europe. Gabrieli demonstrates his skill in writing counterpoint in this Ricercare del primo tono. The ricercare, because of its serious character, was ployed on the foundation stops of the organ. The canzona, on the other hand, employed a lighter style of ploying, and with it a lighter registration. This can be heard in Canzon XXI by Fiorenza Maschera, who was a pupil of Claudio Merulo and organist in Cremona. A remarkable feature of this fine canzono is the triple time section at the beginning of the piece.
From Spain, music by Antonio de Cabezon and Francisco Peraza. Differencias sabre la Gallardo Milanes a appears in Cabezon's most important work "Obras de Musico". This collection includes, amongst other items, nine works in variation form. Francisco Peraza was an important innovator in the field of the organ. Media Registro is the earliest example of a composition which makes use of divided stops.
Turning now to the Netherlands, there ore three pieces by Jan Pietersz Sweelinck. His Echo Fantasia in A Minor has three sections - ricercore, echo section and toccata -ployed without a break. Here Sweelinck employs the technique of echoes displaced at the octave and without change in dynamic. During the eighteenth-century the melody of the English balad Fortune my Foe was very popular in the Dutch Republic. In one of the copies of Sweelinck's variations on this melody the title "Von der Fortuna werd ich getrieben" is used. Sweelinck's Ricercare forms the centre of gravity of this CD. This is one of his longest and most interesting compositions, and attests to a superior mastery of architectural design. The following section is concerned with typically Dutch practice of Psalm playing.
A trio of Psalms forms the basis for this combination of arrangements and settings. The transcriptions were made by Henderick Spuey, Samuel Mareschal and Sweelinck. The settings ore drawn from the Suzanne van Soldt manuscript of 1599. These were certainly not meant as Psalm accompaniments, since the accompanying of congregational singing at this time was strictly forbidden.
The Englishman John Bull spent the final years of his life in the Netherlands. From 1617 until his death in 1628 he was organist of Antwerp Cathedral. In this period he was inspired to write a number of variation works based on Dutch folksongs.
Around the turn of the sixteenth-century the allemande was the most popular dance in England. The "Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" contains some twenty-three olomons, including these by William Byrd.
The CD ends with an allemande consisting of seven variations on the theme Also geht's, also steht's from Samuel Scheidt's
'Tabulotura Nova".
Hans van Nieuwkoop (1948) studied organ with Albert de Klerk at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. In 197 4 he received the Prix d'Excellence and in 1976 the jubilee prize from the "Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Toonkunst". He received the first prize during the Internationale Orgel dagen Rijnstreek at Nijmegen in 197 6. Hans van Nieuwkoop also studied musicology at the University of Utrecht. He published several articles on varying sub jects and wrote his thesis about "Haar lemse Orgelkunst van 1400 tot heden". He also acts as an advisory person in regard to organ restoration and and building of new organs. Hans van Nieuwkoop teaches organ at the Sweelillck Conservatory at Amsterdam. He is organist of the St. Laurens' Church at Alkmaar.
It has the right sound. The best music I heard in 2019.
It is indeed a mighty fine organ to have survived for five centuries! (Although it is really a patchwork of discarded old pipework and casing thrown together a la Frankenstein)
Renaissance was the time with no piano yet.
The piano sucks
Yeah piano players should just quit they are stupid
@@VVeltanschauung187 Wait til you listen to the oldest piano still in existence which dates from the early 1700s. You won't be disappointed by its incredibly unique sound!
Psalms 130 (Samuel Mareschal), refering to verse 4a`. Psalms 130 (Susanne van Soldt), referning to verse 1b`.
Took me a minute to see the pickpocket.
Gotta be careful! :)
WARNING: PRACHTIGE OPNAMEN, MAAR HELAAS FREQUENT ONDERBROKEN MET COMMERCIALS