Het ORGEL | Europe’s oldest magazine on organ art

Welcome

Welcome to the Internet pages of Europe’s oldest magazine on Organ Art: Het ORGEL [i.e. the ORGAN]. Het ORGEL is a magazine of Dutch origin. This Internet site contains English summaries of articles published in Het ORGEL. Every second month we will add the newest summaries. The site also contains a survey of which festival is happening where in Europe, and an extensive collection of links to other interesting organ sites throughout the world.

In the latest issue

7/3/2020

Frans Jespers opens the 2nd issue of vol. 116 with part 2 of his article on the organ makers Brammertz and Gilman in the Netherlands. He discusses their technical approach and a number of their organs that are partly or completely preserved. An analysis of their list of registrations gives an impression of the practice of the time.
Auke H. Vlagsma brings the beautiful case of the organ in Église Notre-Dame-des-Marais in La Ferté-Bernard, Sarthe (Pays de la Loire), to our attention.
The Groningen Orgelzomer 2019 was a striking success. Hans Beek had an interview with Betty Knigge, project leader of the event, about the factors that led to its success.
The organ in St.-Katharinen in Hamburg, which was destroyed in WW2, still speaks to the imagination, and not least to that of researchers. Organ scholar Ibo Ortgies illuminates the work that organ builder Gottfried Frietzsch (1578-1638) carried out on the instrument. His article treats the number of manuals, their compass, and the split keys.
For the second article in de series of portraits of voicers Frans Brouwer visited the workshop of Gebr. Van Vulpen to put Adriaan van Rossem in the spotlight. The “Van Vulpen sound” of the past 30 years bears his signature.
Geerten van de Wetering provides an extended review of an important study by Roman Summereder entitled ‘Heiller, Hindemith und Andere – Eine Studie zur Aufführungspraxis im 20. Jahrhundert’ {Heiller, Hindemith and others – a study of performance practice in the 20th century}, published in vol. 4 of ‘Wiener Beiträge zu Orgel und Kirchenmusik’. Victor Timmer reviews three recent editions: ‘65 Jahre Orgelbau Ahrend 1954–2019’ by Marcus Zimmerman, ‘Johann Lorentz Christian 4.s orgelbygger’ {Johann Lorentz, Christian the 4th’s organ builder} by Henrik Fibiger Nørfelt, and ‘Die Arp-Schnitger-Orgel in der Ludgerikirche zu Norden (Ostfriesland)’ by Reinhard Ruge.

The contribution of Frits Zwart in his rubric ‘De Achterplaat’ {the back page} is called ‘Nieuws uit Elberfeld: Jan Albert van Eyken’ {News from Elberfeld: Jan Albert van Eyken}.

New articles

Listening to the nature of sound. A portrait of Adriaan van Rossem

For the second article in the series of portraits of voicers, Frans Brouwer visited the workshop of Gebr. Van Vulpen to shine a spotlight on Adriaan van Rossem. The Van Vulpen sound of the past 30 years bears his signature. In addition to a glance at his apprenticeship and his work as the only voicer in the firm, this portrait also offers a view of Adriaan’s musical education and his view of...

Gottfried Frietzsch and the large organ in Hamburg’s St.-Katharinen. The number of manuals, their compass, and their subsemitones

In 1629 Gottfried Frietzsch (1578-1638), court organ builder in Saxony, began in Hamburg on the last important phase of his life’s work: he had built there his first organ in the monastery church of St.-Maria-Magdalena, providing the instrument with subsemitones. Subsemitones are additional sharp keys by which the usual number of 12 tones per octave is increased. They enlarge the number of...

The success of the festival formula. A conversation with Betty Knigge, project leader of Groningen Orgelzomer 2019

On 21 November, 2019, there was a ‘ladies[’] night’ in the Martinikerk in Groningen. This event was the last in the Groningen Orgelzomer 2019, a music event that took place during the summer of 2019 in Groningen, both in the city and in the province. It was a great success, giving sufficient cause for a retrospective, looking at the factors that contributed to that success. The author spoke...

The work of the organ makers Brammertz and Gilman in the Netherlands and how their instruments were used. Part2 : technique & style, extant instruments, use of the organs

The organ makers Brammertz and Gilman, based in Kornelimünster, were very active between 1700 and 1790. In part 1 their work in present-day Netherlands was extensively described. In part 2 their technical manner of working is described, followed by a description of their synthesis of the Rheinland and Liège organ styles. Six of their extant instruments in the Netherlands are described. ...

The voicer (1): A portrait of Olav Oussoren

‘We seldom read interviews with or portraits of voicers. I don’t know why. When studying the past, data from voicers is often important for understanding tone color and style, but it is often difficult to find because the voicers worked in the shadow of others.’ Frans Brouwer wrote this last August to the editor; he wanted to make a portrait of Olav Oussoren. His suggestion brought the editor to...

The work of the organ makers Brammertz and Gilman in The Netherlands, and how their instruments were used (1)

In the 18th century the German organ makers Brammertz and Gilman were active in various places in what is now The Netherlands, even as far as Alkmaar. Some of their instruments are extant, including a few in what is now Belgium. They have a striking mixed Rheinland-Liège style. Recent research provides new information on the activities and significance of these masters from Kornelimünster. In...

Royal Dutch Association of Organists and churchmusicians

The publisher of Het ORGEL

The paper edition as well as the Internet edition of Het ORGEL are published by the Koninklijke Vereniging van Organisten en Kerkmusici (Dutch abbreviation: ‘KVOK’). This Association was founded on 16 January 1890, and in 1937 became the publisher of Het ORGEL; the first issue of Het ORGEL was published in 1886.

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