Het ORGEL | Europa’s oudste tijdschrift over orgelkunst

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…

8/6/2019

The new issue of het ORGEL contains the following articles:

Organ use in protestant church services between 1886 and 1938. Part 2
Jan Zwart – Willem Mudde. Musical-hermeneutic investigations (I)
L’Art total. On the death of Jean Guillou (1930-2019)
The disposition collection of Lucas Willem Boogert
‘Queen of the organ’. Jeanne Demessieux in memoriam. Part 2 (end)
In memoriam Gerrit Stulp (1935-2019)

New articles

‘Queen of the organ’ – Jeanne Demessieux remembered. Part 1

On 10 November, 2018, René Verwer gave a lecture in the St.-Nicolaas basilica in IJsselstein on the famous organist Jeanne Demessieux, who died 50 years ago. This lecture has been expanded into a 2-part article. In the first part he begins with a discussion of her life and her relation to Marcel Dupré. Then he discusses her relationship with The Netherlands. In 1949 she performed for the first...

Organ use in protestant church services between 1886 and 1938. Part 2

There is but little known about organ music in protestant church services in The Netherlands from 1886 to 1938. What has been published on the subject deals almost solely with chorale books published around 1900. But there are more aspects and problems that deserve attention. How did people think about religious organ playing at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries? What...

Jan Zwart – Willem Mudde. Musical-hermeneutic investigations (I)

Music is one of the means by which the church manifests itself. It is truly an important means, because it speaks without words in a living manner directly from the heart to the heart. Through music the church communicates its beliefs to a specific audience, whether members or non-members, and does it in different, sometimes very different ways. In evangelical circles affiliation is sought with...

L’Art total. On the death of Jean Guillou (1930-2019)

On Saturday 26 January, 2019, Jean Guillou died after a short illness at the age of 88. He was a writer, poet, composer, pianist, organist, organ consultant, teacher, connoisseur of art, and according to some an iconoclast. The relations between all these aspects are essential for an understanding of the total art of Jean Guillou. In this article the author discusses Guillou’s importance as...

The disposition collection of Lucas Willem Boogert

The author discovered the hitherto unknown collection of dispositions that Lucas Willem Boogert made between 1949 and 1959. He wrote an extensive article which can be downloaded from the website of Het Orgel www.hetorgel.nl/dispositieverzameling_boogert.pdf In number 3 of Het ORGEL there is a short introduction to this collection.

‘Queen of the organ’. Jeanne Demessieux in memoriam. Part 2 (end)

The 11th of November, 2018, was the 50th anniversary of the death of the French organist and composer Jeanne Demessieux. In the previous number her education, her contacts with her teacher Marcel Dupré, and her concert career were presented. She was welcome in The Netherlands and drew full churches. In the second part her activities in her church “Madeleine” and her compositions are discussed,...

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 later became the publisher of het ORGEL; the first issue of het ORGEL was published in 1886.

Do you want to support the work of het ORGEL?

You can support het ORGEL and the Royal Dutch Association of Organists and churchmusicians by becoming a member of the Association. Membership fee: EUR 70,- (Europe) and EUR 75,- (Outside Europe) a year in the Netherlands. Membership is for one year and will be automatically renewed if not terminated at least one month before the end of the calendar year.

Once you’re a member, you will receive the paper edition of het ORGEL 6 times a year and the organ newspaper de ORGELkrant 11 times a year. It is also possible to receive the publications without being a member of the society.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send an e-mail to the board of the Association