Organ music The panorama of 2008. (Lecture at the symposium Pro Organo Pleno – 13 June, 2008) by Hans Fidom
by Hans Fidom | Het ORGEL | Year 105 | (2009) | Issue 3Hans Fidom 
Organ music The panorama of 2008. (Lecture at the symposium Pro Organo Pleno – 13 June, 2008)
Het ORGEL 104 (2009), nr. 3, 12-19 [summary]
In 2008, the year in which Ewald Kooiman turned 70, the Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziegeschiedenis (Royal Association for Dutch Music History) held a meeting on the subject of authenticity. There appear to be changes taking place in opinions about authenticity within the world of the organ; changes which are connected with postmodern thinking in which anything can be mixed with anything. Authenticity appears to be becoming more and more an idea that refers no longer to the music itself, but to the manner in which we approach early music these days: not the individuality of the music but that of the musician is central. The formulation of intellectual criteria for music is becoming less important, while attention for what music does to the listener is increasing. Artistic aspects are becoming more important than those that can be rationalized. In this sense you could say that a change of viewpoint is taking place, in which one looks at the same thing from another perspective and thus sees different things. Seven examples are used to illustrate that in new organ music the listener is the point: the music exists not for the sake of the music but for the sake of the listener.
In early music a tendency can be observed in which the artistic authenticity of the performer is becoming more important, at the cost of intellectual questions about how the music ought to be performed. Nothing is so relative as the performing of somebody elses music, so its better to declare yourself the boss when you take your place on the organ bench, as Kooiman summarized in the words: Now its my turn!
Link to Body of your dreams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3rhjM4HFnM
Music Examples: