In the most recent issue
by Jan Smelik | Het ORGEL | Year 119 | (2023) | Issue 4
The July issue opens with two articles on historical organ recordings. The Danish organist Lars Rosenlund Nørremark argues that one should take seriously the old recordings of Widor, Lemare, Reger, Gigout, Messiaen, et al. as a source for historically informed performance practice.
Jaap Brouwer had a conversation with Frits Kaan, who is employed as ICT specialist, on restoration of old organ recordings, which have been published since 1910. What are the problems he encounters and what possibilities are there to improve these old recordings?
Reitze Smits refers in passing to old organ recordings in his article ‘‘Con discrezione’ – Tempo as a means of expression’. There appears to be a strong tendency in our time to assume a rigorous strict tempo for all music. But is that correct? How was tempo viewed in the 18th and 19th centuries? Smits offers interesting insights derived from various sources.
Jos van der Kooy tells in his column about his first acquaintance with church organists and their work, and how he began playing church services in the 1960s in Amsterdam.
The painter Johannes Bosboom is sometimes called the 19th-century Pieter Saenredam; he painted many church interiors, often with organs. Frans Jespers made an inventory of Bosboom’s paintings with organs. He then investigated the degree to which the instruments were accurately depicted, and whether his paintings have value as historical documents.
In the column ‘Orgelpark’ Hans Fidom calls attention to the coming symposium that CIMCIM will hold from 29 August till 1 September, 2023, in Amsterdam. ‘CIMCIM’ is the international organization that museums have established with a view to their historical instrument and music collections.
In 2021 Orgelmakerij Reil comapleted the restoration of the Hinsz organ in Leens {province of Groningen}. Gerrit Hoving and Wietse Ouwejan looked at the history of this famous instrument, and they describe the restoration and give an impression of the renewed instrument.
The rubric Orgelbouwnieuws, by Gerrit Hoving, contains two announcements: about the Vierdag organ that was moved from the Reformed Church De Ark in Delfzijl to The Azoren in Portugal; and about the Meere organ in St.-Aloysius’s church in Utrecht, which was the subject of major maintenance by Verschueren Orgelbouw in 2022.
Albert Clement reviews the dissertation by Stephan Beck on Bach’s Chorale partita »Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn« BWV 1176 (BWV Anh. 77). Is Beck’s attribution to Johann Seb. Bach convincing?
The 4th article in the series ‘Antwerpse vormgevers van barokke orgelfronten’ {Antwerp designers of baroque organ façades} by Auke Vlagsma discusses Johannes Claudius de Cock, and in particular the question whether De Cock designed the cases of the organ in the Oud-Katholieke Kerk in Den Haag.
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