Jos van der Kooy

That's the name people at my church are going to dread when I return. He's my improvisation teacher, and I just had my first class (and played) today! I told him I had trouble improvising postludes, so he gave me a few techniques to inflict upon people at St. Michael's!

He told me to improvise in 7/8, and to remember the rhythm he had me call out "Amstel, Amstel, Heineken; Amstel, Amstel, Heineken!" He also had some brilliant thoughts on church music in general, which will definitely change how I go about my job.

Then Olivier Latry gave a lecture on a little-known composer named Florentz. It was very fascinating; in a nutshell he had an obsession with Ethiopia and wrote music which really exploits the unused tonal capabilities of the organ through mutations and clusters. As you can see, he's so little known that the only Wiki article about him is French. However, I believe (as does anyone who's heard his music) that he may have been the successor of Messiaen.

Blog? Who has time to blog?

I'm doing quite fine, but usually much too busy or tired to post. Here's a few of my experiences quickly summed up in no particular order, with pictures:

• I got a bike. I have lessons at the Cathedral sometimes, which is actually just as far from the Haarlem train station as it is from my house. Rather than walk 30 minutes, a bike is an 8 minute walk, and actually faster getting back to the house from Haarlem than train.
• Last night I heard a concert of the Amstel Saxophone Quartet playing with the organ at the Bavo kerk. They played 21st century music, including a premiere of a wonderful piece called "Lachrimae". I haven't enjoyed much of the new music I've heard here (and the Europeans REALLY love it), but this concert had some great music.
• On my bike, the first night coming home I got lost. I asked a Dutch person for directions and he actually said "Is easy. You go right, then left, then right, then left, then you will see the train station." Somehow I made it home.
• Today I had class on the Bavo organ! I didn't get to play it, but I did get to see it up close, which was quite exciting!
  

A model of the Cathedral


Myself practicing at the Cathedral organ!


A picture I made of the Bavo church organ, from the organ loft

Getting around...

As of today, I've met organists from the following countries:

England (3), Austria (2), Netherlands, Syria, Greece, Switzerland

I got to play!

I just played for a masterclass with Ben VanOosten on a Cavaille-Coll organ!

Had my first class today, with Olivier Latry! And tomorrow I have to play the Prelude from Durufle's Suite in class..

Guess whom I heard today...

....Gustav Leonhardt!! (I was hoping to have a picture up, but this is the best I could do) He played music by Ritter, Reincken, a couple wonderful pieces by Forqueray, d'Anglebert, Bach, and Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann. It was wonderful to hear one of the most important living musicians live, and it was a really moving concert.

I attended with a Dutch organist I met. I also met 3 British organists, 2 Russian ones, and my Swiss roommate (who studies in the UK). And tomorrow at 8:30 is my first class, but I have a looooong walk to the Cathedral Basilica to play for Olivier Latry, the organist at Notre Dame in Paris!

A Fair Trade?

"Concert Saturday night... Bavo kerk... 9:15... 21.15... DON'T FORGET!"

I kept telling myself this, over and over. Then I check all the details in the guidebook, just to be sure. And I'm right on all of them. Repeat this several times a day for the past few days. Every time all the details match up. I have time to get dinner a little before 7, make it nice and leisurely, then get to the church in time to hear Mozart's Requiem.



So I'm patiently explaining to the register operator that American credit cards don't have smart chips in them, and that he has to use the magnetic stripe. This gets me nervous, so I check my cell phone - 8:20. 20.20. Still plenty of time. Also, better make absolutely sure that's right - it could be at 9! What does my program say? 20.15. As soon as I get it paid for, I run to the church and it's locked and they won't let anyone in late.

And I'm ok with that. Really. Why? Because I had Dutch pizza.

For those of you who don't know me well enough, pizza is my favorite food. I can eat it 3 meals a day, every day, and maybe tire of it a bit but still enjoy it. So after falling in love with Dutch food, I decide I have to see if they can improve upon pizza.

I went to a restaurant called Pasta di Mamma for dinner last night. I did what I usually do in a Dutch restaurant: walk in, and look around confusedly until someone tells me what to do. A woman working at the register started to explain things to me, rather poorly. It turns out this is a weird restaurant. As near as I figured out, it's like a cafeteria: you get a card with money on it, and use it to buy food and drinks. I wound up getting a pepperoni pizza, and it was delicious!! Cripsy, oily, cheesy, and they pour garlic oil on it at the end!



This was maybe the only thing that could make up for missing that concert, but it did the trick!

A word about images

Note that, although the images may seem small or pixelated, if you click on them, you'll get the full-sized image.

Tweede Haarlemse Orgeldag

Yesterday was the 2nd Haarlem Organ Day, with some 8 churches having organ concerts! Due to the scheduling, it would be impossible to visit all of them, but I did get to four! Let me sum them up for you:

Lutherse Kerk



I'm guessing this is the Lutheran church? The concert consisted of works by Mozart arranged for two hands, including the famous K608, Fantasy in f minor for an organ-clock. The organ was small, but had a nice sound.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Bavo



This was a truly impressive structure! The church was constructed in the 19th century as the new cathedral for the Roman Catholic diocese of Haarlem. The Bavokerk used to be the cathedral until, in the 16th century, it was forced by the city to reform. The structure is an example of Catholic triumphalism, even in the face of persecution, and clearly imitates the great cathedrals in Europe. And it is BIIIIIG!!



The concert was upon the church's main organ (I counted at least 3 independent organs), which was constructed in the early 20th century. I would describe its tone as similar to a modern Casavant or Austin organ that you might hear in America. It is also VERY loud, which seems to be a welcome feature of Dutch organs - I approve!



The concert started with Mozart's Fantasie und Fuge, with which I was unfamiliar but greatly enjoyed, then had some pieces inspired by Mozart such as the Variations on Mozart's famous "Ah, vous dirai-je..." by Christian Rinck (1770-1846) and an arrangement of the Kyrie fugue from Mozart's Requiem by Adolph Hesse (1809-1863). The final work was a stunning and little-known toccata by Hendrik Andriessen, written when he was 25 in 1917. I will have to write to the organist at the cathedral (who played the concert) and ask where I can buy sheet music to that piece!


Two views of the massive dome at the Cathedral

Josephkerk



The cathedral is all the way across town, so I had to walk back to the Josephkerk, and wound up a little late for the recital. The church's organ was entirely removed for restoration, and the concert was played on a small positiv organ. It was a recital of late baroque keyboard works.



Waalse kerk



The last concert I went to yesterday was at the Waalse kerk, next door to the Joseph kerk. What I didn't mention is that both churches are in the town's "red light district", so it was rather odd to walk from church to church with the "merchants" working around you! Amsterdam's de wallen (red light district) also sprung up around the Oude kerk - it makes one wonder why those pop up around churches! At any rate, I think this was a French Reformed church. Everything was in French, and the church itself was white-washed, with some pre-Reformation artwork visible under the white paint! This too had a smaller organ, but with a nice full sound. The organist improvised variations on some popular song, and everyone sang along loudly (in Dutch) at the last variation.. I'm wondering if it was their national anthem or something? The other works were baroque-era pieces, including Buxtehude.



Throughout the concerts, it was satisfying to see churches so packed with attendees. They were mostly elderly people, but they had a definite pride in their city's musical heritage and historic organs. Do we have that kind of pride in the United States? I'll address the issue of historic American organs later on in my travels, and how it applies to my church, so keep watching the blog!

Today I have to check in with the academy, and don't have much else to do besides explore and eat. Expect a few more blog posts, including: more on Dutch food, about the Requiem concert, and more...