Alkmaar: The Organs of the Laurenskerk

A lavish DVD/CD boxed set to celebrate the most beautiful organ in the world

The Alkmaar DVD contains more than 3 hours of film. Its centrepiece is a one-hour documentary filled with gorgeous, abundant visual detail, detailing the 500 year organ history of the Laurenskerk in Alkmaar, a church that includes both an organ from 1511 by Jan van Covelens as well as the world-famous 1646 / 1723 van Hagerbeer / Frans Caspar Schnitger organ.

Throughout the film, the resident organists of the Laurenskerk, Pieter van Dijk and Frank van Wijk, provide in-depth commentary and also perform many suitable pieces of music from Sweelinck to Bach. They are joined by Paul Binski, Professor of Art History at Cambridge University, who explains the history and meaning of the spectacular case of the organ.

There is also footage and music from the Pieterskerk in Leiden and the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. These two organs, much more rarely heard than the famous Alkmaar ones but built by many of the same people, allow us to get a sense of what the Alkmaar organ was like in the 1600s, before Frans Caspar Schnitger rebuilt it in a North German style.

The DVD is crammed with extras including a 30-minute film about the history of the van Covelens organ. There is more than an hour of demonstrations of the Leiden, Amsterdam and Alkmaar west-end organs, all filled with musical examples – no detail is left unspared and the full gamut of stops from the 24’ principal at Leiden to the 16’ cornet at Amsterdam to the unprecedented chamber music reeds at Alkmaar are all heard.

A 15-minute film features Piet Kee, a famous former organist of the Laurenskerk, giving his thoughts on the Laurens-organ, plus an erudite explanation of his composition Merck toch hoe sterk, performed in full on camera by Frank van Wijk, who is a former student of his. A 3-minute film about the organ builders Flentrop, who restored the Alkmaar organs and generously sponsored the filming, shows their workshops in Zaandam, including the organ of the Katharinenkirche in Hamburg which was set up in their workshop when we filmed.

Last but not least on the DVD are half an hour of beautifully played filmed performances from all four organs by Pieter van Dijk, Frank van Wijk, Leo van Doeselaar and Bernard Winsemius.
The CD contains a further 78 minutes of music with a nice balance between big ‘must-have’ works and less familiar pieces; certainly, all the resources of all four organs are richly and fully explored. The colour booklet contains handsome photographs, full specifications and registrations as well as detailed notes about music and instruments.

Repertoire - DVD

Alkmaar – van Covelens organ: Pieter van Dijk and Frank van Wijk
Paul Hofhaimer 1459-1537 Tandernacken 3 hands

Leiden, Pieterskerk: Leo van Doeselaar
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck 1562-1621 “Ons is gheboren een kindekijn” (“Puer nobis nascitur”) (4 variations)
Pieter van Dalem ±1550-±1601 Canzon francese

Amsterdam, Nieuwe Kerk: Bernard Winsemius
Nicolaus Bruhns 1665-1697 Praeludium e minor

Alkmaar – van Hagerbeer / FC Schnitger organ: Pieter van Dijk and Frank van Wijk
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750 Passepied from 1st Orchestral Suite
Gerhardus Havingha 1696-1753 Ouverture octava

Repertoire - CD

Alkmaar – van Covelens organ: Pieter van Dijk and Frank van Wijk
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck 1562-1621 – Praeludium in F; Pavana Hispanica; Echo Fantasia

Leiden, Pieterskerk: Leo van Doeselaar
Cornelis Schuyt 1557-1616 Padovano et Gagliarda del sesto modo a 6
Anthoni van Noordt 1619-1675 Uit "Tabulatuurboeck van Psalmen en Fantasyen" - Psalm  24 Vers 1. a 4  (Pedaliter) Vers 2. a 4 Vers 3. a 4

Amsterdam, Nieuwe Kerk: Bernard Winsemius
Matthias Weckmann 1616-1674 – Magnificat

Alkmaar – van Hagerbeer / FC Schnitger organ: Pieter van Dijk and Frank van Wijk
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750 Prelude and Fugue in C major 547;Partita Sei gegrüsset Jesu gütig
Piet Kee 1927- Merck toch hoe sterk