Chris Bragg BMus(Hons), UM (Amsterdam)
organist, translator, writer
There is a very zeitgeist-like feel to this release. Inspired by his experiences presiding over post-war organs, the young Dutch organist Gerben Mourik (winner of Haarlem and St Albans) sets out to re-examine and re-assess the first wave of organ reform in the Netherlands by performing music of the era (largely) and improvising on instruments (one each) by Marcussen, Flentrop, Van Leeuwen, Van Vulpen and Vierdag. The choice of instruments was largely guided by a desire to record the best examples of each builder and, in particular, to document the organs which have not received modern ‘corrections’ to their voicing. And it is here that the real raison d’etre of the CD is revealed. In a lengthy and very interesting essay in the (extensive) booklet, organologist Bart van Buitenen protests against the recent alterations to the Dutch organs of the 1950s and 60s.
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