| Willem Van Galen said:
This program puts two of BachÆs works alongside several representative compositions by a number of his Baroque colleagues. Especially Buxtehude and Bohm are known to have influenced Bach, while any connection between Bach on the one hand and Boyce and Stanley on the other may at best be an indirect one that merely runs through their common interest in Italian music of the day.
Apart from providing an enjoyable and instructive ôsliceö of Baroque music, this may very well be the first CD to present the Westerkerk organ after its 1989-1992 recreation. Even though about 80% of its pipes were made new on this occasion, its sound strikes me as reminiscent of the best that seventeenth and eighteenth century Dutch organ builders had to offer (the new evokes the old), an impression that is helped in no small part by the generous acoustic of the more than three centuries old church itself (the old enhances the new). As usual, the Intersound recording captures the ambiance vividly.
Jos van der Kooy has been, and at the time of writing still is, cantor/organist of the Westerkerk since 1981. His playing is neither ôover the topö nor understated, but strikes me as an expression of close identification with, and sincere respect for, the rich tradition entrusted to him.
(Includes notes in Dutch and English)
Available from:
- Jos van der Kooy, Hoorn, The Netherlands (www.josvanderkooy.com).
- Kuijper Klassiek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (www.kuijperklassiek.nl).
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