2013 MEDIEVAL SONICS

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

O R G E L P A R K

S Y M P O S I U M

2 0 1 3

 

THE MEDIEVAL ORGAN AS A DOCUMENT

 

 

 

In 2012, the Orgelpark inaugurated its 'Van Straten Organ', named after Rudi van Straten, then consultant for sounding heritage at the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency. The organ is an interpretation of the original state of the oldest surviving Dutch organ, built by Peter Gerritsz in the Nicolaïkerk in Utrecht, in 1479. 

 

The organ has two Blokwerks: one completely without means to change its sound color (Hoofdwerk), one a bit more modern, on which the front pipes (making a less bright sound, hence called 'dooff', an old Dutch word for 'dull') can be separated from the pipes behind it (the 'Hintersatz' as the German called it). 

All research was done by Wim Diepenhorst, Van Straten's colleague at the Agency. The organ was built by Orgelmakerij Reil (Heerde, NL). 

 

The Orgelpark took the opportunity of the 2013 International Orgelpark Symposium to present the instrument to the global musicking community.

 

In 2014, the Orgelpark issued Orgelpark Research Report #4, dedicated to the Van Straten Organ and the questions it raises. It is available for free elsewhere on this website.

 

 

 

DAY 1 / THURSDAY 6 JUNE

 

Welcome

Hans Fidom: Welcome

Wim Diepenhorst: The medieval organ of the Orgelpark [Introduction & Music]

 

Concert 1 / The organs of the Orgelpark

Verschueren organ Petra Veenswijk

Sauer organ Stephan van de Wijgert

Van Leeuwen organ Peter Planyavsky

Van Straten organ Kimberly Marshall

 

 

DAY 2 / FRIDAY 7 JUNE

 

Keynote lecture

Kimberly Marshall: Is this still medieval? Contextualizing the new organ

 

Session 1 / Rethinking medieval musicking / Moderator: Hans Fidom

Bruce Ellis Benson: Responsibility and medieval musicking

Karl Kügle: Medieval music as a performative art

Rob Wegman: ‘Sine mente sonus’: The late medieval crisis in organ music

 

Session 2 / Manuscripts, tabulatures and musicking / Moderator: Karl Kügle

David Fallows: The Buxheim keyboard manuscript

Pedro Memelsdorff: The Faenza Codex

Manfred Novak: The Klagenfurt tabulature / On the brink of the Renaissance

Jane Flynn: The Mulliner Book/ Organ musicking in the early 16th Century

 

Session 3 / Evidence of medieval organs in images and texts / Moderator: Hans Fidom

Ulrike Hascher-Burger: Iconographical evidence of medieval organs

David Catalunya: Late 14th and early 15th c. Spanish references to the organ

David Rumsey: Original and reconstructed medieval organs: an overview

 

Concert 2 / Vocality and the blockwerk organ

Super Librum: Improvising ‘over the book’

Matthias Havinga: 5 times 4 minutes: New musics for the Van Straten organ 

 

 

DAY 3 / SATURDAY 8 JUNE

 

Session 4 / The Van Straten organ at the Orgelpark I / Moderator: Ulrike Hascher-Burger

Hugo Bakker: 15th century organ culture in Utrecht

Jaap-Jan Steensma: To blockwerk or not to blockwerk – That is the question

Hans Steketee: 15th century pipework in The Netherlands: an overview

Rogér van Dijk: The Van Straten organ of the Orgelpark: historical account

Wim Diepenhorst: The Van Straten organ of the Orgelpark: technical aspects

 

Session 5 / Medieval Music Market: positives, portatives and city organs 

Christoph Deslignes

David Rumsey

Walter Chinaglia

Jankees Braaksma

 

Session 6 / Introductions to the evening Concert / Moderator: Ulrike Hascher-Burger

Pieter Dirksen: Medieval organs and temperament

Christophe Deslignes: Medieval organs and wind pressure

 

Concert 3 / Medieval and younger music on medieval and younger organs

Pieter Dirksen

Peter Planyavsky

Christophe Deslignes & David Catalunya

Matthias Havinga