The late Jacques van Oortmerssen’s four-day Bach Academy in Amsterdam last summer ran from July 6–9. It consisted of morning and afternoon classes on the beautiful 1734 Müller organ at the Waalse Kerk (the Walloon Church), where he had been organist since 1982. It followed the International Organ Academy in Alkmaar, which ran from June 29 to July 4. Oortmerssen had been hoping to expand his Bach Academy in future years to include orchestra concerts, lectures, and trips to museums. His concerns as a teacher and player invariably went beyond the score and into many areas of cultural and intellectual life. This loss, for students and lovers of organ music all over the world, is a great one.
His masterclasses were four days of continual inspiration and challenge. Teachers often evoke other instruments as models for organists but Oortmerssen was the most uncompromising teacher I have encountered, always with the end being greater depth of expression. As a pianist coming recently to the organ the continual question for me is: how can you translate the dynamics, timbres, and colors—in short, everything one can do at the piano or most other instruments—to the organ? Oortmerssen’s answer was unequivocal: you should try to do it all. A student played the Gigue Fugue brilliantly, but in this class it was merely brilliant, without nearly enough attention to how a violinist, for example, would shape the lines and give eloquence to the phrasing. He told the student not to be afraid—this was a ubiquitous piece of advice—to take time, to let expressive articulations come naturally from changes in hand position as early fingerings suggest, and to approach them with a relaxed hand and not try to finger your way out of them.
Oortmerssen continually invoked elements of musical symbolism and rhetoric, and showed how these might relate to tempo, character, articulation, and expression. But it is difficult to convey the spirit of his classes, his humor, tact, and ability to inspire a more meaningful performance from the student while also involving the whole class. You could assemble a dictionary of his wry aphorisms (“don’t challenge gravity;” “a good articulation you cannot hear;” “every move you make is one too much;” “relax in your body and soul—they are married”). These were four invaluable days that brought every aspect of music-making at the organ into focus.
Alkmaar Academy
At the Alkmaar Academy the principal faculty were Pieter van Dijk, organist at the Grote Kerk in Alkmaar, and Frank van Wijk, organist at the Ruïnekerk in Bergen. The academy ran concurrently with the Holland Organ Festival (www.orgelfestivalholland.nl) and the International Schnitger Organ Competition. The jury for the competition also appeared as guest performers, lecturers, and master class teachers; they were Albrecht Koch, Kimberly Marshall, Karin Nelson, Reitze Smits, and Krzstof Urbaniak.
Alkmaar is a beautiful city around 40 minutes by train from Amsterdam with lovely canals (of course) and medieval architecture, and a variety of historic organs. The Grote Kerk (The Great Church, also known as the St. Lawrence church) has two important instruments: the Jan van Covelens of 1511 and the Van Hagerbeer organ of 1645 that was rebuilt in 1723 by Schnitger (the son, Frans Caspar, not Arp the father). Pieter van Dijk and Frank van Wijk were tirelessly informative about the history, pipework, and registration possibilities of the two instruments (This information is available on a DVD/CD set they made in 2013, Alkmaar: The Organs of the Laurenskerk, released by Fugue State Films). Concerts and classes were also held at other churches, including two with Müller organs: the 1762 organ at the Kapelkerk and the 1755 organ (subsequently expanded and rebuilt) at the Lutheran church.
The daily schedule included morning and afternoon master classes, lunchtime lectures and concerts, as well as evening concerts by the faculty and the Schnitger Prize competitors and guests. The first prize winner was Adriaan Hoek from the Netherlands; second prize went to Megumi Hamaya from Japan; third prize went to Manuel Schuen from Austria. There was an excursion at the end of the week for concerts in the nearby towns of Schermerhorn and De Rijp. It was a treat to observe the faculty as performers, lecturers, and master class teachers. Two highlights for me were the lectures of Karin Nelson, who has made beautiful recordings of Scheidemann on Naxos, and Kimberly Marshall, who has recently been focusing on early organ repertory. Nelson pointed out that when examining a manuscript one needs to keep in mind its particular function, as there were different ones (and not necessarily the one we are used to, which is as a fixed text for performance). Was the manuscript intended for teaching (Lehrhandschrift), for use as a model for improvising (Gebrauchshandschrift), or a presentation edition (Sammlungshandschrift)? Kimberly Marshall in her lecture brought her consummate musicianship and scholarship to the earliest organ repetory and to questions of ornaments, temperament, and iconography.
