Blind from birth, John Vandertuin began studies in music at the Ontario School for the Blind in Brantford, Ontario. He continued studying with Jean Langlais in Paris and later with Piet Kee at Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium. Other organ teachers have included John McIntosh, Larry Cortner, and Robert Glasgow. Active as a composer and recitalist, he has won several competitions as well, including first prize in the Improvisation category of the National Healey Willan Organ Competition (1980) and second prize in the San Anselmo (California) Improvisation Competition (1987, 89). He was invited twice to compete in the International Improvisation Competition in Haarlem, the Netherlands, one of only two Canadians ever to receive this invitation.
Audio:
John Vandertuin – Entry in the 33rd Haarlem Improvisation Competition
Tag Archives: Haarlem
Bernard Bartelink
Website:
http://www.bernardbartelink.nl/
Bernard Bartelink (1929-2014) studied organ with Albert de Klerk at the Dutch Institute for Catholic Church Music in Utrecht. He continued his studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Anthon van der Horst, earning a Prix d’Excellence in 1954. Winner of the Haarlem Improvisation Competition in 1961, he also served on the jury for the competition four times between 1969 and 1996. He held the position of organist at St. Bavo from 1971 until 1999. He was professor of organ and improvisation at the Amsterdam Conservatory until 1989.
Audio:
Entry in the 11th Haarlem Improvisation Competition
Entry in the 12th Haarlem Improvisation Competition
The Haarlem Essays
The Haarlem Essays
Edited by Paul Peeters
published by J. Butz Verlag (Bonn)
ISBN 978-3-928412-15-5
Available through OHS.
Published to celebrate fifty international organ festivals held in Haarlem, this book is a treasure trove of information about the Haarlem competition, the organs, and the themes. With over 400 pages of interviews, articles and reflections by such luminaries as Peter Planyavsky, Hans Haselböck, André Isoir, Jan Jongepier, Piet Kee, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Jos van der Kooy, Zsigmond Szathmáry, and Anton Heiller (to name only some), I look forward to spending many months exploring the valuable content provided here.
One of the unique features of the Haarlem competition is the possibility for a winner to enter again. Most competitions bar the winner from entering again, but Haarlem actually has given out special prizes to those who were able to win the competition three times: Piet Kee, Hans Haselböck, André Isoir, Jan Jongepier, Jan Raas. Included with the book is a CD that includes some of the prize winning performances of these five threefold winners. Also included on the CD are performances from the 2010 winners Sebastian Bartmann and Samuel Liégeon.
While not a method book, I believe there is plenty of material here for the student of improvisation to consider and practice. Many of the essays concern not only the philosophical considerations of how to improvise, but also issues of style, form, language and determining how to evaluate an improvisation. With just a quick glance through the text, the difference between improvising and fantasizing is highlighted numerous times. How many of us understand and practice that distinction?
As the Haarlem competition has always been centered on more contemporary musical language, one of the greatest assets for the student in this book is the compilation of themes. The theme for every final round of the competition from 1951 to 2012 is included. Spending a week exploring the possibilities of each theme would provide a year’s worth of practice material. While there is the occasional hymn or chant, many of the themes were written specifically for the competition. For anyone desiring to enter the competition in the future or simply wishing to improve their “contemporary style” improvisations, this collection of themes alone is an invaluable resource.
I look forward to exploring this tome further and practicing with the themes.
Klaas Bolt
Klaas Bolt (1927-1990) taught improvisation at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, where Masaaki Suzuki was among his students.
Recordings:
Klaas Bolt: Improvisations
– Haarlem Bavokerk, Haarlem Nieuwekerk, Zandvoort, Krewerd, Groningen Martinikerk
– Disque Lindenberg; CD 38,
Live Concert Maartenskerk Zalt
LBCD16
Includes an improvisation on Psalm 79
Audio:
Entry in the 7th Haarlem Improvisation Competition
Entry in the 8th Haarlem Improvisation Competition
Klaas Bolt – Haarlem, 1958
Klaas Bolt – Variatie over een Sint-Nicolaaslied – Grote of Sint-Bavokerk Haarlem
Martin Bacot
YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/VJOrgue
Born in 1980, Martin Bacot studied piano with Christine Pagès and harmony with Jeanine Boutin at the Conservatoire National de Région de Versailles. Il has studied organ with Georges Robert, Eric Lebrun, Vincent Warnier, and Pierre Pincemaille.
Having earned his Premier Prix d’Interprétation from the CNR d’Angers, a premier Prix d’Improvisation à l’unanimité from the CNR de Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Martin Bacot has also won several improvisation competitions:
• Second prize in the Concours “Orgues sans frontières”, Sarrebrück in 2001
• First Prize in the Concours de Schwäbisch Gmünd in 2009
• Grand Prix André Marchal and Prix Englert in the Concours André Marchal in Biarritz in 2009
In 2010, he was a finalist in the Haarlem International Improvisation Competition.
From 1998 to 2010, he regularly replaced Pierre Pincemaille at the Cathédrale de Saint-Denis. In 2011 he became organist titulaire at the Église St Louis de la Guillotière in Lyon.
In addition to his musical studies, Martin Bacot studied architecture at the Ecole Supérieure d’Architecture in Versailles, earning his diploma in 2006. In addition to his concert activities, he works in Lyon as an architect specializing in the restoration of patrimony.
Videos:
Martin Bacot – Improvisation sur un texte biblique – Finale Concours André Marchal 2009
Martin Bacot – Improvisation sur un choral imposé – Concours André Marchal 2009
Martin Bacot – Improvisations in German Baroque Style – Haarlem Wallon church
Martin Bacot – Improvisation on Coventry Carol – Coventry Cathedral
Martin Bacot – Improvisation sur l’introÏt de l’Ascension ‘Viri Galilei’ – Cathédrale de Troyes
Hans Haselböck
Hans Haselböck became organist at the Dominikanerkirche in Vienna in 1949, and in 1972 he became Professor of organ and improvisation at the Musikhochschule Wien.
Recordings:
Gregorian Chant and Organ: Improvisation in Vienna
Orgelimprovisationen 1998 / 11. Internationale Altenberger Orgelakademie: 9-15.8.1998
Includes improvisations from the teachers at the 1998 Organ Academy in Altenberg: Hans Haselböck, Loi͏̈c Mallié, Tomasz Adam Nowak, Wolfgang Seifen, and Petr Eben.
Orgelimprovisationen / 8. Internationale Altenberger Orgelakademie 20-30.8.1995
Includes improvisations from the teachers at the 1995 Organ Academy in Altenberg: Hans Haselböck, Gerd Wachowski, Patrick Delabre, and Wolfgang Seifen.
Jan Bender
Jan Bender (1909-1994) was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands. At age 13, he moved to Lübeck, Germany, and began studying organ with Karl Lichtwark at the Marienkirche. In 1929, he studied with Walter Kraft, the new Marienkirche organist. In 1930, he enrolled as a student of Karl Straube at the Kirchen-musikalische Institut of the Landeskirche Sachsen, part of the Leipzig Konservatorium. He later studied composition from Hugo Distler. He served as organist at St. Gertrudkirche in Lübeck, St. Lambertikirche in Aurich, and Michaeliskirche in Lüneburg (where J.S. Bach had studied in his early years). He eventually came to teach in the United States at Concordia Teacher’s College in Seward, Nebraska, before becoming Associate Professor of Composition and Organ at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Though he returned to live in Germany upon his retirement in 1976, he continued teaching with occasional residencies in the US at Valparaiso University, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
He composed over one hundred works, primarily for for organ and/or choir. Though active in the Missouri Synod, he served on the commission which eventually published the Lutheran Book of Worship. He wrote a method book for organ improvisation:
Organ Improvisation for Beginners: A Book of Self-Instruction for Church Musicians : Op. 59
A full review of the method book can be found here.
International Organ Festival Haarlem 2014
In 1951, Louis Toebosch won the first International Organ Improvisation Competition. He was to be followed by Anton Heiller in 1952, Piet Kee (1953, 1954, 1955) and many other organists who later became internationally known names. Winning ‘Haarlem’ was, and is, the first step to an international career. Even just taking part in the competition has helped launch many a career, as the names of the numerous famous organists among the previous participants testify.
The final round of the 50th Haarlem Improvisation competition takes place this evening. The themes for the final round were composed this year by Louis Andriessen, who descends from a famous family of Haarlem musicians. Threefold winner Hans Haselböck (1958/59/60) wrote the theme for the first round. For the second round the renowned Dutch composer Roderik de Man provided material, accompanied by videos for the audience created by the sound and video artist Marcel Wierckx. The competitors have only one hour to prepare their improvisations with the help of a pencil and paper (but not an instrument).
Beginning from 22 applications from 11 countries, the following 8 contestants were selected to compete in the first of three live rounds from 14-18 July: Jacob Lekkerkerker, Geerten Liefting and Harmen Trimp (Netherlands), David Cassan (France), Lukas Grimm and Tobias Wittmann (Germany), Morten Ladehoff (Denmark) and Luke Mayernik (USA). Four have been selected to continue to the final round at St. Bavo’s Church.
The jury, chaired by Stephen Taylor, includes five internationally renowned organists: David Briggs (Canada), Jürgen Essl (Germany), Zuzana Ferjencikova (Slovakia/France), Gilbert Amy (France) and Jan Hage (the Netherlands).
A livestream may be available here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/orgelfestival.
Karl Richter
Karl Richter (1926 – 1981) was a German conductor, choirmaster, organist, and harpsichordist. He studied with Günther Ramin, Carl Straube and Rudolf Mauersberger. In 1949 he became organist at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach was once Musical Director. In 1951 he moved to Munich, where he taught at the conservatory and was cantor and organist at St. Mark’s Church.
Videos:
Karl Richter – Improvisation – Bavokerk, Haarlem
Anton Heiller
Anton Heiller (1923 – 1979) was an Austrian organist, harpsichordist, composer, and conductor. Born in Vienna, he was first trained in church music by Wilhelm Mück, organist of Vienna’s Stephansdom with further study at the Vienna Academy of Music under Bruno Seidlhofer and Friedrich Reidinger. In 1945, he both graduated from the Academy and was appointed organ teacher there. He was promoted to professor in 1957. In 1952 he won the International Organ Competition in Haarlem, The Netherlands. His students include Yuko Hayashi, Bernard Lagacé, Peter Planyavsky, Michael Radulescu, Christa Rakich, Christa Rumsey, David Sanger, and Jean-Claude Zehnder.
Biography:
Anton Heiller: Organist, Composer, Conductor
by Peter Planyavsky and Christa Rumsey
Eastman Studies in Music, University of Rochester Press (November 1, 2014)
Audio:
Heiller’s performances as a competitor in the 1953 Haarlem Improvisation Competition can be heard at the NCRV archive here.