Dear SMM Community,
 

The next part of my online organ recital is here, and I hope that you enjoy it. I offer up these musical meditations as part of our parish efforts to find ways to keep you connected at this time. Recorded on my house organ, today's instrument is a musical facsimile of the Kuhn organ at the Philharmonie in Essen.

Today, I present Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck's Ballo del Granduca.


The Dutch composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), the ‘Orpheus of Amsterdam’, lived and worked during the transition between the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Famous for his improvisations, the Ballo del Granduca undoubtedly began life as an improvised set of variations, possibly even performed at one of Sweelinck’s daily recitals. At that time in Amsterdam, the organ was not allowed to be played during services; the organist could improvise before or after, but the reformed faith left worship void of musical accompaniment. 



With best wishes,
Andrew Adair
Director of Music