Grachtenfestival puts the spotlight on young organists and highlights the huge Amsterdam collection of wonderful, often restored organs. Their versatile timbres tell you stories about the history of this beautiful city and build bridges to bygone times when churches were still the flagship of various religious elites.
Diederik Blankesteijn is one of the last organ students of the Netherlands. He will perform one of the church organs at ‘Orgels in de gloria!'. “One of the most beautiful things about playing the organ is their variety. It is an instrument with a very long history. Through the ages many composers have written music for the organ in a variety of styles.”
The audience will certainly hear this variety in the different compositions, and the variety in organs will receive special attention too. “The organ literature is incredibly diverse and the instrument itself comes in many shapes: you will not find two identical organs. This requires creativity and flexibility of the one who plays on it, and that is why I shall never get tired of doing so.”
Pieter van Dijk, senior lecturer organ at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, launched the idea of an ‘organ route’, a walk along three famous churches in Amsterdam: the Waalse kerk, the Engelse kerk and the Krijtberg. Stories about the instrument will be told in every church and works will be performed, sometimes accompagnied by other musicians.
Orgels in de gloria! wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door een bijdrage van het fonds op naam van Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds: Drs. Henri Roovers Fonds, en het Conservatorium van Amsterdam