Leon Berben - Weckmann: Complete Organ Works - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Léon Berben can be considered a master of his trade on the harpsichord and organ. Furthermore, his extensive knowledge of music history and historical performance practice make him one of the leading figures of his generation in the Inchearly musicInch scene. His repertoire includes keyboard works from 1550 to 1790 and he also co-authored the encyclopedia InchDie Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Inch Intensive study of sources and constant research work give the art of interpretation of Léon Berben a special status. His solo recordings on historical organs and harpsichords have been highly praised by the specialist press and have received several awards, including the InchDiapason d'OrInch, the InchChocInch of InchLe Monde de la MusiqueInch and the quarterly InchPreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.Inch On his latest recording he plays the complete organ works by Matthias Weckmann.

?Very little is known about the life of Anthoni van Noordt. Following in the tradition of Jan Piertszoon Sweelinck, he was organist at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam from 1664. After the death of Dirck Sweelinck in 1652, the van Noordt family became Amsterdam's most important musical family. The van Hagerbeer organ in the Pieterskerk in Leiden, a large 17th-century Dutch city organ with a wide variety of stops, is particularly well suited for the performance of van Noordt's music. The organ still has many of the characteristics of a traditional Renaissance organ, but the earlier preference for strongly contrasting timbres has given way to greater homogeneity, generally tending towards a somewhat darker sound. Also new is the striving for solemnity and weight, expressed above all in the disposition of a 24' in the Hauptwerk and a Trompete 16' in the Pedal. The old variety of reed stops has disappeared, however, but there are still several higher stops such as Nasard 1½', Sifflet 1' and Tertiaan. Léon Berben offers us a colourful and lushly ornamented reading of van Noordt's 1659 Tabulatuurboeck van Psalmen en Fantasyen. Album Tracks 1. Volume 1 2. Psalm 65 (Anon.*) 3. Fantasia 2 4. Psalm 15 5. Psalm 38 6. Psalm 6 7. Fantasia 5 8. Psalm 7 9. Psalm 5 (Anon.*) 10. Psalm 5 (Anon.°) 11. Psalm 2 12. Fantasia 1 13. Psalm 50 14. Psalm 66 (Anon.°) 15. Fantasia 6 16. Volume 2 17. Psalm 119 18. Psalm 116 (Anon.*) 19. Psalm 116 (Anon.°) 20. Psalm 116 21. Fantasia 3 22. Psalm 100 (Anon.*) 23. Psalm 100 (Anon.°) 24. Psalm 22 25. Fantasia 4 26. Daphne (Anon.*) 27. Psalm 24 (Anon.°) 28. Psalm 24

Léon Berben can be considered a master of his craft on the harpsichord and organ. In addition, his extensive knowledge of music history and historical performance practice make him one of the leading figures of his generation in the Inchearly musicInch scene. His repertoire includes keyboard works between 1550 and 1790. He also wrote as a co-author for the encyclopedia Music in History and Present. Intensive study of sources and constant research give Léon Berben's art of interpretation a special status. His solo recordings on historical organs and harpsichords have been highly praised by the specialist press and have received several awards, including the InchDiapason d'OrInch, the InchChocInch from Le Monde de la Musique and the German Record Critics' Quarterly Prize. On his newest , he presents hymns and organ studies by Jehan Titelouze.