Dear all,
May I draw your attention to the Piet van Egmond url, which is the website of the Stichting Piet van Egmond Documentatiecentrum, a sort of Piet van Egmond Trust. One will find there a list of all cds (many of them on the Festivo label, several photographs and some downloads. More downloads to come soon!
I wrote a biography on Piet van Egmond which was launched in 2003, the result of 21 years of research. I only met Mr. Van Egmond once, shortly before a recital, in his declining years. The "magic" began when I heard old recordings of his transcriptions of Suppé's Dichter und Bauer Overture, Die Moldau by Smetana and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, played on the 1923 Steinmeyer organ at the former Prinsessekerk, Amsterdam. He played his transcriptions of orchestral, piano, opera and ballet music only in his weekly "Popular organ recitals" for radio broadcasts. On organ recitals he played just organ literature, apart from the usual arrangements of Handel's organ concertos. The biography is the result of archive research, many conversations with his widow, his former secretary, pupils, choir members, other musicians etc. etc.
Some English friends have asked me to produce a biography in English; unfortunately I hadn't got the time to finish it, but I'm still working on a short biography in English for the website. It would also be interesting to write about his strong connections with the English organ world. Already in 1935 he made his first trip to England with his fiancée and a vicar couple and had the opportunity to play in Westminster Abbey. In 1937 he must have done an audition for the BBC at Southwark Cathedral. In april 1959 he was invited by the BBC to play a recital for the BBC at St. Peter's Church, Eaton Square, London; a team of BBC producers had listened to his Cologne recordings and they were impressed. In 1960 he played two recitals for the BBC on the Royal Albert Hall organ; part of the recordings was issued in 1989 on Festivo FECD 115, the same on which the Reubke from Cologne can be heard (indeed with a 'gap' in the middle because the only existing tapes came from Mr. Van Egmond's own archive, and he had to change tapes during the broadcast because he recorded on 30 inch/sec. on a AEG AW-1 "Magnetophon"...)
Piet van Egmond was one of those versatile musicians who played both church and theatre organs (his late secretary always told me that he kept "the British organists" as an example), worked as a choral and orchestral conductor and played beautifully piano. The classical recitals in England were often combined with studio recordings on the BBC Möller organ at the Jubilee Chapel, London, with totally different repertoire. In fact, Holland was too small-minded for him. In this country, one could not play classical literature and play the theatre organ and play transcriptions. He often wasn't taken serious by his collegues, but admired by the public, especially because of his lengthy improvised fantasies on hymns at the end of his recitals and during the church service.
Please read David Baker's review in The Organ Nr. 341 (p. 56/57) on our latest CD Rhapsody in Blue to get an impression of his playing. Parts of tracks can be heard on the Festivo website.
You can mail me with any question about Piet van Egmond on Info.
Gerco Schaap (NL)
Secretary Stichting Piet van Egmond Documentatiecentrum
Vice President of the Percy Whitlock Trust
