Psalm 19

Listening to uploads of Dutch organists on Contrebombarde, especially those of psalm preludes, the impression could arise, that Dutch organ playing was and is very much influenced by the romantic style of organists like Jan Zwart and Feike Asma, van Tilburg etc.

They certainly still have a big influence , especially among amateur-organists and the more conservative Dutch Christian population. There even are contemporary composers writing in that romantic idiom.

In professional circles there has been a different development. Those who studied the organ at the Dutch conservatoria, populated by the best Dutch organ teachers, mostly developed a different kind of style, more along the lines of the contemporary German composers like Micheelsen, Distler and Pepping and French composers Tournemire, Langlais and Durufle.

In the seventies bundles were published with preludes to the new Liedboek 1973, composed by leading contemporary Dutch composers. I intend to do a small series on preludes and harmonizations of the psalms.

Jan D. van Laar:
studied the organ with Adriaan Engels, the organist of the main church in The Hague. He also studied the piano and composition. He was the organist of the church in Emmen. He published church music, many works for children for use in secondary schools.

Not only is the prelude very original: the 2 settings of the psalm, the first one in three voices and the second one with the melody in the tenor, are very beautiful and interesting.