This documentary by Fugue State Films charts the development of organ-building in the Netherlands through the 500-year organ history of the Laurenskerk in Alkmaar, a church that includes both an organ from 1511 by Jan van Covelens as well as the world-famous 1646 van Hagerbeer instrument, updated in 1723 by Frans Caspar Schnitger.

Alterations from 1955 to an internationally-recognised baroque organ in The Netherlands are being corrected, with a more historically-informed restoration now underway.

A talk on Spanish and Portuguese organ music in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, written and presented by Martin Schmeding. This is the set history period for ARCO written papers, 2 July 2022-January 2023.

The most substantial of Purcell’s organ works, the Voluntary for Double Organ has been described as ‘an exuberant product of the English Baroque’.  This paper by Desmond Hunter reviews aspects of the notation and considers several issues concerning the work’s performance, set against the background of a more general discussion of the genre.

Anne Page discusses fingering and pedalling systems for the music of England, the Netherlands, and Northern Germany in the early Baroque, a period when major stylistic developments were taking place.

In this article from the RCO Journal of 2017, John Scott Whiteley examines Bach’s selection of traditional hymns for the Orgelbuchlein, and the tensions between Pietism, a Protestant renewal movement, and Lutheran Orthodoxy, in his sources.

The thirty-first IOA London Organ Day was held on 4th March, under the direction of Tom Bell, featuring the stylus fantasticus of the early Baroque. The venue was the Dutch Church, in the City of London, with its Flentrop organ, perfect for this repertoire. The morning session included a masterclass on with Bine Bryndorf, who gave valuable practical insights into the performance of Bruhns and Buxtehude.

Given Johann Jacob Froberger’s significance in the written history of music, it is surprising how little of his music is regularly played or known today. The 400th anniversary of Froberger’s birth presented an ideal opportunity for Terence Charlston to reassess current trends and to enhance the diversity and presence of Froberger’s music within our performance culture.

What pipe organ would you expect to see on the wall of an organ scholar’s bedroom? The 1735 Christian Muller instrument of the St Bavokerk, Haarlem, of course, in all its beauty and grandeur. The RCO took twelve lucky organists on a Masterclass to play it, under the tutelage of Reitze Smits.