jacob

The first incarnation of this blog carried a substantial piece on Dutch recorder (flute à bec) music. This was before the Great Crash. Of course, there is the monumental presence of Jacob van Eyck’s Der Fluyten Lusthof in Dutch renaissance music. Lusthof is a collection of popular songs, or “airs”, with variations. Van Eyck (1589-1657) was a scientist, Utrecht’s carilloneur and blind. He used to play improvisations in the garden adjacent to the Sint Janskerk in Utrecht, entertaining by-passers and romancing young couples alike. Someone then must have listened his way through and transcribed what corresponds to almost ten hours of music, very much the way many jazz musicians still work today. The popularity of van Eyck’s music caused his publisher Paul Matthysz to edit several collections in van Eyck’s lifetime. One can only imagine the troublesome procedures foregoing a publication of this kind, as the author couldn’t write himself. Der Fluyten Lusthof is an outstanding proof of a craft which is today a sadly neglected art form. To improvise was the true core of all music long before the invention of musical notation. Doen Daphne d’Overschoone Maeght has always been Lusthof’s hit song, in the 20th as well as in the 17th century. This wonderful version was performed by Erik Bosgraaf who was featured in “Vrije Geluiden”. Amsterdam and the IJ in the background as this was broadcast from the “Muziekgebouw”.