Organ Music from the Low Countries

Featuring

Bernard Foccroulle
John Bull
Peter Philips
Abraham van den Kerckhoven
Peeter Cornet
Anonymous

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Instruments

Flemish and Walloon organ builders were so successful that they exported their instruments and influenced local builders in Spain and France.

Composer Biography

John Bull, a celebrated English keyboard virtuoso, secretly fled England in 1613 due to a scandal and later became organist at Antwerp Cathedral until his death.

Composer Biography

Peter Philips, another English composer, left England in 1582 due to his Catholic faith and eventually became organist to Archduke Albert, governor of the Southern Netherlands.

Compositional Technique

Organs in the Southern Netherlands featured new stops like trumpets, crumhorns, and various flutes, and many had at least two manuals, though pedalboards were less common than in Germanic countries.

Historical Context

Organ building in the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège (roughly present-day Belgium) reached its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Historical Context

This recording features works by three composers active at the court of Brussels under Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabelle: Peter Philips, Peeter Cornet, and John Bull.

Compositional Technique

John Bull's organ compositions from his Flemish period often call for two manuals and use split registers, a common feature in the region, to highlight solo lines.