Musical contribution – March 2023

Sinfonia - Hans Boelee (1927-2002)

(LiVE Sampleset: Amsterdam, Vater-Müller)

Hans Boelee is mainly known in the Netherlands as the conductor of Driebergen Reformed Church Choir and as the composer of the ‘Marcus Passie’. This work was written for Choir, 4 soloists, Lector, Strings, Oboe and Organ. The instrumental opening (Sinfonia) of this Passion music lasts 1.5 hours and was written for strings and oboe. 

Now that Lent has started again, we would like to offer you this Sinfonia as an organ arrangement. Despite the plaintive mood, we don’t advise taking the tempo too slow. In the orchestra, the oboe only plays the 4 chorale lines. It’s great to play this on the organ with a leading reed stop. I opted for a principle 8’ for the arrangement as I feel that this stop interprets the sighing character.

We added the chorale at the end ourselves, which you can play in the same registration if you prefer. The original key was G minor, due to the link with the next movement. Now, as it is an organ solo, we have opted for E minor. This is because of its sombre mood of pathos and because this hymn also appears in this key in Hymns for Churches. You could also use it as a prelude to Hymn 190.

André