Kees van Eersel (* 1944 Vlaardingen) studied in Rotterdam with Piet v.d. Kerkhoff, George Stam and Andre Verwoerd.
He concluded his studies with highest honours and received the “Prix d’Excellence”.
Later on he studied in Paris with Jean Langlais where he gained the Prix de Virtuosité with the addition “Maximum”.
He won international prizes in Brugge, St. Albans, Innsbruck and Linz.
For a long time he was the organist of the Grote of Magdalenakerk te Goes, where he played the magnificent three manual Marcussen organ.
Apart from that he was playing the Carillon in Veere, Middelburg and Vlissingen a few times a week.
In Holland he still is giving many recitals a year.
His list of compositions is large. He wrote for organ, piano, carillon, orchestra, solo instruments and voices.
He also was my teacher for a short time. We did not see each other very much after that, because we lived in different parts of Holland, but he remained a friend and very respected collegue.
This piece is one of his contributions to the Dutch hymnal of 1973, for which he wrote a number of preludes. It is to the German melody “Nun jauchzet all ihr frommen” by Michael Schirmer.
In Holland it is part of the Advent cycle.