Wilhelmus (from the Leningrad Manuscript)

Every year on April 27th it's Koningsdag (King's Day) in The Netherlands. A national holiday on which we celebrate the birthday of our king Willem Alexander van Oranje Nassau. A day for the monarchists, so to say. Of course our Dutch national anthem Wilhelmus sounds more than usual on this day. It's one of the oldest national anthems existing, however only since 1932 it's officially our national anthem. The text originates from around 1570, the tune from the beginning of the 17th century. There are many theories about the author (of the text), usually there is a link to one of the closest persons to Willem van Oranje: Filips van Marnix van Sint-Aldegonde, but that link is not proven. The text deals about the conflict of Willem van Oranje about the rebellion to the regime of Spain in the 16th century and being faithful to God and the people.

The Leningrad (St. Petersburg) manuscript of 1646 has a nice keyboard version of the Wilhelmus with nice quick passages and added ornamentation. It reminds me a bit of Sweelinck's Ballo del Granduca. What better than to play it on the model of one of the most famous Dutch organs. Because I liked it so much, I recorded it twice. First on two manuals and the second time on one manual.