„Merck Toch Hoe Sterck“ con variazioni

Cor Kee (1900-1997) was a student of Jan Zwart, with the exception of the period between 1917 and 1918, in which he attended a course at the Amsterdam Conservatory.

For a long time, Cor Kee was a specialist teacher of organ at the Utrecht Conservatory and lecturer in improvisation at the international summer academy in Haarlem. In addition, he regularly appeared as a guest lecturer at various foreign courses.

From 1922 to 1924, Kee was organist of the Singelkerk in Amsterdam. He then worked in the Ronde Lutherse Kerk in Amsterdam. He played the organ there until the Protestant congregation closed the church for the service in January 1935. Since that time, Cor Kee has played in the Oude Lutherse Kerk an der Spui, where he celebrated his silver anniversary as an organist of the Protestant community in 1964.

Kee became known as a composer for his three collections "Psalmen voor Orgel", "Reeksveranderingen in vier secties" and "Phases for Organ". In 1975, the composition "Amsterdam, 700 jaar lusthof" was created, which was published in the composer's manuscript.

Cor Kee was the father of the organist Piet Kee.

The variation about a Dutch folk song recorded here is a wonderful and easy-to-realise piece that can be convincingly played on virtually any instrument. In preparation for this recording, I also prepared registrations for Blackburn and Bückeburg, which would have just as much justice to the piece. I finally chose the Northrop organ to show some of the unique colours of this amazing instrument.