Piet Kee

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Pieter William Kee (born August 30, 1927) is a Dutch concert organist and composer.

1 Biography
2 Compositions
3 Discography
4 Writings
5 Sources
6 External links
7 Special Topic - Haarlem Organ Improvisation Competition, 1953

[edit] Biography

Born in Zaandam, Netherlands, he studied organ, piano and composition at the Amsterdam Conservatory, obtaining the Prix d'Excellence, and won first prize at the annual Haarlem International Improvisation Competition three times in succession (1953 to 1955, see external link below).

He taught at the Music Lyceum and Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam from 1954 until 1988, and at the Haarlem International Summer Academy for Organists. He was organist at St. Laurens church in Alkmaar from 1952 to 1987, and city organist of the world famous Müller organ at St. Bavo church in Haarlem from 1956 until 1989.

His improvisation skills are renowned, and he is a frequent jury member at organ festival competitions. His compositions now include the "Haarlem Concerto", which received its first performance by Thomas Trotter in March 2006.

His numerous recordings, several of which received awards, include a series of eleven CDs on the Chandos label (see below), covering the repertoire from Sweelinck to Messiaen on important European historical instruments.

In 1988, with Olivier Messiaen he received an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists.

[edit] Compositions

The list below is selective. Publishers include Bärenreiter-Verlag, Donemus, Harmonia and Hinrichsen/Peters.

[edit] Organ

Triptych on Psalm 86 (1960)
Two Organ Pieces (1962)

Fantasia on "Wachet Auf"

Passion Choral

Four Pieces for Manuals (1966)
Gedenck-Clanck 76 - Ode to Valerius based on 3 Dutch songs (1976)
Bios - in seven movements (1995)
The Organ - inspired by paintings of Peter Saenredam (2000)

[edit] Organ with other instruments

Music and Space - for two organs, three trumpets and two trombones (1969)
Confrontation - for church organ and three street organs (1979)
Network - for main organ plus positiv organ or electronic keyboard, alto saxophone and soprano recorder (1996)
Festival Spirit - for main organ and four positiv organs, commissioned for performance by jury members of the St. Albans International Organ Festival competition, UK (2001)
Bios II - for organ, solo violin and percussion (2002)
Haarlem Concerto - for organ and orchestra (symphonic wind ensemble, alto and tenor saxophones, double basses, percussion and harmonium) (2005)

[edit] Choir

The World - on a text of Henry Vaughan for mixed choir, four vocal soloists (SATB) and ad libitum continuo instrument (1999)
Heaven - on a text of George Herbert for unaccompanied mixed choir and two soprano soloists (2000)

[edit] Carillon

Frans Hals Suite (1990)

Luidstuk (Ringing Piece)

Sarabande voor Judith Leyster

Frans Hals Toccata

Daaaee (1999)

[edit] Other

Flight - flute solo (1992)
Opstreek (Up-bow) - for violin and piano (1997)
Winds - for reed quintet (2000)
Cervus - for harmonium or organ (2006)

[edit] Discography

Earlier recordings can be found on the Telefunken, HMV, Philips and Guild labels.

Starting in 1989 he made a series of eleven recordings for Chandos, including works of Sweelinck, Pachelbel, Bruhns, Buxtehude, Bach, Mendelssohn, Frank, Alain, Reger, Hindemith, Andriessen and Messiaen on notable European instruments including St. Bavo Haarlem, St. Laurens Alkmaar, Roskilde Cathedral Denmark, Basilika Weingarten, Martini Church Groningen and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Several of these recordings are now available as MP3 downloads.

[edit] Writings

The Secrets of Bach's Passacaglia - The Diapason, June 1983
Astronomy in Buxtehude's Passacaglia - Ars Organi (1984), Reprinted in Organist's Review, August 2007
Number and Symbolism in the Passacaglia and Ciacona - John Loosemore Association 1988 (ISBN 1-871179-01-7)
Haydn's Last Symphony: Input from London? - The Musical Times, vol.147 no.1897 (Winter 2006), pp.57-62

[edit] Sources

Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol. # 9].

[edit] External links

Scottish Federation of Organists News, Issue 10, January 2008 - an article entitled "Piet Kee in conversation with Philip Sawyer", which includes details of his recordings and compositions, and also recordings of his compositions. (This article is also published in the May 2008 issue of Organists' Review.)
Choir & Organ magazine - an interview with Piet Kee in the November/December 2006 issue.
Donemus - the Dutch institution for contemporary music, with a listing of upcoming live performances of works by Piet Kee.
NCRV - Dutch Radio Association, providing archive material including the improvisations by Piet Kee and others for the 1953 Haarlem Improvisation Competition.
Het Orgel - Dutch organ magazine with summaries in English and useful links.

[edit] Special Topic - Haarlem Organ Improvisation Competition, 1953

The extensive music archive of NCRV, the Dutch Radio Association, includes the performances of three contestants in the 1953 Haarlem (St. Bavo) Organ Improvisation Competition. They were Anton Heiller, Piet Kee (winner) and Karl Richter.

The instructions provided by the theme composer, Adriaan Engels, were:

Sonata in three movements