Nunc Dimittis: Ewald Kooiman (1938-2009)

Abstract

Dutch organist and musicologist Ewald Kooiman died on January 25, on vacation in Egypt. He died in his sleep; the cause was heart failure. Ewald Kooiman was born on June 14, 1938 in Wormer, just north of Amsterdam. He studied French at the VU University in Amsterdam and at the University of Poitiers, taking the doctorate in 1975 with a dissertation on the 'Tombel de Chartrose', a medieval collection of saints' lives. He then taught Old French at the VU University, where he was appointed Professor of Organ Art in 1988. As a teenager, Kooiman studied organ with Klaas Bakker. After passing the State Examination and encouraged by members of the committee to pursue music studies at a higher level, he continued with Piet Kee at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, earning a 'Prix d'Excellence' - the equivalent of a doctorate - in 1969. While studying French at Poitiers, he simultaneously studied organ with Jean Langlais at the Paris Schola Cantorum, taking the 'Prix de Virtuosité' in 1963. Kooiman had a long and impressive international career as a concert organist. He twice recorded the complete organ works of Bach - first on LP, then on CD - and was awarded the Prize of German Record Critics in 2003. He was in the midst of recording his third complete Bach set - on SACD, using Silbermann organs in Alsace - which was scheduled to come out in late 2009 or early 2010. Although Bach was at the heart of his musical activities, Kooiman took an interest in many other parts of the organ repertoire, for example the French Baroque. His study of this repertoire and the relevant treatises was, of course, greatly facilitated by his knowledge of the French language. His interest in the French Baroque organ also led to the construction of the so-called Couperin Organ (Koenig/Fontijn & Gaal, 1973) in the auditorium of the VU University.