Luogo e data di registrazione		Oude Kerk (St. Nicolaaskerk), Amsterdam (Holland) - 2/5 Aprile 1980
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Recording Supervisor		Stichting de Oude Kerk te Amsterdam
	Recording Engineer		Dick van Schuppen
	Prima Edizione LP		Stichting Oude Kerk | 6814 163 | 1 LP - durata 41' 45" | (p) 1980 | ANA
	Edizione CD		Tactus | TC 570001 | 1 CD - durata 62' 46" | (p) 2008 | ADD/DDD
	Original Cover		Foto's: Studio Krimp en Partners, Amsterdam
	Note		Il Compact Disc Tactus, oltre ai 3 brani interpretati da Gustav Leonhardt contiene anche musiche di Sweelinck, Anonimi, Scheidt e Scheidemann interpretate dal Maestro Matteo Imbruno registrate, queste, nel 2004.

The Vater/Müller/Witte organ - in the Oude Kerk (St. Nicolaaskerk), Amsterdam 1724-26 Construction of the organ by Christian Vater of Hannover. Vater, who could also play the organ, had been employed in Arp Schnitger’s workshop in Hamburg from 1697 to 1702. The 45-stop organ of the Oude Kerk was thus built in the North German Baroque style. In the examination report made by three organists Vater’s work is stated to be "pre-eminently praiseworthy and excellent" in every respect. The organ case and all the carving and sculpture were made by Jurriaan Westerman, "Mr. Steen- en beelthouwer" of Amsterdam. This Vater organ replaced the three-manual instrument which had been built by Hans van Coelen and Hendrik Niehoff in 1539, at which Jan Pietersz. Sweelinck had presided as organist from about 1577 until 1621. This must also have been an exceptionally fine organ. 1738-42 Shortly after the completion of the Vater organ the church tower began to show signs of subsidence. The threat of collapse led to dismantling of the entire organ. When the tower had been repaired Johan Caspar Müller, brother of Christian Müller (builder of the organ in the St. Bavo at Haarlem), was charged with the reerection of the organ. At the same time the opportunity was taken to make the instrument more forceful and vocal after "the Dutch manner" so that "it will speak promptly and forcefully, enabling it to be heard during the service" (i.e. during the singing of the psalms). It was altered and enlarged by, among other things, the addition of nine new stops and the attendant renewal of chests and action, raising of the wind pressure, moving up of pipework in order to increase the scaling, and by increasing the mixtures and the number of doubled stops "in the right-hand (i.e. discant) to reinforce the voice... to penetrate during the singing, as also Sexquialter and Cornet". The latter was a nine-rank stop with 5-1/3 ft. as basis. However, the quality and results of Müller’s work were apparently unsatisfactory; the touch was extremely stiff and heavy, as it has remained to the present day. 1869-70 In this period the organ was radically altered and revoiced to conform to contemporary taste by C. F. G. Witte. The work included moving up of the pipework for the second time, introduction of Reuter tuning slots, nicking, and new couplers. (For further information see the stop list). The small organ in the Oude Kerk (St. Nicolaaskerk), Amsterdam Hans Wolf Schonat, known particularly for his large organ in the Nieuwe Kerk, built a new small organ in the Oude Kerk in about 1658 to replace the instrument built by Hendrik Niehoff in 1545. The instrument was removed from its case in 1823, some of Schonat’s pipework being used in the construction of an organ in the Zuiderkerk. After this church had been declared redundant, the Zuiderkerk organ, robbed of its case and action, was removed to the Gereformeerde Oosterkerk in Aalten in 1941. From Aalten the remains of the old pipework went to the Willebrordkerk in Oegstgeest in 1977, where they were included in the new Metzler organ. In 1964-65 the organ builders Ahrend & Brunzema built a new instrument in the empty Schonat case of 1658, taking the stop list of the original organ, as mentioned by Hess (1774), as basis (with the addition of the Gemshoorn 2 ft.). Klaas Bolt