Preludium of Vorspeel
Fantasia & Echo
Geswinde Bode van de Min

(«Prelude, in Latin/Dutch»). Renaissance instrumentalists tuned and warmed up by improvising preludes, and printed music collections often opened with such pieces. No doubt Van Eyck often announced his presence in the Utrecht Janskerkhof with pieces such as this one which opens the Lust-hof: a good introduction in miniature to the flourishes, scales, and echoes to come.

The echo-fantasia was a genre nurtured especially by the Dutch, usually for organ. Van Eyck’s slow, mode-defining opening is typical; the echoes arise once the piece is established. The Lust-hof’s only dynamic markings are found here, accentuating the echo effect caused naturally by the octave leaps in the recorder’s modest range.

(«Swift Messenger of Love»). The source of this tune is obscure, but it was widely known in the Netherlands, beginning in the 1630s with a pastoral text of a shepherd bewailing his lost-love cause to Cupid. In the Lust-hof however, the tune has been altered so that the original text is no longer singable.

Psalm 68

(A psalm of war: Arise O Lord and show your strength). One of the best-known and fiercely-loved of all the Genevan psalms, Psalm 68 became the battle-anthem of the rebel Calvinists in the religious struggles of the16th century, because of its militant view of God’s wrath toward the unrighteous. Longer-lasting fame (now with a penitent text) has come to the tune via Bach’s settings of it as the Lutheran chorale «O Mensch bewein’ dein’ Sünde gross» in the Orgelbüchlein and the St. Matthew Passion.

Almande prime roses

(«Primrose almande»). Another Dutch setting of this tune is paired with a «Brande Mr Primrose,» suggesting a link to an obscure English composer by that name, but a Dutch songbook calls it «Beaux jeux agreable Tirans» (which fits the opening melody well), suggesting an air de cour origin.

Ach Morderesse
La Bergere

(«Alas, murderess»). The murderess is the shepherdess Galathea whose flinty heart slays her faithful shepherd suitor Tyter, or so he claims. A Dutch songbook staple for several decades after the 1620s.

(«The shepherd»). The tune is Pierre Guédron’s 1620 air de cour «Sus, sus, sus, Bergers et Bergeretttes» (Come, come, shepherds and shepherdesses), cited in several Dutch songbooks. Marin Mersenne printed a setting of this tune (untitled and misattributed) for flute quartet in his Harmonie Universelle of 1636.

Derde Carileen

(«Third Caroline»). There were in all five tunes named for the shepherdess Carileen in the mid-century Dutch repertoire; they are found both separately and as a set. At least the first three come from English theater. This tune was written by William Lawes as a sinfonia for a 1638 masque; it’s the usual boy-wants-girl pastoral romp. Caroline texts have been found only for the first two in the set; presumably the last three had them also. To a lesser extent than the first two Carileens, the Third is found in various Dutch bergerettes and instrumental collections.

Doen Daphne d’over schoone Maeght
Stil, stil en reys

(«When Daphne the most beautiful maid»). Modern recordings have made Daphne one of the hits of the Lust-hof, but it was a 17th-century favorite as well. The text and tune come from a 1610s English ballad telling the classical tale of how Phoebus Apollo pursued Daphne so relentlessly that in desperation she cried out to the goddess Diana to turn her into a laurel tree.

(«Hush, hush a moment»). A French court dance made famous by its inclusion in Michael Praetorius’ monumental Terpsichore of 1612, this dance tune is found in sources from Rome to Scotland to Sweden throughout the 17th century. In the Netherlands, the tune was well-known for its text by Jan Starter praising the beauty of women–piece by piece, stanza by stanza.

Engels Nachtegaeltje

(«English nightingale»). Astonishingly, there are words to this quintessentially onomatopoetic tune, a 1630s English ballad about how the nightingale’s sweet song refreshes the tired senses of city dwellers; the second half of the tune mimics the bird song with the words «sweet sweet jug jug....» The tune is found in dozens of settings from all over northern Europe for a great variety of instruments, but Van Eyck was the only composer who had the idea of making the nightingale wax increasingly virtuosic.

Si vous me voules guerir
Courante

(«If you want me to recover»). Most of this French title made it to the Netherlands, but Francois de Chancy's 1635 air really read, «Si vous ne voulez me guerir.» In either case, it’s a tale of frustrated love, but Van Eyck’'s uncommon dotted-rhythm variations remain sprightly and unaware of it.

Baubles of French court life in the form of courants, airs, ballets, and sarabandes littered the landscape of Dutch bergerettes and instrumentalmusic in the 17th century. The source of the unnamed ones is as hard to identify as the proverbial needle in the haystack.

Wat zalmen op den Avond doen

(«What shall we do in the evening?»). The only originally German secular song in the Lust-hof, this rowdy come-on ballad is found in many late 16th-century German lute manuscripts. Its very simplicity makes it a perfect base for variation; Van Eyck gives it a runaway high of thirteen times while also using a greater variety of rhythmic patterns than he used in any other piece.

A few words about the instruments: The g altos have a dark, powerful sound which I find suitable for some of the slow movements. The construction principles of the larger instruments allow more differentiation in tone colour, providing interesting dynamics for the slow, melodic themes.

The so-called Rosenborg soprano is one of a small number of surviving instruments which have been around in van Eyck’s life-time. The original instrument is kept in Rosenborg Castle, a beautiful renaissance castle, a couple of minutes’ walk from where I live in central Copenhagen. The recorder is a precious instrument made of an exquisite material: narwhal tooth.

Both my instrument makers live down-under: Fred Morgan lives in Daylesford, a couple of hour's drive from Melbourne, Australia. Paul Whinray lives in Te Henga at the shores of the northern island of New Zealand. None of my work would have been possible without these unique artists. Thank you both.

Dan Laurin was born in Jönköping, Sweden, in 1960. In 1976, as an autodidact, he started his recorder studies at The Funen Conservatory of Music in Odense, Denmark. Dan Laurin's teachers were the late Ulla Wijk and Paul Nauta. In 1979 Dan Laurin received his Diploma and continued his studies in Copenhagen, were he made his debut in 1982. Dan Laurin had then spent half a year in Holland, taking lessons from amongst others Walter van Hauwe. The contact with professors Braun and van Hauwe was instrumental for his interest in contemporary recorder music.

The past 20 years Dan Laurin has been teaching on every possible level at academies of music in Scandinavia and Germany. Since 1980, he has held posts at the following academies: The Funen Conservatory of Music in Odense, Denmark (now The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music), The Conservatory of Music in Aalborg, Denmark, The Conservatory of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1992, Dan Laurin was appointed assistant professor of the recorder and interpretation of baroque music at The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, and the following year he was appointed professor of the recorder at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, Germany. For years, Dan Laurin conducted several lectures in Swedish and Danish radio on subjects like music aesthetics, as well as reviewing books and articles on music. He has been responsible for developing the Musician/Performer education at The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, a new concept focusing on contemporary music including stage technique, public relations, music technology, improvisation and body training. In the coming years, Dan Laurin will be guest professor at The National University for Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo.

Dan Laurin has been conducting master classes on a fairly regular basis in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany as well as in Australia, Japan and the United States. His teaching schedule also includes lectures on as diverse subjects as «The Neoplatonic Musical Universe», «Improvisation Practices in the 16th- and 17th century Music» and «Contemporary works by Japanese composers».

Last year Dan Laurin was awarded a Danish government grant enabling him to do research on recorder acoustics and sound techniques, the results of which will be published. The research, which aims at developing an individual recorder sound, is carried out in collaboration with leading scientist professor Joe Wolfe at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and Clas Pehrsson, The Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm, Sweden.

Dan Laurin has been fairly busy on the international concert stage for the past 10 years, following London (Purcell Room) and Paris (Louvre and Le Chatellet) debuts in the late eighties. He performs with his own groups as well as with orchestras like Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, Bach Collegium Japan, The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and Berlin Phil. The 1998 itinerary included three tours to Japan and two tours to USA, performances in London, Berlin, Estonia and the Scandinavian capitals. In 1999 Dan Laurin will perform at The Boston Early Music Festival as well as tour extensively in Japan, Estonia and Israel.

Dan Laurin’s recording contract with the BIS label keeps him very busy, and the Vivaldi release late 1993 was received as «Stern des Monats» by FonoForum, the foremost magazine on music in German 1994 saw three more releases: «The Japanese Recorder», Telemann/J.S. Bach/C.Ph. Bach and «The Swedish Recorder», including recorder concertos by Jan Sandström and Swedish jazz flutist Björn Jason Lindh as well as other works commissioned for him. The latter recording earned Dan Laurin the Swedish Association of Composers’ prize as best performer of Swedish contemporary music. In 1995, Dan Laurin was awarded a «Grammy» for these four BIS albums. Later releases includes French flute sonatas, Telemann chamber music, Vivaldi concertos with «Bach Collegium Japan», the Holmboe recorder concerto, the Handel sonatas, English concertos by Babell, Woodcock and Bastom with «Wassenaer Ensemble» and the complete «Der Fluyten Lust-Hof» (9 CDs) by Jacob van Eyck, the world’s largest solo work for any wind instrument.

In 1997 Dan Laurin was elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.