A representative selection of organ works by Sweelinck is recorded on three very appropriate organs, all of which are tuned in meantone. Also included are two works by Scheidemann, and the variations on “The Woods so Wilde” by Byrd. The Oosthuizen instrument is dated 1521, while that at Hattem is from 1550. Both are single-manual, and speak boldly into spacious acoustics, giving us a taste of the sounds Sweelinck would have known. The third instrument is the reconstruction of a Schnitger by GOArt – a type of organ that would have been known by Sweelinck’s North German pupils, but which is much larger than he, himself, would have known.
Dimmock plays this music very persuasively, using the colours of each organ imaginatively and in line with the registration practices of this period. The temptation to use the large pedal section of the Örgryte organ in the third verse of Psalm 36 is the only place where the sound does not correspond with what Sweelinck might have known.
This is a highly desirable set, well-recorded and with fine sleeve notes and details of the organs…
– Douglas Hollick
Choir and Organ magazine, Jan/Feb 2009