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    Frederik Magle
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Who is your favorite organist?

branchporter

branchporter

New member
Favorite organist? That's so easy for me to answer.

I am in awe of 19 year old Gert van Hoef's abilities! Gert began playing by picking out pieces by ear at age 13. The next year he began music lessons and learned to read music. He is very proficient at playing from a score and by improvisation. His playing has gained him world wide attention. Gert presently attends the Royal Music Conservatory at The Hague, Netherlands; I expect he will go far, as both an organist and composer.

This video is a sampling of pieces to be played in concert. The first four pieces, and the Asma piece at 6:08 are played as written, and the other pieces are improvised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmI5b87OXgk

One of the first pieces Gert tackled was Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. He had just turned 13 and was unable to read music at the time, but set about learning it by ear and by watching videos. It's a bit abbreviated, and has a few mistakes, but it certainly was a harbinger of things to come!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKmpm8S3lVg

Five years and 133 videos later, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHGxpRoZQM
 
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