The beginning                                    

Of course we start at the beginning and that was on the 25th of May of 1946, the day I was born in Rotterdam. My sister Irma was born before me in 1942 and Marianne after me in 1948. This makes me a babyboomer. My family were members of the Vrije Evangelische Gemeente in the Jan van Looslaan. My father had a shoe shop in Rotterdam-Delfshaven and we lived above the store until 1953. In 1953 we moved to Rotterdam-Schiebroek and became members of the Dutch Reformed church. That I was born in a musical family is illustrated in the following photo from 1949. The harmonium was centrally placed and the family placed around.

Gezin van Esch - 1949
My mother, Marianne, me, my father and Irma ( 1949 )

That the musical quality of my family wasn‘t an accident is illustrated by three generations of van Esch. My grandpa was the first in line. He was a great admirer of the organ and made four chorale settings for the organ. My grandmother also played her part.

Oma van Esch-1958
Grandma van Esch ( 67 jaar ) - 1958

Pa-1946- aan het harmonium
My father ( 28 years old ) - 1946
Cor en Marianne - Kerst 1958
My ( 12 years old ) and my sister Marianne
 ( 10 years old ) - Christmas 1958
Irma - piano
My sister Irma ( 21 years old ) with the cat on the piano 1963

It needs no explanation to ascertain that in our family music played a daily role. We were brought up with it as it were. Not only the organ, but Strauss, James Last (my mother), Chopin ( Irma ) and radio Veronica ( Marianne ) were frequently played, with the caveat that radio Veronica was banned when my father was around.Many friends who liked and played ( organ ) music visited my parental home, for instance a cellist and a composer. Many friends who liked and played ( organ ) music visited my parental home, for instance a cellist and a composer. Every week we had a lot of fun, humour and seriousness alternating each other. This was very valuable for us as a family. Through the years family life was repeatedly affected by setbacks. The love for music, which united us, was an unconditional fundament for our later life

Especially my
mother was an invaluable inspiration for me.She was able to enjoy the music so intensively that it gave me all the more reason to work hard and give thevery best of myself.

Next to family life, two giants in the world of organs left an indelible mark on my musical development.
I am talking about the legendary organists Feike Asma and his German counterpart Karl Richter. 


feike Asma
Feike Asma ( 1912 - 1984 )
Karl Richter
Karl Richter ( 1926 - 1981 )

The first time that I heard them play was on the gramophone record. Around christmas of 1956 my father receiced a  45 rpm record  I think it was one of the first - if not the first 45-rpm record ofFeike Asma from the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam - with on the one side the Toccata in F of Jules Grison and the Cantilene of Joseph Rheinberger on the other side. When I heard this record, I was overwhelmed by the sound of the organ which came to life through Asma’s playing. This never changed.

Several years later our family friend Bert van Mourik, conductor of the I.J.E. choir in Overschie, came up with something nice. It were of three LP's with the organ concerts by Händel, played by Karl Richter, while simultaneously conducting the Munich Bach Orchester. Karl Richter was the organist of the St -Markuskirche in Munich. The virtuoso technique and registration of the concertos opened doors for me to a new appreciation of the organ.

A bigger contrast between the two artists is hardly conceivable, but for that very reason it is incredibly fascinating to see and hear them both at work. For me, these two people are the guiding thread or fundament of my practice as an organist.


This site doesn’t have the intention to give an extensive discussion of their musical work. On the internet an enormous amount of information is available about them.

Now let’s go to work to actually let the organ ‘speak’.


engeltje