Compact Disc CMR 106-2
CAD$ 21.99
Cassette 106-4
CAD$ 14.99
1. Abide With Me (Eventide) William Henry Monk [1’02’’]
2. I Love The Lord (Genevan 116) Maistre Pierre / Harm Hoeve [4’28’’]
3. As a Deer Pants For the Water Martin Nystrom / Harm Hoeve [2’28’’]
4. Praise the Lord With Drums and Cymbals Sigfrid Karg-Elert / Harm Hoeve [3’22’’]
5. With All My Heart (Genevan 138) Louis Bourgeois / Harm Hoeve [8’08’’]
6. All Through the Night (Old Welsh Air) Trad. / Noortje Van Middelkoop [3’06’’]
7. Interludium: Prelude in Classic Style Gordon Young / Harm Hoeve [2’26’’]
8. I Need Thee Every Hour (Need) Robert S. Lowry / Noortje Van Middelkoop / Harm Hoeve [3’52’’]
9. Our Faithful God Makes Plans (Gregor’s 112th Metre) Christian Gregor / Harm Hoeve [3’34’’]
10. Abba Father David Bilbrough / Noortje Van Middelkoop [3’57’’]
11. Alleluia Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Harm Hoeve [2’46’’]
12. Yerushala’im Shel Zahav Naomi Shemer / Noortje Van Middelkoop [8’22’’]
13. Trumpet Voluntary Henry Purcell / Harm Hoeve [3’12’’]
14. Greensleeves Trad. / Harm Hoeve [2’46’’]
15. Great is Thy Faithfulness (Faithfulness) William M. Runyan / Harm Hoeve [5’09’’]
16. The Lord’s My Shepherd (Crimond) Jessie Seymour Irvine / Harm Hoeve [3’17’’]
17. There is a Redeemer Keith Green / Noortje Van Middelkoop [1’49’’]
18. Praise Be To The Lord (Rule Britannia) George Frideric Handel / Thomas Arne / Harm Hoeve [3’01’’]
19. Abide With Me (Eventide) William Henry Monk / Harm Hoeve [5’06’’]
Total Time 73’15’’
"Come visit us on a Sunday sometime. We have a twelve-year-old organist in our church who plays very well," my sister told me. I visited her and heard Harm Hoeve play the organ during a worship service at the Reformed Church of Rouveen, The Netherlands. After the service I talked with him and a lasting friendship began. Soon after that I made an amateur recording of Harm’s organ playing, which included the sparkly toccatine on Psalm 122, "I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord,’ " by Leen Schippers and some improvisations. This recording caused the director of our youth choir to ask if perhaps Harm would be willing to play for a professional recording of our choir. Thus it happened that Harm, fourteen years old at the time, played for his first recording. Now — twenty years later — Harm is quite familiar with being recorded. He has participated in at least fifty CDs which include three solo organ recordings and two instrumental recordings with music arranged and performed by himself and some of his musical friends.
When Theresa and I got married in 1992, I offered to organize a concert tour for Harm in exchange for the favour that he would play the organ at our wedding service. Willem Van Suydam, an other professional organist, told me after our wedding service that he had never before enjoyed the music of a wedding service as much as during our wedding. Since the concert tour of Harm had been a great success we offered to organize a second one in 1995. Harm commented that he should perhaps take Noortje Van Middelkoop along to play the panflute. Thus their first Canadian concert tour was held — an even greater success than Harm’s first tour by himself. It was during this time — in which we also made a recording of our children’s choir — that my nephew, Richard Buitenhuis, as the concert manager, became closely acquainted with Noortje Van Middelkoop. A courtship developed and Noortje robbed me of a valuable assistant: Richard soon returned to the Netherlands.
It was during the honeymoon of Richard and Noortje that we discussed the second Canadian concert tour of Harm & Noortje and we decided that a lasting memento should be made in the form of a new Compact Disc with mainly instrumental hymns. The result of this can soon be obtained by sending an email to
It is our prayer that in a time when especially young people are expected to enjoy a degenerated form of music, in which the beat becomes more important than the tune, this recording may assist to re-form the taste of music so that God may be glorified. That to Him alone belongs all the glory is the conviction of these musicians.
Church Music & Records is pleased to produce this recording, the first Compact Disc of Noortje Van Middelkoop & Harm Hoeve.
A word of thanks is due to the other participants of this recording:
Anja Van Der Maten, Oboe; Hendrie Westra, Xylophone; and Arjan & Edith Post, Trumpet.
We also would like to thank the recording team under the direction of Jan Quintus Zwart.
Roelof A. Janssen
The Panflute
The panflute is a centuries old instrument which came into existence in various places of the world. The panflutes which are used in this recording originate from Romania. They have a curved form, are made of bamboo, and are tuned in the key of G. The semi tones can be played by changing the direction of the air flow. In this manner one can play in all keys. The soprano panflute, which is the most common, has 22 pipes and a range of three octaves from g1 to g4. The alto panflute has 26 pipes and ranges from c1 to g4. The tenor panflute has 23 pipes and ranges from g to a3. The bass panflute has 21 pipes and ranges from b to a2. Each panflute has its own timbre and its own possibilities. The different sounds of these instruments can be identified on this recording especially in All Through the Night. Originally the panflute was used in Romanian folklore orchestras in combination with e.g. cymbal, violin, accordion, and contrabass. Today the panflute can be heard in combination with many other instruments such as piano, harp, harpsichord, guitar, oboe, and flute. The organ and panflute are a very good combination of sounds especially since the panflute can be seen as a predecessor of the organ. Besides the traditional Romanian music, many different styles of music can be played on the panflute, such as popular music, classical music, and church music.
Noortje Van Middelkoop
Noortje Van Middelkoop (1973) began taking panflute lessons at the Regional School of Music in Amersfoort with Trees De Rijk and Damian Luca. In 1991 Noortje continued her studies at the Hilversum Conservatory with Nicolae Pīrvu. She also followed master classes with Simon Stanciu and Gheorghe Zamfir. In 1996 she completed her final exams cum laude, and in 1998 received her UM (Uitvoerend Musicus = Performing Musician) diploma. Noortje gives many concerts using the organ or piano as primary accompanying instruments. She often performs with choirs or vocal groups and has participated in many CD recordings. Noortje has made concert tours in Canada, England, Israel, Norway, and Romania.
Harm Hoeve was born at Rouveen (the Netherlands) on December 4, 1964. Already at a very young age he was attracted to the organ. It was not surprising that after he finished his Athenaeum-education he went to the Zwolle conservatory. There he studied Organ under Harm Jansen to become a teaching and performing musician. In 1990 he successfully completed his studies as a performing musician and in church music. At the Hilversum Conservatory he studied Piano with Matthijs Verschoor. He also studied with Piet Kee and Guy Bovet at the International Summer Academy for Organists at Haarlem, The Netherlands. At twenty four years of age, Harm obtained first prize at the "International Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival" in Deventer.
Besides being active as a director of several choirs and giving concerts in the Netherlands, Harm has performed in Canada, Germany, Israel, Russia, Scotland, and the United States of America.