Cor Edskes

Cornelius H. Edskes (also Cor Edskes ) (* 1925 in Groningen) is a Dutch organ expert and leading Arp Schnitger researchers.

Life and work

Edskes was born the son of Albert Hendrik Edskes, chief clerk at the court in Groningen, and Gritje (from Marguerite ) de Graaf and grew up in Groningen, the eldest of four musical brothers on. Since 1941 he plays at the Schnitger organ of Uithuizen and is since 1944 organist at the Groninger Doopsgezindekerk.

He was influenced by his teachers Friso Molenaar, George Stam and Flor Peeters, but also by Helmut Walcha. In his early years he gave organ concerts at home and abroad and made radio recordings, gave this later but for the benefit of its organological research and his work as an organ expert on. The practical organ building he learned at the company Doornbos in Groningen.

From 1957 to 1963 Edskes was a member of the organ committee of the Dutch Reformed Church and accompanied at this time about 50 organ projects, restoration and new construction. From 1963 to 1968 he worked as an assistant to HL Oussoren for the Dutch heritage conservation and has been involved in over 30 restorations of historical instruments. Then he was free organ expert.

For the organological magazine Het organ he was editor from 1954 to 1957 and from 1957 to 1963 chief editor.

As with his brother, the organ builder Bernhardt Edskes, the work of Arp Schnitger forms the focus of his interest. With Gustav Fock began a collaboration from 1939, as Edskes for its Schnitger Biography inventoried the organs of the province of Groningen. Edskes was an expert with more than 30 restoration projects, including at the Schnitger organ in Stade / St. Cosmae (1972-1975), Cappel (1976/1977), the Martinikerk in Groningen (1976/1984), in Grasberg (1980-1985), Lüdingworth (1981/1982), stone churches (1987/1991) and Hamburg / St. Jacobi (1993).

Edskes is one of the most internationally renowned organ experts in the field of organ restoration and reconstruction. He got his own detailed documentation standards for historically informed organ building in theory and practice. Organ pipes are measured and described using up to 30 criteria. For the proportions of the rows of pipes and housing conditions Edskes has further developed the system for the collection and presentation of data. Already in the 1950s he was involved in the restoration of the oldest instruments of the organ East Frisian countryside by Ahrend & Brunzema, the organs in Westerhusen (1955), Uttum (1956 /57) and Rysum (1959 /60). At his suggestion Meantone was here for the first time in the history of restoration again of instruments for worship practice created and implemented the original keyboard circumferences with short octave. In Sweden, he was the expert in the reconstruction of the organ in Elsinore (1960) and the restoration of the organ in Roskilde Cathedral (1991) and in the castle Claus Holm (1997), in Norway in the organs of the Kongsberg Kirke (1993) and the Røros Kirke ( 1994-1996).

In the Netherlands Edskes was sporadically active in organ building in the 1950s, so in the voicing of the organs in Nieuwolda (1950) and the Groningen Martinikerk ( Rückpositiv, 1952). For Ruinerwold 1951, he designed a new Rückpositiv. Together with Simon Graafhuis he reconstructed from 1955 to 1958 three registers of the Schnitger organ in Noordbroek and presented in this way the original disposition of the Rückpositiv restores. More Dutch projects where Edskes offering advice and support, were the organs in Amsterdam / Nieuwe Kerk (main and choir organ ), Groningen / Nieuwe Kerk, Medemblik, Kantens and 't Zandt. With the German organ builder Jürgen Ahrend and the Swedish organ building Marcussen fruitful cooperation arose. Mediated by Edskes they created in the Netherlands several new organs and restored there significant historical organ works. A highlight was the restoration of the Schnitgerorgel in the Groningen Martinikerk by Ahrend.

In 1996 he received for his services to the organ project The North German Organ Research Project at Göteborg University, an honorary doctorate from the University of Gothenburg.