Jacob van Eyck: Wat zal men op den Avondt doen; Hanneke van Proosdij, recorder

One of Jacob van Eyck’s finest and most challenging compositions for the recorder, performed by Dutch recorder virtuoso Hanneke van Proosdij. High-definition video from the Early Music ensemble Voices of Music. Van Eyck’s compositions form the core of the recorder repertory in the 17th century, and his book “Der Fluyten Lust-hof“ is the largest and one of the most comprehensive works for a solo wind instrument in the literature of Western music. “Wat zal men op den Avondt doen“ (what men do in the evening) follows van Eyck’s pattern of theme and variations, but includes an unusual triple-meter transformation of the melody as well. The tune and its variations are based on a popular German song from the renaissance-- the text familiar to van Eyck was probably a Dutch translation of the original German: Was wölln wir auf den Abend thun? Schlafen wöllen wir gan. Schlafen gan ist wolgethan Schöne Jungfrau, wollt ihr mit uns gan? Schlafen wölln wir gahn. What are we going to do tonight? We want to sleep. Sleep is good. Pretty woman, come with us. We want to sleep. The song is mentioned in Constantijn Huygens’ poem “Hofwyck“ as a good song for the end of a party. En ’t andere, Wat sal men op den avond doen En ’t slot is, veel danckhebs, versegelt meet een’ soen For more information on van Eyck, we recommend Ruth van Baak Griffioen’s excellent book on van Eyck. Alto recorder in G by Peter van der Poel (pitch: 466Hz) Visit us on the web at