Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

Noordsche balk

(Dut.: ‘Nordic beam’).

The Dutch name for the various zithers of the Low Countries, either made of, or having the appearance of, the lengths of Scandinavian deal known as ‘Nordic beams’. (For further information see H. Boone: ‘De Hommel in de Lage Landen’, Brussels Museum of Musical Instruments Bulletin, v, 1975; special issue, incl. Eng. and Fr. summaries.)

For further bibliography, see Zither.

Noordt [Noort, Noord, Oort, Oord], van.

Dutch family of musicians. It included Sybrand (bur. Amsterdam, 28 Dec 1654), schoolmaster and carillonneur in Amsterdam and the three discussed below.

(1) Jacobus [Jacob] van Noordt

(2) Anthoni van Noordt

(3) Sybrandus [Sybrand] van Noordt

RANDALL H. TOLLEFSEN/JOHAN GISKES

Noordt, van

(1) Jacobus [Jacob] van Noordt

(b c1616; d 29 Dec 1680). Composer, flautist, organist, harpsichordist and carillonneur, son of Sybrand van Noordt. He was organist of Amsterdam’s Nieuwezijdskapel (1639–52) and of the Oude Kerk (1652–79) after the death of Dirck Sweelinck. His daughter Johanna (c1648–66) was married in 1665 to the organist, carillonneur and composer Dirck Scholl. He is represented by nine recorder solos in the collection ’t Uitnement Kabinet, ii (Amsterdam, 1649, 2/c1655).

Noordt, van

(2) Anthoni van Noordt

(b c1619; bur. Amsterdam, 23 March 1675). Composer and organist, brother of (1) Jacobus van Noordt. He was organist of the Nieuwezijdskapel at Amsterdam (1652–64) and of the Nieuwe Kerk there (1664–73). His only known works were printed in Tabulatuur-boeck van psalmen en fantasyen (Amsterdam, 1659; the only known copy is in PL-Kj; MS copy by A.G. Ritter, 1882, NL-DHgm; ed. in UVNM, xix, 1896, 3/1976; psalms only ed. P. Pidoux, Kassel, 1954). It contains ten psalm settings (nine with variations) and six fugal fantasias in the style of J.P. Sweelinck. These works show a mature technique and contrapuntal mastery and demonstrate that almost 40 years after his death the tradition founded by Sweelinck was still alive in the Netherlands and that it was not only his German pupils who carried it forward. The Tabulatuur-boeck is also important for its unusual notation: the notes to be played by the hands are distributed over two six-line staves (so-called Anglo-Dutch notation); with two exceptions the pedal notes are printed under the lower staff in German organ tablature.

Noordt, van

(3) Sybrandus [Sybrand] van Noordt

(bap. Amsterdam, 10 Aug 1659; bur. Amsterdam, 25 Feb 1705). Organist, harpsichordist and composer, son of (1) Jacobus van Noordt. He was organist of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (1679–92), and of the Grote Kerk, Haarlem (1692–4), where he was also carillonneur. He then returned to Amsterdam, where he assisted Claes Noorden and Jan Albert de Grave in the Amsterdam bell and gun foundry in or after 1694. His portrait was engraved in 1702 by Peter Schenck (not, as sometimes said, a brother of the composer Johannes Schenck). His only surviving compositions are a set of virtuoso Sonate per il cimbalo appropriate al flauto & violino (Amsterdam, c1701, 2/c1705/R as Mêlange italien). The first is for treble recorder and continuo (ed. W.H. Thijsse, Hilversum, n.d.; ed. R. Verhagen and J. Silvis, Amsterdam, 1978); the second, for violin and continuo, also appears as no.3, arranged for two violins; and the last is for harpsichord alone (ed. in W.H. Thijsse, Oud-Nederlandsche speelmuziek, xiv, The Hague, n.d.; ed. H. Brandts Buys, The Hague, n.d.). This sonata in an almost Vivaldian idiom, is the most interesting of the set, and the first solo harpsichord sonata composed in the Netherlands.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

S. Groenveld and J.B. den Hertog: ‘Twee musici, twee stromingen: een boek-octrooi voor Anthoni van Noordt en een advies van Constantijn Huygens, 1659’, Veelzijdigheid als levensvorm: facetten van Constantijn Huygens’ leven en werk: een bundel studies ter gelegenheid van zijn driehonderdste sterfdag, ed. A.T. van Deursen, E.K. Grootes and P.E.L. Verkuyl (Deventer, 1987), 109–27

J.H. Giskes: ‘Jacobus van Noordt (ca.1616–1680), organist van Amsterdam’, Amstelodamum Jaarboek, lxxxi (1989), 83–123

R. Verhagen: Sybrandus van Noordt: organist van Amsterdam en Haarlem 1659–1705 (Amsterdam, 1989)

H. van Nieuwkoop: ‘Anthoni van Noordt and the Organs of Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam’, Organ Yearbook, xxi (1990), 35–49

H. van Nieuwkoop: ‘Anthoni van Noordt and Matthias Weckmann: Two Contemporaries’, Weckmann Symposium: Göteborg 1991, 185–97

Noorsaid, Irwan [Iwang]

(b Jakarta, 26 July 1967). Indonesian composer and performer. After studying music at an early age with his father, the jazz trumpeter Said Kelana, he began piano lessons at the age of eight and jazz studies at fifteen. In the 1970s and 80s Noorsaid played in the well-known band run by his family, The Kids, and often gave piano recitals. In 1994 he formed an experimental jazz group named Sketsa (‘Sketches’), in which elements of traditional Sundanese percussion music are placed in a jazz context. Noorsaid's success in creating this new idiom signified the beginning of a new phase in the development of jazz in Indonesia, and contributed to his prominence in the Indonesian experimental jazz scene. With this group he has also collaborated with visual artists to create multimedia jazz performances. As well as his work with Sketsa, he has joined with Indonesian pop musicians to form Gelombang Putih (‘White Wave’), an experimental group featuring music with an environmental theme.

FRANKI RADEN