Carolyn’s Music

Jacob van Eyck (1589-1657) was a blind carillonnist and recorder player who worked in Utrecht. He is said to have sat in the garden next to the church where he worked and played variations on many popular tunes and psalms. These themes and variations were transcribed and published in Der Fluyten Lust-hof and are a valuable source for 17th century ornamentation. The Echo Fantasia is not a theme and variation, like most of van Eyck’s works, but rather an example of another popular genre, starting with a slow theme which converts to echo motifs once the piece is established.