Pereboom & Leijser

Pereboom & Leijser,  the well-known Dutch organ builders, who were based in Maastricht in the Netherlands between 1850 to 1899, were very productive during a long period, both producing and restoring instruments in the area.

Willem Theodoor Pereboom was born in Maastricht on June 20th, 1828 and he met Johannes Josephus Leijser, who was born in Huissen on January 1st, 1820, at the workshop of organ builder Hypolite Loret in Brussels where both were employed. There is little known about these early years of their collaboration. The only information available from that time is found in local newspapers and descriptions of organs made by Gregoir and others.

The following instruments date from these early times: the organ of Heer (Maastricht) which has an old case (old materials were reused). Early restorations were carried out to the organs of the Lutherse Kerk in Maastricht; Voerendaal and of Veldwezelt (Belgium). In both Holland and Belgium are found the organs of Kesselt, Breust-Eijsden, Tongeren St. Jan, Klimmen, Neeritter, Gors Opleeuw and the burnt organ of St. Servais in Liège. A cashbook from 1866 which has survived details many interesting facts about various organs and the work done on them. Important instruments dating from that time can be found in both Holland and Belgium: Amstenrade, Wijck - Maastricht and Elsloo; in 's Gravenvoeren, Boirs, Homburg, St. Jean Sart, Liège Ste. Foi, Liège Filles de la Croix, Liège St. Walburga, Liers, Alleur, Heks, Vreren, and Vliermaal. Restorations were carried out in most city churches in Verviers, Liège and Maastricht.

Many historic instruments have been saved from destruction thanks to the awareness of the two organ builders who had a certain respect for the past. Pereboom & Leyser didn't just rip everything out which they encountered, as was quite common practice in those days, but they reused many old materials for the restoration with new adaptations and contemporary parts added, e.g. salicionals, open Flûtes, etc. Examples of this are the organs of Gronsveld and the Lutherse Kerk, in Maastricht. Each had an independent pedal added, while many historic registers were kept. The same applies to the organs of the Waalse Kerk and St. Matthiaskerk, and also the two basilicas in Maastricht; the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk and the St. Servaaskerk. Pereboom & Leijser's way of working can best be compared with a well-known Dutch architect from that time, Pierre Cuypers. This architect's rigorous way of dealing with monuments can easily be criticised (e.g. the Munsterkerk in Roermond), on the other hand one does have to remember that without Cuypers' influence many historic buildings would probably have been lost for ever. Adaptations have to be seen in the light of their time, when there was no historical perspective as today and when one did not have access to the numerous information sources available now. Communications were limited as was the ability to travel to places of interest in reasonable time. Our historic heritage, nowadays better appreciated, was then considered of little importance in the 19th century; the time of the Industrial Revolution and of many innovations. The present and the future were considered to be a lot more important than the past. There was, however, the beginning of a new appraisal of the past, but only in minorities. It is in this light that the work of organ builders like Pereboom & Leijser can be seen. During the first few years of their career their style could best be characterised as moderately conservative. They produced their first organs still under the influence of organ builders from the first half of the 19th century, such as Binvignat and Loret. As they experimented they gained valuable experience. Despite similarities with late 18th century organs, P. & L.'s approach was untypical, being less on traditional laying-on of stops (like aliquots, used by former organ builders like Joseph Binvignat), but more on new registers like strings and open Flûtes, which became important with a preference for the eight foot stops. The pedal was often attached to the manual and counted hardly more than three stops: the 16' montre or sousbasse, the open Flûte and sometimes the bombarde. Planning with later organs changed gradually with the accent more and more on the symphonic element, under influence of Aristide Cavaille-Coll in France. Some instruments of that time were more classic in style.

The pinnacle of the symphonic organ building style was the organ of the St. Martinuskerk, Wijck - Maastricht (1878). Another example is the Sainte Foi in Liège (see picture right), which is in a bad condition. The organ at Wijck has 30 stops divided over three manuals and a self-supporting pedal, a swellboard and an appel d'anches. With 6 reeds it is the biggest organ that the company ever built, although one should not forget to mention the impressive restoration of the organ in the St. Servaaskerk at Maastricht.

Another brilliant organ which has characteristics both in classical and symphonic sense is the one of St. Augustinuskerk, Elsloo (1876); this wonderful instrument also features on the above mentioned CD. These were the best years of the company and they won many orders from over a very extended area which reached from Nijmegen right down to the Ardennes, and spread further from Verviers to Brussels. Pereboom & Leyser had many of the most important historic organs of the Meuse region under their supervision, especially in the bigger towns. Many of the instruments built by P. & L. have survived, which certainly confirms their craftmanship. Although many instruments are in very bad condition, one can still see their pure style, even with smaller instruments; the superb tone-building of the pipes, the dedication and concern with which the instruments were made.

(Text taken from: cd TRA 1997-01)

Nameplate Veldwezelt (B)

Disposition of the organ at the Augustinuskerk in Elsloo (1876)

Grand Orgue C−g3
Bourdon 16 p
Montre 8 p
Flûte 8 p
Viola di Gamba 8 p
Bourdon 8 p
Prestant 4 p
Flûte 4 p
Doublette 2 p
Fourniture III
Cornet sup. V
Trompette 8 p
Clairon 4 p

Positif C−g3
Bourdon 8 p
Salicional 8 p
Melophone 8 p
Flûte trav. sup. 8 p
Prestant 4 p
Flûte 4 p
Dolce 4 p
Basson 8 p

Pedale C−d2
Montre 16 p
Flûte 8 p
Bombarde 16 p

 Console of Pereboom & Leyser organ of the Martinuskerk in Wyck-Maastricht

The Dutch book "Pereboom and Leijser, Organ Builders in Maastricht" was published in Holland in 1998 and released that summer. It was presented together with Ton Reijnaerdts' 1st CD.

It was reviewed in Dutch Organ Magazine "De orgelvriend" (Nov. 98 issue) and was described as (translated:)"...a real recommendation, because it is very exciting as a reading as well as a picture book...". Another review appeared in the Belgian magazine of "Orgelkunst" in the recent March (99) issue, where the reviewer says: "...The authors state: "This book is a study in musical history and the building of musical instruments which includes many interesting items for the organist and/or organ lover" - But for me personally it is actually very much more than that: it's an indispensible work of reference..."

The book is indeed an interesting and well researched reference book which goes into great detail and contains well over 200 organ photographs. It was published by the "S.O.L." foundation and was an initiative from Henk van Loo, (secretary of the S.O.L.) and Ton Reijnaerdts who took all the organ photographs. It was written in Dutch by Frans Jespers and contains a wealth of information, ideal for the organ lover who takes a great interest in this subject.

Unfortunately the book is not available in the English language, but there is a French Summary included for each Chapter.