MLB 86
Hymn Tune Arrangement
Londonderry Air
arr. Olaf Ritman
PROGRAM NOTE
This arrangement of Londonderry Air (T.B. 736) was written specifically for the composer’s mother-in-law. It is one of her favourite tunes and after asking for an arrangement for several years, it finally came to fruition. This rendition offers a fresh and original feel to a tune that is well-known and has been arranged many times. It is hoped that the listener finds comfort in the lyrics (S.A.S.B.171) penned by William Young Fullerton. The second verse is perhaps the most poignant:
I cannot tell how silently He suffered,
As with His peace He graced this place of tears,
Or how His heart upon that cross was broken,
The crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, He heals the brokenhearted,
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
For yet the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is here.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Olaf Ritman is a Salvationist from the Netherlands. He has grown up in a Salvation Army family with Salvationist parents and grandparents. His father and grandfather were active bandmasters in several corps. He started playing the cornet at the age of 10 and began learning the piano soon after. From a young age, Olaf developed an interest in composing and conducting. At the age of 22, he took up the baton to become bandmaster at his home corps.
Presently, Olaf is the bandmaster of the Amsterdam Staff Band. He first joined the band on solo cornet in 2000 and became the deputy bandmaster in 2006. In 2009, he accepted his position as staff bandmaster and joined a distinguished array of musical directors that helped build the Netherland’s fine brass band tradition, including musicians such as Bernard Verkaaik, Fokke Palstra, Cor Nieuwland, Dick Krommenhoek and Howard Evans.
Olaf is an Information Technology teacher at a vocational school in Ede, Netherlands.
He soldiers at the Valleistreek corps along with his wife, Marleen and their two children, Julian and Mieke.