Fokkelien Oosterwijk, minister of the Westerkerk in Amsterdam and Jos van der Kooy, cantor-organist of the same church wrote the Calvin Cantata in the context of the commemoration of the 500th birthday of John Calvin. The cantata was first performed on Sunday 18 January 2009 during a cantata service in the Westerkerk. This service concluded the National Calvin Week organised by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. The Vrije Universiteit commissioned the writing of the Calvin Cantata. The instrumentation is bass-baritone, four-part mixed choir and one, possibly two organs. If desired, the congregation or the public can participate in the performance by singing along to the psalms at the indicated places. The cantata lasts 28 to 32 minutes.




A dialogue between past and present is the starting point of the cantata. The dialogue is conducted by Calvijn, sung by the bass-baritone, the choir and the congregation. From the perspective of the 21st century, the choir poses critical questions to Calvijn. The choir, congregation and ultimately also Calvijn himself sing psalms from the Geneva Psalter, which was commissioned by Calvijn. Fokkelien Oosterwijk chose the 1968 rhyme that is included in the Hymn Book for the Churches. The psalm melodies provide building blocks for Calvijn's solo part and for the choir parts. A few settings of psalms closely follow those of Claude Goudimel. However, Genevan melodies are also suitable as a starting point for music in a contemporary sound idiom. The music switches from present to past - and back again. Illustration of the text is the starting point.

During the performances in the Westerkerk, the organ part was divided over two organs. The organ part can also be performed on a single organ. That organ must have at least two keyboards. A sixteen-foot register on the pedal is desirable. As for the instrumentation, it should be noted that the choir part is within the reach of a well-led amateur choir. The soloist, organist(s) and conductor should preferably be professional musicians in order to achieve a good result. During the performance in the Westerkerk in Amsterdam, soloist Wout Oosterkamp stood in various places in the church. He sang part C from the vault, part F at the main organ. He started part I at the back of the church. Then he walked to the choir during bars 317, 318 and 319. He sang bars 320 to 368 close to the choir. In part M he started in front of the pulpit, bars 475 to 488 he sang from the pulpit, after all, Calvin is admonishing the congregation there. Walking he then sang bars up to 501. From bar 501 he sang with the choir. Other solutions are possible, depending on the layout of the church and the acoustic possibilities of the building. It is important that the distance is maximal at the beginning and that this distance is bridged in the course of the piece. A performance without spatial effects is of course also possible.

The tempo indications and dynamic signs are to be considered as a general indication. Liveliness, coupled with freedom, benefits the performance.

The following psalms appear in the cantata: psalm 8, all verses, psalm 19, verses 1, 3, 5 and 6, psalm 61, all verses and psalm 150, all verses. The harmonisations of psalm 19, verses 5 and 6, and of psalm 61, verse 4, are largely or entirely borrowed from those of Claude Goudimel.