Litzau, Johannes Barend 09/09/1822 - 07/18/1893

Johannes Barend Litzau was a Dutch organist and composer. He was born in Rotterdam. It was quickly apparent that he had a special talent for music. He became an organist at 20 and soon mastered the entire theoretical underpinning of it, the queen of all the instruments. He drew upon the masterpieces of Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, Palestrina, Sweelinck, Pachelbel, Bach and Handel, whose work had great influence on his own compositions. At the same time, he did not reject modern, Romantic influences. He was called upon as an expert for examining organs and organists. In the last years of his life he focused on publishing his own organ compositions.