Some Thoughts on Playing the Organ by Willem Tanke: Desseins éternels/Eternal Destinies/Eeuwige bestemmingen, preliminary exercise

19/12/2012

Desseins éternels/Eternal Destinies/Eeuwige bestemmingen, preliminary exercise

This is the ninth blog post to document the preparation of my performance of Olivier Messiaen's 'La Nativité du Seigneur' at the Orgelpark in Amsterdam on 21 December, 2012 at 20.15 h
Nederlandse tekst zie onder de video

This video shows a preliminary exercise for the piece: to play the accompaniment with the left hand and the feet in a slow, regular rhythm. In this way, the performer can fully concentrate on fluent chord progressions.

Deze video laat een voorbereidende oefening voor het stuk zien: het spelen van de begeleiding met de linkerhand en de voeten in een langzaam, regelmatig tempo. Op deze manier kan de uitvoerder zich geheel concentreren op vloeiende akkoordverbindingen.

About

As a classical organist I have been a prominent Messiaen and Reger interpreter since the '90s. Nowadays Bach interpretation is my main classical project. This is represented by my research "Dancing Bach on the organ". At the same time, as an improviser and a performing composer, I have been creating a new musical language which brings together musicians with avant-jazz, avant-pop, Western classical and traditional African and Asian backgrounds. I now relate this to my Bach interpretation.