CD Imaginary Day, track 17: Grand jeu de tierce, clairon, flageolet et bouteilles, organ Stevenskerk Nijmegen

The title refers to a registration used in organ music from the French Baroque, the Grand jeu de tierce. Here, we have the principles 16', 8', and 2', with flutes 8' and 4', the 6' and tertian 31/2' of the great manual. This registration is used for a left hand variable ostinato producing a sound reminiscent of bell-ringing. Except for a carefully made African drum, the percussion used here is quite primitive: two empty wine bottles, a smaller soft drink bottle, two copper jugs and a larger tin jug. Placed on a chair and to the right side of the organ bench, these can all be played by a wooden stick held in the right hand. The bottles were specifically chosen for their pitch and quality of sound in a large church. The main melody is for the Clairon 4' of the pedal, like a cantus firmus which distinguishes itself from the accompaniment by sustained notes and a different timbre. The piece is concluded with the modest, bright sound of the copper jugs, played with a small copper stick,  rather than the wooden stick used at the beginning. The video shows the sketches which serves the improvisation; melodic outlines for the left hand and feet and indications for the use of the percussion instruments.

CD Imaginary Day, track 16: African Drum, organ Stevenskerk Nijmegen

African Drum continues the mysterious mood of night, already provoked by the preceding piece. The upper voice is played by the right hand, alternating between the half-stopped 4' of the great manual and the bourdon 16' and bourdon 8' of the positive. The lower voice is played by the pedal, coupled to the great manual. The left hand plays a drum with an iron gosoeah (a Ghanian bell attached to a stick).

In the years after, I played the piece slower and it became then known as Stillness, also for piano.

CD Imaginary Day, track 15: Come and Dream, organ Stevenskerk Nijmegen

This track marks the beginning of the third group of seven pieces, representing late evening and night. The accompaniment is provided by a high aliquot of the third manual, only partially open, which means that some tubes make no sound at all, while other emit hissing sounds. Pressing certain combinations of key changes the colour, rather like an electronic filter. The melody, played with 8' foundation stops, has an ABACA structure. The C section ascends to the highest notes; after this there is a shortened recapitulation of the first section. Of the several recordings which were made of the piece, this has been selected to include the sound of church bells and children, which here contribute to the atmosphere.

Transcribing an improvisation: CD Imaginary Day, track 14: Dolcezza, organ Domkerk

From time to time, I think that in a certain improvisation every note is on the right place. That is the case with Dolcezza and I made a transcription of the improvisation, so that it may be played as a composition. The accompaniment figure, played with a stopped flute 8' above a low 16' organ point, should be steady but not metronomic. The melody, played with a flute 4', often sounds just before or after the accompaniment's beats, creating an impression of free rhythm.

It is with this kind of Dolcezza that I intend to play the slow movements of Bach's trio sonatas.

Originally, the improvisation was played on the Loret-organ at the St. Willibrorduskerk in Berkel-Enschot, where I was an organist at the time. A recording of this was issued on my CD Meditations for a lent.

CD Imaginary Day, track 13: Bagpipes, organ St. Willibrorduskerk, Berkel-Enschot

Bagpipes is cheerful from beginning to end. It begins with a canon between two voices, played on two manuals, using 4' flutes. The feet play a droning perfect fourth. Halfway the piece, the canon and drone are interrupted and the movements accelerates. Repetitive figures, with ascending chromatic alternations, establish a new tonal center. The main melody returns, quicker and more exalted than at the beginning. In the final section, both melody and accompaniment rise to the highest register, expressing a great joy.

CD Imaginary Day, track 12: Anyi Bialale, organ St. Willibrorduskerk, Berkel-Enschot

Anyi Bialale is a short religious song from Cameroon. The right hand plays the cheerful melody as a typical African ostinato and a rhythmical counterpoint, which gradually becomes more intense. The left hand plays a number of small Indian bells. At 1:18, the pedal, coupled to the trumpet of the manual, introduces a new motif. It sounds rather like a snarl, gradually swelling, and at the end explodes the entire scene, like an African part which goes out of hand. At the end there seems to be a certain perplexity about what has occurred.

CD Imaginary Day, track 11: Jeux de fonds, Carillon and Bicycle Horn, organ Stevenskerk Nijmegen

Jeux de fonds, Carillon and Bicycle Horn refers to the French tradition in the seventeenth and eighteenth century of naming organ pieces after their registration. The classical "jeux de fonds" (foundation stops) and the carillon are combined with a small horn, to be attached to a bicycle's steering wheel. This horn produces a interval of a major second corresponding to the A-flat and B-flat of the organ in Nijmegen. Because of this, F minor is the tonality of the piece. At the end, the left hand rubs a stick gently against a bottle, the glassy sound breaking the carillon tremolo. A fortissimo drum blow, also used in tracks 17 and 20, finishes the piece.