An Anniversary Concert
The 31-tone system, an invention from 1691 by the renowned physicist Christiaan Huygens that allowed modulation between keys within the 16th- and 17th-century meantone tuning, came to the attention of another famous physicist, Professor Adriaan Fokker, in 1942. This moment marked a turning point in Fokker’s life, after which he devoted his attention primarily to music and, years later, commissioned the construction of a full 31-tone organ, the so-called Fokker organ.
In 2015, it was 65 years since the Fokker organ was built by organ builder Pels and installed in the Teylers Museum in Haarlem. This unique instrument has now reached retirement age, yet the 31-tone music it can produce is more alive than ever. In 2009, the Fokker organ was relocated to its current home in the Kleine Zaal of the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ. Since that time, dozens of new works have been composed for the instrument by both emerging and established composers.
It is now time to celebrate this legacy with an overview and cross-section of the rich and distinctive repertoire of Adriaan Fokker’s 31-tone organ. The programme will include works by Anthon van der Horst, Sebastian Dumitrescu, Michelangelo Rossi, Peter Schat, Henk Badings, Anton de Beer, Danny de Graan, and of course Adriaan Fokker himself. In short, an anniversary concert with a broad and festive programme.