At the request of Portuguese choral conductor Edgar Saramago, an extra inserted concert will take place on July 10. Together with a group of 14 Portuguese, he will come to hear and admire the Fokker organ, of which his former teacher Anton de Beer was once the organist for many years. Saramago lived in Amsterdam in the early 1980s and took lessons in choral conducting with De Beer through the FNZ (Federatie Nederlandse Zangersbonden) in Haarlem and then privately. This also introduced him to the 31-tone organ, at that time still located in the Teylers Museum. Some other Portuguese of this group, consisting of students, singers and colleagues, have in the past also received music lessons from De Beer during summer courses in Portugal and still cherish fond memories of this.

At 11 a.m., an introduction/presentation by Sander Germanus, the artistic director of the Huygens-Fokker Foundation, on the history of 31-tone tuning and of the 31-tone organ will begin in the Muziekgebouw’s Small Hall. Beginning at 10:45 a.m., the public may enter the hall. At the start, all attendees will receive a printed article on the 31-tone organ by Anton de Beer in English. This text can later also be found online on the website of the Huygens-Fokker Foundation. This will be followed by a short concert by Ere Lievonen on the Fokker organ lasting about half an hour, with works by Michelangelo Rossi, Henk Badings, Hans Kox, Danny de Graan, Fabio Costa and, of course, Anton de Beer, demonstrating the unique capabilities of this 31-tone organ. Following this, the occasional choir from the Portuguese town of Vila Franca de Xira will come forward to sing two a cappella works by Anton de Beer in conclusion. These two works concern his Pater Noster (dedicated to Saramago) and his Ave Maria, which is dedicated to two twin sisters who attended all the summer courses he taught in Portugal. By the way, Anton de Beer has also composed a piece entitled “Egidius” (on an old text about St. Egidius) especially for this course, but it is too complicated to rehearse in that short time. At the conclusion there will be a meeting with all those present, including the audience.