In this concert, two archiorganos (organs based on 31 tones per octave) are brought together: the large 31-tone Fokker organ, built in 1950 by Pels in Haarlem, and the small arciorgano (in the Netherlands called ‘archiorgano’) with just one organ register, built in 2016 by Fleig Orgel- und Cembalobau in Basel, in collaboration with Studio31. Whereas the Fokker organ is based on the writings of Christiaan Huygens from 1691, the arciorgano is based on those of Nicola Vicentino from 1555. Both instruments are, however, archiorganos, and it is therefore very special that they will be brought together for the first time in this concert. During the concert, a shortened and adapted version of a project by composers and keyboard players Mauricio Silva Orendain and Ed Williams will be performed, entitled Uarietà around the arciorgano, combined with additional musical elements on the Fokker organ.
The term Uarietà is taken from Nicola Vicentino’s treatise Ancient Music Adapted to Modern Practice (1555), in which the author emphasises the importance of variation in music. This programme pays tribute to his vision through two extended works of about 45 minutes each. Central to this is the reconstruction of the microtonal instrument described in Vicentino’s treatise: the Arciorgano, a unique Renaissance organ that was rebuilt in 2016. The project explores the tension between decomposition and synthesis, with the Arciorgano serving not only as a musical but also as a pedagogical instrument.
In Decomposition Study by Ed Williams, structured music is dismantled through improvisation and extended techniques. Organists and other musicians collaborate to transform the organ into a sonic landscape resembling a compost heap, from which colourful new musical life emerges. The work is inspired by ideas of Donna Haraway and Joāo Fiadeiro concerning regeneration and real-time composition. The microtonal voices of the arciorgano, with its unique 36(!) keys per octave, create friction and resonance that invite the audience to savour every detail.
Mauricio Silva Orendain’s Echoscope investigates the fusion of the air columns of the organ pipes and the controlled tension of analogue synthesisers. The result is a refined sound world in which microtonal countervoices and sound synthesis come together. A hexagonal loudspeaker cube serves as a sound body in which sampled organ sounds and electronic tones merge, evoking a dialogue between the physical and the virtual instrument. This collaboration leads to a profound exploration of tension and release in tone colours and harmonic structures.
The extraordinary concert The Archiorganos, featuring Adriaan Fokker’s 31-tone organ and the reconstructed arciorgano of Nicola Vicentino, offers a unique opportunity for interested listeners to hear these two iconic instruments together.