Ensemble SCALA

An ensemble for microtonal music

Ensemble SCALA is an ensemble for microtonal music in the Netherlands, initiated in 2010 by the Huygens-Fokker Foundation (center for microtonal music) to explore microtonality across a wide range of timbres. Notably, the famous Fokker organ has become part of this ensemble. The instrumentation of Ensemble SCALA consists of flute, clarinet, viola, microtonal guitar, Fokker organ, keyboards/Carrillo piano, and percussion. All the musicians are specialists in microtonal music, collectively exploring the boundaries of the colorful possibilities offered by microtonality. The ensemble focuses on major microtonal systems such as the 31-tone system, the 24-tone system (quarter-tone system), the 19-tone system, and just intonation, with emphasis on the first. The name of the ensemble is based on the software program Scala for microtonal music by Manuel Op de Coul, which has gained international recognition. Ensemble SCALA aims to present a wide range of new sounds, performing both contemporary works and historical repertoire from the 16th and 17th centuries. Its repertoire includes works by Giacinto Scelsi, Terry Riley, Lucio Garau, Peter Adriaansz, Nicola Vicentino, Juhani Nuorvala, Steffen Krebber, Ned McGowan, Sander Germanus, Charles Delusse, Gijsbrecht Roijé, Danny de Graan, François Gabriel Madden, René Samson, Anton de Beer, Ezra Sims, Joachim F.W. Schneider, Arnold Marinissen, Bill Alves, and others.

The need to establish Ensemble SCALA arose from the desire to disseminate knowledge of microtonality in the Netherlands and beyond, with the unique Fokker organ (a 31-tone organ based on a 1691 invention by the famous physicist Christiaan Huygens) as a central feature. Since 2009, a portable Fokker organ keyboard has been available, which is fully playable. This keyboard (originally a so-called “silent keyboard”) was built in 1963 for silent practice but was fully equipped with MIDI technology in 2009. It can thus be connected to both the large acoustic Fokker organ and a computer producing samples of the original organ. This instrument allows Ensemble SCALA to perform concerts outside the Kleine Zaal of the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam (where the 16-meter-wide Fokker organ was installed in 2009). The portable/digital Fokker organ serves as a solid foundation for the other instruments, which in turn provide an acoustic context. Concerts with the portable Fokker organ keyboard are therefore always performed in combination with the ensemble, as a digital Fokker organ alone on stage would not be desirable. Another advantage of using the digital Fokker organ keyboard is the ability to program different tunings under the manuals, such as the 19-tone or 24-tone systems, both well-established tunings. This allows various tunings to be performed on the instrument, enabling Ensemble SCALA to disseminate broad knowledge of microtonality through its concerts. (Read more on the website of Ensemble SCALA.)

Ensemble SCALA
Raymond Honing, flute
Michel Marang, clarinet
Manuel Visser, viola
Stefan Gerritsen, microtonal guitar
Anne Veinberg, 96-tone piano/keyboards
Ere Lievonen, 31-tone organ
Glenn Liebaut, percussion
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Sander Germanus, artistic leader
Melle Weijters, production & coordination

Vokalprojekt 31

Vocal ensemble for 31-tone music

Vokalprojekt 31 is a groundbreaking ensemble of four vocalists performing 31-tone music from the Renaissance, Early Baroque, and contemporary periods. The ensemble is accompanied by the unique 31-tone organ, also known as the Fokker organ. Together, they perform music in both meantone temperament and the 31-tone system in a fascinating manner. The ensemble’s aim is to showcase the extraordinary possibilities of the 31-tone system and meantone temperament in both early and contemporary music. Its repertoire includes works from the Renaissance by Nicola Vicentino, Cipriano De Rore, Carlo Gesualdo, Luca Marenzio, as well as compositions by contemporary composers such as Fabio Costa, Henk Badings, Sander Germanus, Andreas Arend, Matthias Kadar, Jan van Dijk, and Bill Coates.

At the request of Berlin-based conductor and composer Fabio Costa, the Huygens-Fokker Foundation formed Vokalprojekt 31 in 2015, specifically for the microtonal festival MicroFest Amsterdam. Fabio Costa on the project: “I am convinced that 31-EDO will gain ever more space, once it is better understood – and heard! It is very exciting to explore this fascinating new territory, with a new tonal, harmonic language right in the 21st century. And I believe the Huygens-Fokker Foundation has a great oportunity and a leading role in agglutinating in Amsterdam what is going on in this field worldwide.” He adds: “The versatility of the 31-tone system is remarkable. It is a system in which one can very closely approach the pure tones found only in the overtone series. This opens up completely new and unexplored harmonic worlds. At the same time, it is an ideal system for performing compositions from the Renaissance and Baroque, such as the innovative music of Gesualdo and Vicentino.”

Vokalprojekt 31
Valeria Mignaco, soprano
Alfrun Schmid, mezzo soprano
Daan Verlaan, tenor
Martijn de Graaf Bierbrauwer, baritone
m.m.v. Ere Lievonen, 31-tone organ
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Sander Germanus, artistic leader
Melle Weijters, production & coordination