Archive July 2006
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July 23, 2006
Open air delightment
Sound garden (Photo RV)One week without my computer and the internet has had a healing effect. I had a kind of a system overload, so I desperately needed a break. Whereto? Well, if there is premiere at hand the choice is obvious, so me and my partner went to Gdansk in Poland.
The belltower of the recently badly damaged St. Catherine's Church formed the instrument of choice, since this was one of the intruments used during the 15th World Carillon Congress. Next to the tower is a lovely garden with benches, seating about 150 people. Fortunately we had a blue sky and about 23 degrees Celsius and shade from a couple of treetops.
In contrast with concert halls the sound of carillon and the electronics weren't limited to the garden, so many bystanders in the streets looked up and wondered what was happening. When one lives in the neighborhood the carillon sounds become part of city life and one doesn't hear them anymore. But with the electronics this was totally different.
Frans (Haagen) played beautifully. And this is an understatement since the keyboard wasn't replaced after the fire and still suffered from the water the Gdansk fire department sprayed over it to prevent the tower catching fire. Some of the keys were kind of stuck, but somehow Frans managed to muscle his way through, without noticeable artifacts for the listeners down below.
Posted by Renske at 08:50 UTC | permanent link
July 15, 2006
Laughing in a church
Today the International Organfestival in Haarlem opened with free concerts in the Sint Bavo church. The carillonneur (I seem to have a lot going on with carillons, lately) played on his instrument while he was visible on videoscreens. The same for organ-player Jos van der Kooy. The Amstel Saxophone Quartet played very well music by Arvo Pärt that suited the situation beautifully. This one hour concert was concluded with a short 1920 silent movie with Buster Keaton with improvisation on the Müller-organ. And it is always a pleasure to see Buster Keaton in action!
Posted by Renske at 17:03 UTC | permanent link