The Meditations for a lent are the result of a study Willem Tanke carried out from 2004 to 2006 for the World Music Research Group of Codarts, University of Professional Arts Education. It was connected with his work as head of the theory department and professor of improvisation at the Rotterdam Conservatory; the twelve pieces were written with a view to the seminar “Organ Music of the 21st Century” which Codarts organised in 2007.
The point of departure was the organ playing of Johann Sebastian Bach, who according to a contemporary’s description achieved an extraordinarily powerful musical expression with very economical movements of hands and feet. From this Tanke drew a picture of ideal organ playing and an attitude to being a musician which he later called The Art of Doing Nothing. With a sidelong glance at the great composers who were also known for their organ improvisations — beside Bach, Sweelinck and Messiaen — it aims to improve the mental and physical conditions of musicianship by bringing performance, improvisation and composition into balance.
A text served to introduce the students, and it describes at the same time how these twelve pieces came about: at the beginning there is silence. It helps towards a good performing attitude — a calm, concentrated mind, a relaxed body and a steady breath from deep in the belly. Out of that attitude a usable musical idea, an “invention”, arises from improvisation; a second may be added to create contrast or strengthen the structure. Through repeated playing of the sketches the improvisation crystallises into a composition — a process that can take days, weeks, months or years, and at whose end a piece may be fully composed or may still allow some improvisation.
The organ of the St Willibrorduskerk is rather small but has a fine and at the same time very intense sound; all the pieces are laid out so that they can be played without an assistant. In the first meditation weights block two keys on the positive and the half-opened Salicional 8’ produces a deep bass, while the left hand leads the Flûte Harmonique 4’ as a variable ostinato and the right plays a rubato melody that begins in the low register, blossoms in the treble and ebbs away in descending lines. The fourth meditation takes the melodic outline of the Gregorian chant Justus es Domine as the starting point of three variations; the minor sixth of the chant has been widened to a major one, which gives it a more archaic tinge. In two of the twelve pieces Tanke also plays percussion instruments.
The recording was made on 6 and 7 July 2002 in the St Willibrorduskerk in Berkel-Enschot, at 24 bit and 44.1 kHz. The hybrid SACD runs to 54:55 and carries a 5.1 surround layer beside the stereo one; the booklet has 24 pages in German and English.