Copy Bach research 13 Juni 2017

Tanke's starting-point consists of three emotions which are at the very origin of human life: 1. rage 2. naive, childlike joy 3. suffering. He mixes these basic emotions in every possible way to feel and evoke other emotions. Looking at Bach from the Now!-perspective (a concept which Mike Garson taught him), he uses mystical experiences to surpass every day boundaries of time and space to be at the basis of creation.   He relates rage to the performance of wild toccata's, fantasies and preludes, poetic imagination to the elegance of trio sonates and other trio's, and introspection due to suffering to the depth of many well-known choral preludes. The rage, poetic imagination and introspection due to suffering in Messiaen's organ works and Tanke's own music serves to intensify these qualities in his Bach interpretation.  The goal of the research is to make listeners and performers better persons according to: - Marcel Cobussen and Nanette Nielsen's book Music and Ethics (Ashgate Publishing, 2012) - Olivier Messiaen's statement that at the end of life, when standing before God, one's actions count and not one's achievements. The research is dedicated to the memory of Claire Delbos. She was Messiaen's first wife, violinist and a gifted composer, although not a visionary genius like her husband. Towards the end of the Second World War, when Messiaen had already met Yvonne Loriod who would become his second wife in 1961, Claire Delbos remained institutionalized after an operation until her death in 1959, suffering from a mental illness. In 1952 she composed Parce, Domine 'Pardonnez, Seigneur, à votre peuple', pour le temps de Carême, which because of the well-known biblical text "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" may be considered as a musical work of the highest ethical calibre. The Now!-perspective is the result of mystical experiences, consisting of surpassing every day boundaries of time and space. It allows Willem Tanke to liberate his Bach interpretation from what he considers as a burden of history, in particular: - the "polished/distorted" image of Bach which is the result of using his music for personal or institutionalized religious purposes - regarding Bach as a highlight of Western art music. The notion of Western art music only came into existence in the 19th century and is based on regarding Western classical music as superior to other music traditions. This results in the best case in high level performances of indisputable importance, but generally to a certain fatiguing heaviness, and in the worst case to pompousness, arrogance (which implies lack of imagination) and a set of do's and don't's. Tanke sees the notion of Western art music as outdated, in line with the global character of his own music. In the below, three case studies show music examples of Tanke's own music, solo and with other musicians, followed by performances of organ works by Bach. Case Study 1: Using rage for the performance of toccata's, preludes, fantasies, fugues and other pieces According to many sources, Bach had a tremendous temper. In addition, the musical output of his life can be seen as a huge, volcanic outburst. Similar to the Big Bang, wild energy due to rage is at the very origin of creativity. In the 18th century, the organ was by far the loudest instrument, capable of imitating thunder and lightning and Bach's spectacular toccata's, fantasies and preludes may well have been interpreted as the Holy Spirit.  Similar to Bach, Olivier Messiaen was capable of putting a tremendous amount of wild energy into his music. Unlike Bach however, he was very explicit about the Divine nature of this energy. Willem Tanke's interpretation of, for instance, the following organ works by Messiaen helps to intensify his Bach interpretation. Olivier Messiaen - The Eyes in the Wheels Olivier Messiaen - The Two Walls of Water In December 2016 Willem Tanke experienced a rage about the couple Messiaen-Loriod in relation to Claire Delbos which lasted a few days and during which he wanted to throw away his Messiaen scores into the garbage. He came to reason realising that this outburst should serve a nobler purpose in the future. Composition for piano: RAGE - In Memoriam Gijs Hendriks Improvisation: Red Waves - Mike Garson and Willem Tanke on two pianos A mystical experience related to this took place while performing/improvising a piano piece called Shamanistic wild energy, feeling the presence of Cecil Taylor, in which Tanke abandons his usual calm, concentrated way of playing. When discussing mysticism a befriended catholic priest advised Tanke to be careful when "making the grand journey to the interior", reminding him of Saint Teresa of Avila's words not to make the journey alone, but to have a watchful guide. Mike Garson, representing the archangel Michael's protective power, played this essential role. N.B. the video shows an exuberant body language which may be associated with the use of drugs. However, this is —explicitly confirmed here— not the case, nor in any other example of this research. Using drugs is like giving an extra weapon to demons. Shamanistic wild energy feeling the presence of Cecil Taylor This shamanistic energy can be used for healing purposes, for instance if it is transformed to majestic energy (see case study 4). J.S. Bach - Prelude and Fugue in a minor BWV 543 Bac Case Study 2: Using naive, childlike joy for the performance of Canonic Variations on "Von Himmel hoch da kom ich her" BWV 769, trio sonatas and other pieces From 1998 till 2000, Willem Tanke was an organist of the African Choir of the Scots International Church, Rotterdam. During this period he learnt about 40 songs from Ghana and Cameroon. He was impressed by the the swing, soulfulness and indestructible optimism with which members of the African choir expressed their faith through their music. Consequently, he wanted to perform the much more complex organ works of Bach with similar qualities. After about 15 years of intense studies, also in the field of improvising with Asian, (Afro)-American and European musicians, Tanke succeeded in coming much closer to his goal, as confirmed by enthusiastic comments from all over the world.  A. Composing and performing variations on traditional church songs from the UK/USA The African Choir performed W.H. Doane’s To God be the Glory in a particular cheerful way. To remember this Tanke composed a set of variations on this hymn in what —not without a twinkle in the eye— might be called “African baroque” style. The piece is typical of the 18th century in regard to harmony, voice leading, texture, ornamentation, fingering and registration (in the below example the digitalised sound of the Silbermann organ in Arlesheim, built in 1761, is used). However, it is rhythmicized in a way that Tanke used while accompanying the African Choir during services and rehearsals, often stimulating the choir to dance. He plays the piece according to what he calls The Art of Playing with Relaxed Precision, economising movements of hands and fingers based on observations on Bach’s way of playing the organ made by contemporaries of his. This way of playing, essentially rooted in the 18th century and before, looks deceptively simple; it requires a refined technique. The goal is, among other things, to create a feeling of dance that benefits Bach interpretation, realising that in the 18th century “art music’ was still very related to dance.  Variations on To God be the Glory - dedicated to Tom Dumoulin J.S. Bach - Trio Sonata in G major BWV 530, first movement B. Improvising on traditional songs from Ghana and Cameroon C. Cheerful pieces for organ and other instruments Ridiculous and pathetic as it may seem sincere cheerfulness, without irony, is a taboo in contemporary Western classical music. If you break that taboo you are out of the scene, which is what Willem Tanke does again and again, also to achieve sublime lightness and elegance in his Bach interpretation. For a child (organ Westerkerk Amsterdam) Listening to the fairies - Martijn Alsters, flute and Willem Tanke, organ Birds, drums and signals - Martijn Alsters, flute and Willem Tanke, organ (Der Aa-kerk Groningen) D-addendum Haydn Case study 3: Using suffering and introspection to deepen the interpretation of some of Bach's profoundest chorale preludes Willem Tanke suffered from major depressions which changed his life, also as an artist. After his father died in 1996 he had strange dreams in which he felt the archangel Michael's energy coming from the Mojave desert in California. For some time he took the alter ego Astor Mojave and issued the CD Spiritual Homeland (using a Yamaha SY99 synthesizer), which he later withdrew. Between 1996 and '98 he made several pieces about the theme demons and redemption, one of which he performed in the Grote of St. Bavo church in Haarlem: Battle of Demons and Angels - Willem Tanke, Yamaha SY99 synthesizer and Jos Beijer, organ In the same period he composed Stillness and My friend the Indian, two extremely simple pieces which do not seem to have any relation to Western classical music, including Arvo Pärt.  Stillness  My friend the Indian Performing Stillness and My friend the Indian, solo and with other musicians, contributes to creating a reservoir of quiet concentration which also serves the performance of some of Bach's profoundest chorale preludes: J.S. Bach - Von Gott will ich nicht lassen BWV 658 J.S. Bach - Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 659 Case study 4: Transforming wild energy into majestic force for the performance of Toccata and fugue in F major BWV 540 and Prelude and fugue in c minor BWV 546 During a concert at Oratoire St. Joseph in Montreal on October 23th 2016 Willem Tanke felt the presence of Feike Asma, a Dutch organist who lived from 1912 until 1984 and was known for his majestic way of playing the organ, without thinking himself to be superior to other human beings. This had a disturbing effect, in the sense that parts of the concert were played with downright clumsiness. Video Clumsiness due to mystical experience at Oratoire St. Joseph in Montreal (not yet available) On the other hand Tanke understood the experience as a message to integrate majesty in his Bach interpretation, as a result of transforming rage. He had already showed majesty in the interpretation of well-known pieces by Messiaen: Olivier Messiaen - God among us (Dieu parmi nous) Also in his own music: Flaming Sun for organ