update: 4-03-2012

Tongen yn 'e wyn

Tongen in de wind, een kunstproject "Frysk Festival 2000 - Simmer 2000 - Pylgers nei Fryslân

Klaas Hoek (harmonium) en Gerrit Terpstra (Lûdskarre) zetten het harmonium op een wel zeer bijzondere manier in de schijnwerpers. Enerzijds door zeldzame modellen van zuigwindharmoniums met expression in te zetten, anderzijds door twee bijzondere klankobjecten te creëren gebaseerd op de doorslaande tong. Zelfs de hoes van deze cd is een kunstwerk op zichzelf te noemen. De cd is een uitgave behorend bij het hierboven genoemde Festival en is niet meer verkrijgbaar.

De drie psalmen op deze cd zijn heel bijzonder gemaakt. In een weiland staan negen palen met daaraan een windvanger waarin een zuigwindtong is aangebracht. Door nu met behulp van een plattegrond van paal naar paal te lopen is de melodie van deze psalm te horen. U kunt zelf bepalen of u de psalm ritmisch wil horen of (minder vermoeiend) isometrisch op "heele nooten". Alle drie zijn weer anders, minder of meer omgevingsgeluiden, krakende en piepende karren, vogeljes die luidruchtig uit volle roodborstjes meefluiten.... Er staat een track meer op dan de tracklist noemt. Na nummer 7 komt het Windharmonium nogmaals in actie. Nummers 8 en 9 schuiven dus een nummertje door.

Windharmonium

En bijzonder track is de Lûdskarre (geluidswagen). Een beeld zegt hier meer dan duizend woorden:

Tracklist and clips

I = Mannborg suction 4 ranks + subbass with expression & prolongement
II = Mannborg suction 6 ranks +subbass with expression, forte expressive & prolongement
III = Debain harmonium 4 ranks

How to listen to Windharmonium psalm 150

For those of you less familiar with the Geneva psalter sounding in tracks 2, 8 & 10 I have added some helpfull information.

First of all: The windharmonium is made out of poles in the meadows between two little villages Westhem an Abbega. Those villages were - in history - connected by what we call "church paths". Most of these "Church Paths" are still intact. This is how this looks in Google Earth:

In the tops of the poles are old ships megaphones closed at the mouthopening where a free reed is mounted. To hear the psalm one has to walk a given route along the poles. Because all three psalms are in the same key, only one set of poles is enough to "walk three psalms".

This is the route to hear psalm 150 in Geneva style:

This psalm takes about 5 minutes. The recording was "walked" to sound the psalm in old dutch calvinistic style: isometric (all notes have the same value). However: All the reeds are sounding at the same time, so the poles need to be a certain distance, in order to avoid the melody submerging in all the sounding notes.

To memorize the melody, below is a score of this psalms melody:

Since this might be very difficult to hear and recognize the melody, the full track is on the page.

Listen to Windharmonium Psalm 150 Geneva here

About Deutsch365

Klaas Hoek, the creator of this music, replied to my questions regarding the 'orage like sound' and wrote an explanation to this piece of music.

Explanation by Klaas Hoek, the performer (and arranger) of “Deutsch365”

Deutsch365 is based on a Walz by Franz Schubert (the final part from “Erste Walzer” Opus 9, Deutsch 365).

The walz has been transformed by rearranging the chords and dismissing the walz-rhytm. However the ’look and feel’  (or should we say: the scent and atmosphere) has been maintained.

The designation ‘orage’ is not preferred, it sounds like ‘programmatic music’.
The chords are played with tremolos by various treadling-techniques, combined with switching on and of the expression stop.
The result is an ‘internal tension’.

To compare the two, the original walz will be on the page soon.

Scenery of this project in rural Friesland

For those living outside the Netherlands you need to know a few facts about the part of the Netherlands called "Friesland". First of all: next to Dutch, they have their own language. In it's roots it belong to the group of languages like English, their language is Frysk. And Friesland is in Frysk named as "Fryslân". The also say 'mama' to a cow ( in Frysk: Us Mem). Just because the Frysian cows are world famous. The best breed of the planet.

And a few times in history in wintertime in freezing cold, they have an iceskating contest of 200 kilometers (124,2742384 miles) passing through all of the eleven historic cities of Fryslân.

Fryslân is rural for over 90%. Below are a few pictures of the "Windharmonium" project. All pictures are courtesy of Klaas Hoek, and are under copyright.

When not enough wind, the windharmonium can be pumped

Cornemuse players (French type of bagpipe)

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