Geerten van de Wetering - 1918 - Organ Music from a New Era (Marcussen & Søn Organ, Kloosterkerk, Den Haag NL) (2019)

1918 marked the end of the First World War and thus the end of an era. It was the end of the so-called fin de siècle (the end of the 19th century). Important culture carriers such as Klimt, Schiele, Otto Wagner and Debussy died in 1918. A young Hendrik Andriessen composed the dramatic organ work Fête-Dieu. Dramatic, because despite the festive title, this was a plea with which the young composer expressed his condolences to the "admired and beloved cathedrals of France". At the same time, this plea held a promise for the future, because it was a new experimental sound that Andriessen made here. The rest of the program examines the "new ways" of music and art of the 20th century. Including a beautiful adaptation of Debussy's Cathédrale engloutie, which is surprisingly well displayed on the neo-baroque Marcussen organ of the Kloosterkerk in The Hague. Unfortunately less well known, but spectacular, is the beautiful Toccata (Suite in modo conjuncto) by Anton van der Horst, with his virtuoso pedal solo. The release of this CD coincided with the 50th anniversary of Siegfried Reda's death, to which a concert has been devoted in the Kloosterkerk. This edition is the debut CD of Geerten van de Wetering, the regular organist of the Kloosterkerk.