(1959-04-04) April 4, 1959 (age64) Hengelo, the Netherlands
Genres
Classical and Avant-garde
Instrument(s)
Organ, piano, synthesizer/keyboard
Years active
1980s-present
Labels
Brilliant Classics, Cybele Records
Website
www.willemtanke.com
Musical artist
Willem Tanke (born April 4, 1959 in Hengelo, the Netherlands)[1] is an organist and acclaimed recitalist known for his interpretations of works by J.S. Bach, Max Reger, Olivier Messiaen and contemporary composers. In addition he is noted for his own musical language as an improviser and a performing composer. As a teenager, he was drawn especially to wanting to play the organ by the religiously-inspired music of J.S. Bach and Olivier Messiaen, and also John Coltrane.[1]
Willem Tanke studied organ and improvisation with Jan Welmers, music theory with Joep Straesser and electronic music with Ton Bruynel at Utrecht Conservatory from 1977 till 1985.[1] He concluded his studies with the Performance Diploma for Organ with full marks (the grade of 10 and honours), and also with diplomas for music theory and improvisation.
In 1984 he sent a recording of Olivier Messiaen's Livre d'orgue to the composer and received an enthusiastic letter from Messiaen's wife, the pianist Yvonne Loriod, assisting him to obtain a scholarship from the Dutch government and the Prins Bernhard Foundation for advanced studies of Messiaen's organ works, which he undertook with Jennifer Bate in London and Almut Rößler[de] in Düsseldorf in the late '80s.[2]
In the early part of his career Willem Tanke specialized in the interpretation of organ works by Olivier Messiaen, Max Reger and late 20th century composers. In 1994 he performed Messiaen's complete organ works in Haarlem (the Netherlands) and Puebla and Guadalajara (Mexico).[3]
Between 1972 and 1988 Willem Tanke was organist to various Roman Catholic churches in Hengelo and De Bilt. From 1989 until 2003 he was organist at St. Willibrordus Church in Berkel-Enschot, where he made recordings for his CDs, "My friend the Indian and other pieces" and "Imaginary Day". His SuperAudioCD "Meditations for a lent" consists entirely of recordings made at the Loret organ in Berkel-Enschot. Between 1998 and 2000 he was also organist of the Scots International Reformed Church in Rotterdam. Accompanying the African choir there, he learnt around forty songs from in particular Ghana and Cameroon.
In the 21st century Willem Tanke became increasingly known as an improviser and a performing composer, solo and with other musicians.[4] In 2006 he developed the 'rolling wrist' technique: the wrist rolls over the keyboard in order to produce fluent clusters and suggest micro-tones.[5][6][7]
Willem Tanke was a professor of organ as a main subject at Utrecht University of Professional Arts Education from 1988 until 2000. Since 2001 he has been teaching theory and improvisation at Codarts, University for the Arts, Rotterdam. From 2006 until 2008 he carried out research for Codarts World Music Research Group called "The Art of Doing Nothing".[8] This research aimed at "improving mental and physical preconditions for musicianship by creating a good balance between performing, improvising and composing, with the help of analysis and research."[9][10][11] For the instruction of students who participated in "The Art of Doing Nothing" the following text was used:
"At the beginning there is silence, which allows a good performing attitude to develop, with a calm, concentrated mind, a relaxed body and steady breathing from the lower stomach. With this attitude improvisation results in, for example, a number of rhythmic patterns and melodies. Of these, the most interesting are remembered, recorded, or written down on paper. Gradually, after some hours, days, or even months, a certain structure will be developed, based on the composer's judgment of the right balance between repetition, variation and contrast. At the end, the various improvisations crystallize into a composition. This composition has to be learned by heart, because the discipline of memorizing the rhythmic patterns and melodies is necessary for developing the freedom from which new improvisations can be created. This procedure has a certain resemblance to improvising and composing in, for instance, classical Indian and Iranian music. Brief compositions may be the starting-point for numerous improvisations that can ultimately lead to new compositions. The process is somewhat similar to the continuous changes that take place in any living language."[9]
In 2006 and 2007 Willem Tanke lectured at symposia at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, organized by the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy.[12][13]
In 2008 he gave a lecture-recital at a symposium on Olivier Messiaen organized by the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Belgium).[14]
Tanke issued his own improvisations and compositions on CD and SuperAudioCD between 1997 and 2007. From then onwards he published his music in particular on his YouTube channel.[15] In 2018 he created a website called "Playing Keyboard Instruments in the 21st Century" in order to document his expertise in playing the pipe organ, the piano and synthesizers/keyboards.[16]
Discography
As a primary artist - classical organist
1999 8 CD-box Olivier Messiaen Complete Organ Works[17]
2006 Super Audio CD Max Reger - Variationen und Fuge fis-moll über ein Originalthema op. 73; Willem Tanke - Two Wind Fantasies [18]
2007 Remastered 8 CD-box Olivier Messiaen Complete Organ Works[19]
2008 2 DVD-set Olivier Messiaen Livre d’ orgue/Organ Works [20]
As a primary artist - improviser/performing composer
1997 CD Spiritual Homeland works for Yamaha SY99 synthesizer
2001 CD My friend the Indian and other pieces with Hans Kulk, analogue synthesizer, Martijn Alsters, wind midi controller and René van Commenée, percussion[21]
2005 CD Imaginary Day - 21 Fantasies for organ[22]
2006 Super Audio CD Max Reger - Variationen und Fuge fis-moll über ein Originalthema op. 73; Willem Tanke - Two Wind Fantasies [23]
2006 DVD Ways of Intensity compositions for piano performed by Manila Santini, Ivan Rutkauskas, Ayano Shimada, Eva-Maria Rauter, Fernando Altamura, Viktoriya Yermolyeva, Esra Kalkanoglu and Jordina Milla y Benseny
With other musicians as a classical organist
1993 Looking Ears I Compositions by Ton Bruynel (Tanke plays the organ on track 7, Dust)[25]
1999 Jan Welmers Organ Works (Tanke plays on track 4, Licht en Donker II)[26]
2001 “Ecoute, écoute”! - Compositions by Roderik de Man (Tanke plays the organ on track 2, Vanishing Points)[27]
2004 Looking Ears Complete - Compositions by Ton Bruynel (Tanke plays the organ on CD 1 track 7, Dust, CD 4 track 6, Reliëf, CD 5 track 7, Arc and CD 6 track 4, Kolom)[28]
2006 Mense Ruiter Orgelmakers (Tanke plays the organ on CD 1 tracks 1-7, organ works by J.S. Bach, Joh. Brahms and W. Tanke)
2015 Merkstenen - Compositions by Jan Welmers (Tanke plays the piano on track 5, Monologen)[29]
With other musicians as an improviser
1999 CD The Tao of Physics -Variations for organ, keyboards and processors in collaboration with Vidna Obmana, electronics[30]
2006 Mense Ruiter Orgelmakers (Tanke plays the organ on CD 1 tracks 1-7, organ works by J.S. Bach, Joh. Brahms and W. Tanke)
2011 Genadeloos - Gijs Hendriks (Tanke plays the piano on tracks 6 and 7, Instant ComposingMusic No 2 and 3)[31]
2012 MultiTasking - Henri Bok (Tanke plays the piano on track 11, Improvisation I, and the organ on track 12, Bell Board)[32]
2008 "Van Messiaen tot...Improvisaties en composities op vogelgezangen van Messiaen".[14]
Lectures
1992 "Orgelbau und Musiktechnologie", Colloquium "Die Orgel in Ostdeutschland und in Polen", Frankfurt/Oder[38]
2006 "New Ways of Improvisation in Western Classical Music", seminar on Improvisation in Music, ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Mumbai[12]
2007 "Composition as a Framework for Improvisation", seminar on Composing, Composition & Composers in Music, ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Mumbai[13]
2014 "Re-vitalizing a performance practise of the eighteenth and nineteenth century through contemporary improvisation", Royal Music Association, University of Birmingham
2016 "Comment un organiste, non musicien de jazz, peut s'affilier au jazz contemporain par le biais de Messiaen et du jeu avec un joueur de tabla", Université Laval, Québec
Awards and honors
1998 "Silver medal of honor" Nederlandse Sint-Gregoriusvereniging
2000 "Diplôme de Médaille d’argent de la Société Académique d’Éducation et d’Encouragement “Arts-Sciences-Lettres” (Prix Thorlet)"
2015 "Schnittger Dream Prize" for innovation in organ art[39][40]
Related Research Articles
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex. Harmonically and melodically, he employed a system he called modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from the systems of material his early compositions and improvisations generated. He wrote music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, voice, solo organ, and piano, and experimented with the use of novel electronic instruments developed in Europe during his lifetime.
The organ repertoire is considered to be the largest and oldest repertory of all musical instruments. Because of the organ's prominence in worship in Western Europe from the Middle Ages on, a significant portion of organ repertoire is sacred in nature. The organ's suitability for improvisation by a single performer is well adapted to this liturgical role and has allowed many blind organists to achieve fame; it also accounts for the relatively late emergence of written compositions for the instrument in the Renaissance. Although instruments are still disallowed in most Eastern churches, organs have found their way into a few synagogues as well as secular venues where organ recitals take place.
Pierre Eugène Charles Cochereau was a French organist, improviser, composer, and pedagogue.
Petr Eben was a Czech composer of modern and contemporary classical music, and an organist and choirmaster.
Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Demessieux was a French organist, pianist, composer, and teacher. She was the chief organist at Saint-Esprit for 29 years and at La Madeleine in Paris starting in 1962. She performed internationally as a concert organist and was the first female organist to sign a record contract. She went on to record many organ works, including her own compositions.
Olivier Jean-Claude Latry is a French organist, improviser, and composer. He is professor of organ in the Conservatoire de Paris.
Hans-Ola Ericsson is a Swedish organist and composer.
Jean Victor Arthur Guillou was a French composer, organist, pianist, and pedagogue. Principle Organist at Saint Eustache in Paris, from 1963 to 2015, he was widely known as a composer of instrumental and vocal music focused on the organ, as an improviser, and as an adviser to organ builders. For several decades he held regular master classes in Zurich and in Paris.
Pieter William Kee was a Dutch organist and composer.
Bengt Hambraeus was a Swedish-Canadian organist, composer and musicologist.
Harald Feller is a German organist, choral conductor and composer teaching at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. He was awarded the 1983 Grand Prix du Disque Liszt.
Ignace Michiels is a Belgian organist, choral conductor and organ teacher. He is internationally known as a concert organist.
Max Beckschäfer is a German organist, composer and academic.
Quatre Études de rythme is a set of four piano compositions by Olivier Messiaen, written in 1949 and 1950. A performance of them lasts between 15 and 20 minutes.
Theo Brandmüller was a German composer of contemporary music, organist and university Professor.
Zwölf Stücke, Op. 65, is a group of twelve pieces for organ by Max Reger, composed in Munich in 1902. They were published by C. F. Peters in Leipzig in August of that year, in two books (Heft) of six pieces each.
Pierre-Philippe Bauzin was a French organist, improviser and composer.
Monodie is a short composition for organ by French composer Olivier Messiaen.
Gail Archer is an American organist, music director, choral conductor and an academic. She is a Professor of Professional Practice at Barnard College, Columbia University and the founder of an international forum for women organists called Musforum. She directs the ‘Barnard-Columbia Chorus & Chamber Choir’ and the ‘Music Program’ of Barnard College, Columbia University, and is College Organist of Vassar College.
Jan Welmers was a Dutch composer and organist.
References
1 2 3 Schaap, Gerco (February 1999). "Willem Tanke-musiceren vanuit een klassiek ideaal". De Orgelvriend: 8–10. ISSN1386-1417.
↑ Schaap, Gerco (February 1999). "Willem Tanke: musiceren vanuit een klassiek ideaal". De Orgelvriend: 8–10. ISSN1386-1417.
↑ Schaap, Gerco. "Willem Tanke: musiceren vanuit een klassiek ideaal". De Orgelvriend. February 1999: 8–10.
↑ Brouwer, Fons. "The Art of Doing Nothing". Timbres. January - May 2007: 90–97.
↑ Cobussen, Marcel; Frisk, Henrik; Weijland, Bart (September 2017). "The Field of Musical Improvisation". lup.nl. Leiden University Press. p.6. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
↑ Tanke, Willem (2008). "The Art of Doing Nothing". Adem. 3: 103–107. ISSN0001-8171.
↑ Tanke, Willem (2007). "New Ways of Improvisation in Western Classical Music". Journal of the Indian Musicological Society. 38: 89–95. ISSN0251-012X.
↑ Tanke, Willem (2007). "The Art of Doing Nothing". Piano Bulletin European Piano Teachers Association: 16–24. ISSN0920-0983.
↑ Tanke, Willem (July 2007). "Nieuwe invalshoeken voor compositie en improvisatie". Het Orgel: 8–13. ISSN0001-8171.
↑ Tanke, Willem (July–September 2008). "The Art of Doing Nothing". Adem: 103–107. ISSN0001-8171.
↑ Eggebrecht, Hans Heinrich (1993). Die Orgel in Ostdeutschland und in Polen. Kleinblittersdorf: Musikwissenschaftliche Verlags-Gesellschaft. pp.97–102. ISBN978-3-920670-28-7.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
