Expedition 31

Concerts with the microtonal Fokker organ are about delicate and nuanced differences in sound, a wider range of colour. Those subtle differences require active listening. For those who cannot get enough of that, the Huygens-Fokker MicroFest Foundation organises a mini festival, during which you can completely immerse yourself in a one-day microtonal adventure. From the 31-tonal palette of the Fokker organ to the Carrillo piano’s 96 microtones, the music ranges from Spanish Renaissance music to the improvised sonic explorations of our time. 

In the first MicroFest concert, resident organist Ere Lievonen and guitarist Stefan Gerritsen illuminate the differences between the Fokker organ and Gerritsen’s 31-tone guitar. The fading plucked sounds and the tightly held organ tones both hover between the notes of the Western octave, but they fade out in intriguingly different ways. In the new work by Finnish microtonalist Sebastian Dumitrescu, Gerritsen plays electrically, while the pure mean-tone temperament of Spanish Renaissance master Luys de Narváez is presented acoustically.