Cantabile No 12 - 'Winter's Embrace' by Rien Schalkwijk
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- Опубліковано 25 січ 2025
- When I woke up this morning, it was to discover the outside world around my house had transformed into a white wonderland following heavy snowfall overnight . . . meaning ‘winter’s embrace’ had dramatically arrived in the North East of England!
And so that seemed to make it all the more fitting for me to make a recording of my dear Dutch friend Rien Schwalkwijk’s latest composition, written at the start of the New Year - his Cantabile No.12 Opus 32, which he has subtitled: ‘Winter’s Embrace’.
As it happens, the first composition I wrote and uploaded to my UA-cam channel in January 2024 was dedicated to Rien
(my ‘Cantilena’: • Cantilena )
and as both pieces are in the same key, they feel to me to be somehow connected!
Back in September of 2024 when I visited Amsterdam with my wife for a short city break, the ‘virtual’ connection I had made with Rien through our UA-cam channels over the last few years finally became ‘real’ as we were able to meet-up for dinner and so further cement our friendship. (We saw Rien again in Haarlem during our stay as there was also an opportunity for us all to meet up with Aušra and Vidas Pinkevicius, who were there preparing for an organ recital, which I sadly missed as it was on the day we were flying back home).
Rien has a very distinctive compositional style and his latest Cantabile is a good example of how he can weave a lovely melody into a lilting accompaniment to create an ambience he loves (which I have referred to fondly as ‘gentle tranquility’!).
I have always wanted to design and build my own organ, and so in this recording I have done just that (virtually!) by using ‘Organteq 2’ - a computer program that enables the performer to physically model organ tone, reproducing the heart of complex flue and reed pipe physics. The sound is generated in real time from scratch, reproducing the typical and variable pipe attack transients chiff, as well as the 3D configuration, where pipes are located in space according to their keyboards. The software offers 74 unique stops and more than 4,000 pipes, inspired by the works of famous French builders from the Romantic period, such as Cavaillé-Coll, and by great German baroque builders, such as Schnitger, Silbermann, and Tröst. These stops can be assigned on a 50-stop slots console of 3 manual keyboards with a 5-octave range and a pedal keyboard with 32 notes. Each keyboard can be assigned to a selection of stops with adjustable parameters.
I am having a lot of fun experimenting as a new ‘organ builder’ . . . but it’s early days yet and I hope to improve my voicing techniques over the coming months! Of course, Organteq has many limitations, but I do think it offers good value for money and has an interesting creative edge over Hauptwerk sample sets . . . even if it does not yet match the best of Hauptwerk sounds!
If you would like a copy of this Cantabile score, Rien’s sheet music is free for his Channel / BuyMeACoffee / Patreon members. This piece is (among his other pieces) also available for a discount price here: buymeacoffee.c.... and at SheetMusicPlus here: www.sheetmusic....
Wonderful! What a beautiful midnight gift to hear this piece played so beautifully by you. Your interpretation brings it to life in a way that’s brighter than any sunny day England might hope for (and we both know how rare those are!).
I’m grateful for your talent and even more for your friendship. It’s a reminder of how music connects us across miles, weather, and everything in between. Thank you for this-you’ve warmed my heart after a cold, rainy Dutch day (and possibly added a bit of sunshine to England, too!).” ❤
You're very welcome, Rien! I really treasure our friendship (and playing one of your wonderful compositions has been a long time coming!)
Lovely piece! Despite being summer here, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks Graham.
Thanks for watching.
Lovely playing, Graham, of Rien's newest piece. It looks so cosy in your organ room with your jumper!
Thanks, James. It was a cold day,so three layers of clothing to help fight off the chill.
Very nice to hear your version of Riens composition. A perfect version!
Thank you, Markus - you inspired me to make this recording . . . as yours really is a beautiful and perfect version! Happy New Year!
Wonderful performance
Thank you - Happy New Year!
a very moving piece!! thank you for playing it so well Graham!
Glad you enjoyed Rien's composition!
I only just came across this lovely and most fitting interpretation of Rien's enjoyable score. I also appreciated the photography since last weekend was our hottest January weekend for a decade - 40 C both days. I certainly wasn't dressed like you on Sunday when I began playing the quite lengthy Buxtehude 'How Brightly Beams the Morning Star' at 8.40am. For once I didn't even robe! Every good wish for 2025.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, Colin. Yes, it's bitterly cold here . . . and baking hot with you! Somewhere in between would suit me (so off to the Canary Islands for my birthday later this month!). Happy New Year!
Beautifully played Graham! Congrats to Rien on this lovely composition - music from the heart to warm us during these cold days!!!
Thank you very much, Jerry. SMR, which you helped capture, is out of my budget at the moment as I would need a new PC in order to do that fabulous sample set justice. My consolation was to explore Organteq and have a go at designing and building a virtual Twist organ instead!
And I see I am being spoiled by you later today . . . ua-cam.com/video/MPxae4oFQy0/v-deo.html
Nice rendition Graham ! Bravo !
Merci beaucoup, Rémi - Bonne Année
Amazing performance 😊👍🍀
Thank you very much!
Congratulations to both you and Rien on a fabulous pairing of musician and score. Closing my eyes, it was just a splendid piece to calm the soul, though the visuals you provide were amazing as well, especially to this snow lover!
Thanks, Christopher! The composition was too serene to show footage of skiers whizzing down mountain slopes - which is what I imagine you were doing with Rich over the Christmas break! Happy New Year!
Hello Graham. Beautiful interpretation of this pretty composition which warms up well.
Merci beaucoup d'avoir regardé et laissé un commentaire aussi gentil, Philippe. Je te souhaite une très bonne année !
@@grahamtwist Cette pièce est très agréable à écouter ... il me faut la jouer aussi un des jours .. Merci pour vos vœux de bonne année .. cela va commencer par une semaine à l'hôpital la semaine prochaine ..malheureusement, il n'y a pas d'orgue !! et après, tout ira bien. Bonne santé à vous aussi et que l'année soit féconde en compositions.
@@philippelegargean5120 J'espère que tout se passera bien à l'hôpital, Philippe. Je penserai à toi. Plein d'amour !
Well done Graham. Nice!!
Thank you, Jan: Happy New Year!
Graham, since these last few day's are full of snow in Europe, this Cantabile comes at the right time. I also like your coazy winter jacket! Stay warm and drink plenty of tea!
Thank you, Vidas! Sunday and the world was white over. This morning, Monday, all the snow has gone and instead the house is now surrounded by water as it has been raining non-stop and the garden is flooded! However, there is one element of the weather that is (unfortunately) consistent: it is very, very cold and so I need that thick jacket and lots of hot tea to try and keep warm. Happy New Year!
@ Ok, then this Cantabile should be called “Water’s Embrace”😂😂😂
@@SecretsofOrganPlaying Haha! Hopefully I won't encounter any icebergs floating in the shrubs . . . or it could be a Titanic homage for my next composition!
A very nice recording of Rien's latest piece. And beautiful pictures. We had a lot of snow too, unfortunately, it's gone as fast as it came ...
Thank you very much for watching and leaving a kind comment. Yes, the snow has now gone from here also, for the time being! Happy New Year!
Wonderful Graham!😁👍👏👏👏❤️
Thank you very much for watching, Peter: Happy New Year!
@grahamtwist You're so welcome! Thank you! I wish the same to you!
Dear Graham, what a nice surprise to watch your first performance of 2025! This composition brings incredible peace, a combination of Rien's beautiful composition, your fantastic performance and the beautiful images you added throughout the video! I also loved hearing that you used Organteq, it's always good to explore new possibilities and technologies, and it sounded incredibly good. I hope to explore Organteq one day too! The fact that you can edit the instrument must be satisfying, and I believe that Modartt will make good improvements in the future. Finally, even though it's summer here in Brazil, I was imagining the embrace of winter when listening to this beautiful collaboration between you and Rien. I hope you have a blessed year, with lots of joy, health, and that we can continue sharing our music and friendship. Warm hugs from Brazil.
I wanted to
ask a question, dear Graham: you said that in Organteq 2 it is possible to edit and customize the organ, almost like a builder. My question is: is this only possible in relation to the number and types of stops, or can you customize the number of manuals, etc. After reading your description and commenting on your video, I thought it would be interesting to customize a one-manual organ, to use with my digital piano, and that gave me some ideas!
A big hug.
Muito obrigado por assistir e deixar um comentário tão gentil, André. Enviei um e-mail para você - Feliz Ano Novo!
Very nice dear Graham, how you play Rien's composition and fantastic also the pictures you use for your video, it's very, very nice! I wish you a blessed new year!
Thank you very much! Happy New Year to you! Organist friendships are the best!