Palimpsest: The Ghost of Charles Tournemire

Palimpsest was written as a site-specific work for Orgelpark in Amsterdam, utilising 3 of the instruments in the space but only requiring 1 performer. The piece is based on Charles Tournemire’s famous recording of Cesar Franck’s Chorale No.3, a section of which has been transcribed into MIDI and is fed into two of the organs.

The ‘pastorale’ melody can be heard on the Sauer organ, exactly as Tournemire performed on the original recording, whilst other transcribed fragments are layered on top of each other and sent to the Utopia organ. The wind pressure in the Utopia organ is then controlled via MIDI to create a disfigured texture.

The performer plays on the Verschueren organ in duet with the ‘pastorale’ melody being played via MIDI. The role of the Verschueren organ is especially poignant as it is a historical replica of the Cavaille-Coll organ that Tournemire would have played on for the recording.