Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato is a classic hit. For years it has made the annual Klassieke Top 400 (formerly called the Hart en Ziel [Heart and Soul] hit list) on the Dutch radio station Radio 4. Ten Holt originally wrote the piece for piano. Aart Bergwerff’s new arrangement for organ and female voices adds a striking dimension to this celebrated work.
Canto Ostinato – often affectionately referred to as ‘the Canto’ – is a quintessentially meditative work. Each performance is unique, as the composer lets the performers determine the number of repeats, dynamics and playing manner. Wishful Singing adds an extra sensorial experience, inviting the listener to wear a sleep mask or a blindfold during the concert. The audience has the option of bringing their own cushion or mat to sit or lie down on, if they prefer this to regular seating.
Open all your senses and experience the meditative and timeless effect of the Canto Ostinato!
A performance of Canto is more of a ritual than it is a concert. Simeon ten Holt, 1979
The piece Canto Ostinato by composer Simeon ten Holt is about timelessness. When the concept of time disappears, only space remains. This could mean space for your own thoughts and feelings, but it could also for your neighbour, his way of life and his opinions. In the case of a performance on a church organ, space is also literal: the immensely large space of a church that is filled by the sounds of the organ. Aart Bergwerff
Aart Bergwerff is a driven and versatile musician. He likes exciting and adventurous concert programming. On the one hand Aart has a great passion for the classical repertoire, in particular for that of Johann Sebastian Bach and on the other hand he likes to find new ways and forms in organ culture.
Since 2012 Aart has been the organist of the Grote or Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Kerk in Breda. As a concert organist he frequently performs at concerts and festivals at home and abroad. Aart is a lecturer at the Rotterdams Conservatorium, part of Codarts, University for the Arts. Since 1994 he has been a principal subject teacher of organ and arranging for organ.
In 2003 Aart was awarded the silver medal of the Société Académique ‘Arts, Science et Lettres’ because of his merits for the French organ culture.