Toccata Architecture - Nils Henrik Asheim

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621): Toccata in C Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1683): Toccata per l'elevazione - from Fiori Musicali Georg Muffat (1653–1704): Toccata Septima - from Apparatus Musico Organisticus Nils Henrik Asheim (1960- ): Toccata-arkitektur J.S.Bach (1685-1750): Toccata and Fugue in F major - BWV 540 The toccata first appeared in the 15-1600s as the name of a piece of music for keyboard instrument. The structure was often improvisatory, and the performance was meant to be quite free. Here it was the performer who was to show the possibilities of finger technique on their instrument. Many of the early baroque toccatas consisted of a series of sections of differing character. Nils Henrik Asheim has combined three of these 1600s toccatas with his own composition Toccata-arkitektur. This is a serial work under constant development, the first parts of which were made for the reopening of Stavanger Cathedral in 2024. Here he cultivates musical figures that are quite simple to begin with, but are repeated, turned and twisted in ingenious ways. This often happens through an interweaving of the notes from the organ's two manuals. The concert ends with Bach's great Toccata and Fugue in F major, where the play with figures is taken to new heights, as large parts of the composition are built up as a canon with a theme that seems to be an endless stream of notes. Nils Henrik Asheim, composer and organist, pianist and curator, is known for his personal style of improvisation and for incorporating the organ into a diverse range of combinations of art forms. He has been organist at Stavanger Concert Hall since 2012. He has written music for orchestra, chamber ensembles and choir, as well as a large number of projects that explore spaces, situations and collaboration in innovative ways. Nils Henrik is artistic director of the Bodø International Organ Festival 2026 and 2027.

• Nils Henrik Asheim

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