Mathieu Polak, the official carillonist of the EUR, has made a new composition for the Dies Natalis. Because this year’s Dies is all about the Nobel Prize of the famous economist Jan Tinbergen, Polak composed the Tinbergen Variations.
“In the first place, I thought of making a piece in connection with economics, but I honestly don’t know anything about it,” Polak laughed. “But then I thought of the Goldberg Variations by Bach. And tin and gold are somehow connected, so I took a look at that composition.”
Polak used the first four bars of the Goldberg Variations. “Then I thought: how can I make this composition my own?” he said. He did that by choosing a five-eighth measure. “I also thought it needed a pedal solo,” he continues. That means that you only play with your feet, with your hands free.
The carillonist will play the Tinbergen Variations for the first time on Friday afternoon at 2.45 pm, just before the opening of the Dies. Are you curious about what the composition sounds like? Watch the video here:
