Psalm 88

Klaas Bolt was a Dutch organist and composer. He was the organist of the famous Müller organ of the Bavokerk in Haarlem. In Holland he was and still is famous for his improvisations skills. Some of them were edited as scores. So is this organ piece on the Genevan Psalm 88.

In 1984, 11 October Klaas Bolt improvised this psalm prelude during a community singing evening in the Oude Kerk of Rotterdam-Charlois. First there is a slow introduction, after which the cantus firmus appears on a second manual. The use of the Sesquialter is prescribed, so I used that. Surprisingly a second voice appears above the cantus firmus. This makes the piece very interesting. You can hear how this develops during the piece, Bolt uses a lot of chromatism to portray the pain, complaining and sadness of Psalm 88. Towards the end of the piece he uses a moderate modern idiom with some daring harmonies.