Thema met Varieties

Hendrik Andriessen (1892–1981) was a prominent Dutch composer and organist, known for his significant contributions to Catholic liturgical music and his masterful improvisational skills, however, not necessarily as well known as perhaps he ought.
The Thema met Variaties for solo organ was completed in 1949, the same year Andriessen retired as director of the Utrecht Conservatory and is, likely, his most frequently performed piece. 
I was surprised that there were rather fewer recordings of this than I expected, perhaps because my first teacher regularly played it in recitals. There is a fabulous recording by Contrabombarde legend Agnus_Dei (essential listening): a compelling interpretation on a CC organ….so good I nearly didn’t post mine! However, I thought that it would fit the Auenkirche organ rather well and there is room for more than one interpretation!