With Organica, Belgian composer and musician Sander De Keere transforms the centuries-old baroque organ into a new electronic sound experience. Showcasing 9 brand new classical compositions for organ in his proper contemporary minimalist and repetitive style.
Recorded entirely on a newly built replica of a 1763 Contius baroque organ, Organica is an hommage to ancient craftsmanship and a bold sonic experiment. The organ’s 1,765 pipes breathe, click, swell, and pulse like analog circuitry, becoming an acoustic synthesizer from a time before electricity.
The result is a stunning blend of old-world resonance and forward-thinking sound design: raw, immersive, and otherworldly. In 9 Parts on the album, Organica bridges the sacred and the synthetic, conjuring minimalist pulses, drones, and spectral landscapes that challenge expectations of what a pipe organ can be.
In 2023, composer and musician Sander De Keere was invited by renowned Belgian double bass player Lara Rosseel and the city of Ghent to perform a special concert at the historic Catharina Church in Wondelgem, a district of Ghent. Nestled within the sacred walls of this 17th-century church stands a remarkable instrument: a replica of a 1763 Contius organ, crafted in 2020 in hommage to one of the Baltic region’s most revered 18th-century organ builders. The organ was formally introduced to the public in 2022.
“I was deeply moved by the pure, organic sound of the organ. The wooden resonance of the principal pipes, the trombone-like depth in the pedals. Each register seemed to breathe a different life, echoing the voices of flutes, trumpets, cymbals, and even the human voice. It felt as though I was stepping into the lineage of classical music itself – back to Mozart, Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Messiaen – all of whom began their journeys as organists. I understood what the composer César Franck meant when he once said: ‘It’s not an organ, it’s an orchestra.”
The Contius organ (Catharina Church, Ghent, Belgium) as heard on the new album Organica.
For De Keere, the organ isn’t just an instrument – it’s a living machine. With its 27 registers and 1,765 pipes, this baroque masterpiece became a wellspring of inspiration. “You feel the music through your whole body. It's incredibly physical. Each register holds a sonic character, and combining them becomes a kind of alchemy. The organ is the original synthesizer of the 18th century.”
Thus began the creative journey that would become Organica. Driven by a desire to explore the instrument beyond its baroque roots, De Keere began experimenting with unconventional techniques and modern sensibilities.
The result is a bold reimagining: Organica, a sonic exploration of the ancient organ through a contemporary lens. It is the product of months of night-time sessions in the church, where Sander was given the keys and the freedom to play deep into the night.
“Alone in the church, with its natural reverb and the overwhelming presence of the organ, I lost track of time. It became a dialogue between instrument and space, between past and present. I hope you can feel some of that magic in my new album.”
