Benjamin Tassie has carved a uniquely imaginative space in contemporary composition, fusing ancient and modern technologies to shape bold sonic environments. With Earth of the Slumbering and Liquid Trees, Tassie pursues a powerful fusion of historic and futuristic sound, drawing on organs from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries and digitally augmenting them via ROLI keyboards, analog synthesizers, and quadraphonic speaker setups. The result is immersive and monolithic—a seventy-minute odyssey recorded live by keyboardist Zubin Kanga at Het Orgelpark, Amsterdam, engaging audiences in a 360-degree embrace of resonance and transformation.
The piece stands as a culmination of Tassie’s ongoing exploration of historical musical practices and performance technologies, traversing the boundary between ritual contemplation and the contemporary climate emergency. Kanga’s interpretations sculpt the sampled sounds of historic pipe organs, manipulating their timbre and pitch via real-time control, re-contextualizing centuries-old traditions for today’s concert spaces. This embrace of sonic hybridity is amplified by the adaptive, immersive format: the music envelops, shimmers, and shifts, keenly attuned to the subtle gradations of resonance and decay. Listeners are invited into a multi-sensory meditation, where echoes of cathedral and chamber hall become interwoven with the spectral shimmer of modern electronics.
Earth of the Slumbering and Liquid Trees is a testament to Tassie’s sensitive rethinking of the past, addressing how ancient musical gestures might speak anew to a desacralized, modern ear. The performance functions as a ritual of renewal, blending reflection with joyful sensory immersion. The work has been commissioned and supported through the UKRI-funded Cyborg Soloists initiative at Royal Holloway, expanding the legacy of both composer and performer. Tassie’s achievement is not merely technical or historical: it’s a celebration of the organ’s capacity to evoke space, memory, and atmosphere—inviting listeners to become part of its unfolding landscape in real time.
