Frederik Croene

All music written and performed by Frederik Croene. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Christophe Albertijn – Studio Les Ateliers Claus. Produced by B.A.A.D.M. & Frederik Croene. Recorded under stormy clouds in August 2015 at St. Peter’s church in Gent, Belgium. Organ built by Pierre Van Peteghem (1847-48). Album design by Mathieu Serruys & Joris Verdoodt. Published in collaboration with Grafische Cel / LUCA School of Arts, campus St-Lucas Visual Arts Gent – funded by research unit Image.

The reciting of vows, the exchange of rings, the nuptial blessing: the Catholic rite of marriage centers around well-structured passages of a sacramental nature. When Frederik Croene was asked to rethink the musical settings for a wedding mass of a couple of friends, he got intrigued by the challenge of playing the Van Peteghem organ at St. Peter’s Church in Gent.

The family of its creator Pierre Van Peteghem was famous in the Romantic period for their exquisite organ constructions. It was not the first time Croene made improper use of traditional instruments: for his album ‘Le Piano Démécanisée’ (AudioMER, 2010) he turned to the frame of a piano, navigating between the classical repertoire and radical deconstruction of the musical idiom. With Timo Van Luijk (aka Af Ursin) he released ‘Voile au Vent’ (La Scie Dorée, 2009), creating a haunted cosmos of classical instruments pushed to the edge.

Impressed by Croene’s exploration of the Van Peteghem organ, B.A.A.D.M. invited him to return to this massive instrument for a recording of his battle with the registers of pipes and pedals. ‘F.C. Me Fecit’ is the result of hours of variations high up in the organ loft of the St. Peter’s Church. Recorded during stormy weather, this album reflects the different moods instilled by the idea of an eternal alliance between people. Alternately connecting and disconnecting with the organ, Croene’s polluted chords unfold a world of archaic aesthetics and romantic ambiguity. In the split universe of both album sides of ‘F.C. Me Fecit’ (a deliberate wink to artistic mastery), Croene tames the organ and puts you under its spell.