​​Neuf Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité

A mystical universe

​It was a highlight of our 2022 Messiaen Festival. Bert den Hertog made a profound impression with his performance of Messiaen’s Livre du Saint-Sacrement, including on NPO Klassiek, where the concert was broadcast. He performed on the organ of the Elandstraatkerk, where he is the resident organist. The instrument and the church’s luminous acoustics are ideally suited to Messiaen’s organ works — no nuance escapes the ear.

Bert den Hertog will now perform Neuf Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité (1969). As a listener, you are drawn into a mystical universe where Gregorian chant, complex rhythms and vibrant colours converge. The organ’s palette is brought fully to life, with shimmering registrations ranging from ​profound bass sonorities to resplendent mixtures painting a heavenly spectrum. Birds emerge as symbols of the divine, acting as messengers of creation and spiritual freedom.

Bert den Hertog
Bert den Hertog (born Gouda, 1978) is the concert organist at the Elandstraatkerk in The Hague and the principal organist at the Oude Kerk in Scheveningen. He studied the organ at the Rotterdam Conservatoire under Ben van Oosten, Bernard Winsemius and Willem Tanke, graduating with a Performer's Diploma in 2005. During his studies, he won four national and international organ competitions. Den Hertog performs in the Netherlands and abroad, including in Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Estonia, Romania and Poland, and serves as an artistic advisor to the Elandstraatkerk Organ Foundation, where he is a champion of its monumental Franssen organ. A devoted advocate of the French symphonic tradition and Messiaen in particular, he gave a widely acclaimed performance of Livre du Saint-Sacrement in 2022, which was broadcast on NPO Klassiek. He also writes and lectures on organ music.