Early Music in the Netherlands is a phenomenon that has developed in the past hundred years. It has involved an ongoing search for historical instruments and the way in which they used to be played, and the rediscovery of musical repertoires dating back eight centuries. Musicians have had to muster all their skills to make historic performance practice the resounding success it is today.
The result is the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, which has been attracting thousands of visitors from home and abroad since 1981. With its many churches and historic buildings, Utrecht’s city centre is the perfect setting for this early music festival that takes place every year in August and September.
For an impression of the atmosphere of the festival, take a look at this clip:
The international festival of contemporary choir music is taking place at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam. Four days of workshops, lectures and concerts on contemporary choir music.
For professionals and amateur choirs.
Colourful Jukebox
At their website Tensodagen.nl they do have a very clever feature. A colourful jukebox with excerpts of 20th century compositions sung by the participating performing choirs. It’s possible to play like a DJ, either on your own computer or, even more fun, at the same time with your colleagues.
Or, even better, go to the Muziekgebouw to see the concerts live till October 18……
French piano talent Jobic Le Masson will play at SJU Jazzpodium in Utrecht on October 8.
Together with the Americans: bass player Peter Giron and drummer John Betsch they’ve recorded original material on their album Hill. This recording was a dedication to piano legend Andrew Hill, who passed away 2 years ago. Influences by Hill, but most certainly also by greats like Thelonious Monk and Mal Waldron are obvious in Le Masson’s playing. Nevertheless he has a very fresh and original style of his own…..as you can hear in this audioclip of a composition by Jobic himself: No One.
Dutch composer Cornelis Dopper is being commemorated with a large-scale music festival. Dopper was born in 1870 in Stadskanaal and in his time a beloved conductor and pedagogue in music as well.
He studied at the Conservatory in Leipzig – as so many Dutch composers did – with, a.o. Carl Reinecke. In 1908 Dopper was appointed second conductor under Willem Mengelberg with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He stayed with the orchestra until his retirement in 1931.Because of great merits his name still figures at the balustrade in the Main hall of the Concertgebouw among the great of his time.
Cornelis Dopper did write seven symphonies and other works for orchestra of which Ciaconna Gotica will be the best known. This composition has been performed under the baton of famous conductors in most concert halls all over the world. Some years before Cornelis Dopper died, he composed a Requiem, a piece that never has been performed but will be in November, later this year.
In addition to the orchestral works Cornelis Dopper wrote four opera’s and some chamber music; a String Quartet, a Violin Sonata and a Sextet for Winds and Piano. He had strong interest in musical education for the youth and thus he wrote quite a few works for children’s choir. Cornelis Dopper died September 18th, 1939 in Amsterdam. At his funeral from the Concertgebouw – for which even tram traffic was halted, all prominent figures from Dutch musical life were present.
This year three German composers are being remembered. Handel because of his death 250 years ago. Haydn also because he died 200 years ago. And Mendelssohn because he would have celebrated his 200th birthday.
Three Germans who during their lives moved to England to work and score triumphs. However, according to Jan Van den Bossche, parting Artistic Director of the Festival of Early Music in Utrecht, they all had serieus image issues to deal with. Handel was to be worsted by Bach, Haydn was no match for Mozart and Mendelssohn went under Wagner.
This years Festival is to vindicate those three German composers. But how does that work?
Could we have known the music of Bach if Mendelssohn had not discovered the beauty of it?
Utrecht, 29 August, 2009 - This weekend the Festival of Early Music Utrecht was set off. The international renowned Festival of Early Music is two days on meeting point yearly attracts hundreds of professionals and devotees to the authentic performance practice. Utrecht being the perfect historical setting for this musical feast is the most important “bell-ring city” in The Netherlands. The city has more than 100 churchbells, among them 20 medieval ones. The Domtower is with its 112 meters the tallest churchtower in the country. All the bells of the Domtower are still rung by hand by volunteers, members of The Utrecht Bellringers Guild. More than 20 of them gathered on Saturday morning to ring the 14 bells with beautiful names such as Martinus, MariaMagdalena, Beningnus and the 8227 kg weighing Salvatore. And with this stunning sound the Festival of Early Music was ring in at noon.
