Composing Dissent : Avant-garde Music in 1960s Amsterdam

Funeral Music

The funeral music from the melodrama Bergliot (declamation and orchestra) by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) consists of two orchestral fragments which illustrate the dramatical events happening in the melodrama. The monologue is recited by Bergliot, the wife of Einar Tambarskjelve, leader of the Norwegian gentlemen farmers. The latter goes to King Harald's castle in order to request political rights for the gentlemen farmers. Yet he is trapped by the king who cowardly kills both Einar and his son. Bergliot's monologue, relating these tragical events, is a mixture of anger, revolt and resignation. Bergliot was premiered by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, conductedby the composer, at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 1906.

Madurodam

Madurodam is a small scale miniature town at Scheveningen (near The Hague) and is since many years one of the most important tourist attractions of the conurbation of Western Holland (called "Randstad"). On a scale 1:25 a charming picture of The Netherlands is given in bird's eye view: several important buildings, churches and townscapes are reconstructed up to the smallest details. There is also a fine transport system: a network of railroads, harbours and motorways covers the park and Madurodam Airport enables air traffic with all continents. The miniature suite Madurodam consists of eight short parts presenting a musical impression of the smallest town in The Netherlands. IReveille the piccolo flute and the side drum announce a new day; II Toy Soldiers there is a military parade in front of the George Maduro Barracks; III Binnenhof/Buitenhof a solemn melody is the main theme of the suite and depicts the state buildings and the nearby lake "Hofvijver" at The Hague; IV Small Windmills everything that moves or whirls at Madurodam is described in this barrel organ waltz; V Intermezzo/Nocturne Madurodam by night is described by a solemn passage played in unison by the lower instruments; VI The Westerkerk Church also the capital Amsterdam is represented with the chimes of the famous Westerkerk church; VII The Muiderslot Castle an elegant pavane recalls medieval atmospheres; VIII "Grande" Finale the windmill theme comes back and then the suite comes to an end with the "Binnenhof" theme, decorated by the first strains of the national hymn "Wilhelmus".

Poul Ruders: Corpus Cum Figuris (Score)

Corpus Cum Figuris is a uniform composition in three major parts. The first part is a slow marche funébre, a kind of prologue with dark and sombre sounds and a massive wall of chords which leads us to the other part of the works where the static and solemn atmosphere is suddenly stopped and replaced by a rhythmic/melodic ritual which accelerates the music. In the third part the block structure is softened gradually, different figurations and stylistic elements arise to live their own lives: distant waltzes and pictures from the Middle Ages appear in this gigantic sonorous body. After a wild percussion orgy a short flash-back and a scream from the edge end Corpus cum Figuris. The piece has no literal content at all, even though the title leads the thought to Adrian Leverkühn?s Apocalipsis cum Figuris from Thomas Mann?s Doctor Faustus. More likely, my piece will arouse associations as with all my music. It has to be heard in it?s own conditions, in this case as a big body of music or perhaps as a great screen where the details, of course, are part of the whole body but at the same time are foreign and odd. It is as if one climbs a mountain and from the top of that mountain discovers a world which is completely different from expected. Corpus cum Figuris for 20 musicians was composed in 1984, commissioned by Ensemble InterContemporain and the Danish Radio. Ensemble InterContemporain world premiered the work in April 1985 conducted by Peter Eötvös. The piece was also played at the ISCM-festival in Amsterdam by Netherland Radio Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ernest Bour.

Cobra

Shortly after the Second World War, a combative movement of Danish, Belgian and Dutch artists chose the cobra snake - extremely dangerous yet considered sacred - as a symbol of their resistance to strict guideliness of form. The name "Cobra" also happens to contain the first letters of the cities Copenhagen, Brussels ans Amsterdam, from where most of the movement's members came. The Cobra movement, which existed from November 1948 until November 1951, can with some justicication be called the last major avant-garde movement of the 20th century.The source of inspiration for the composition Cobra comes from four paintings: "Obhobning" by the Dane Egill Jacobsen; "La jeune fille et lamort" by the Belgian Pierre Alechinsky; "Orgeldraaier" and "Le rythme joyeux de la ville" by the Dutch artists Karel Appel and Corneille. Obhobning means "pile-up", which is represented musically in the first part by a melodic and harmonic pilling up of perfect fourth's. The first part is also characterized by a rhythmic feeling, which the painting gives through its use of numerous black stripes. In the painting La jeune fille et la mort, Pierre Alechinsky places a young girl opposite Death. The second part features the constantly pulsating motion of live while a creeping, dark, melodic line develops. The tension between life and death is tangible as a battle reveals itself. In part three, one hears the Orgeldraaier by Karel Appel, as cheerful and playful as an organ grinder's music. The painting Le rythme joyeux de la ville by Corneille is busy and extremely dynamic, a perfect source of inspiration for a powerful, rhythmic ending to this composition.