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[festivalbeeld] H OR N S LI VO G M ENA AI O DR
D EW N A VI N ER O I OV 19 T A M 18 + C A E LO GR PAG O R P
2 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english
ARE YOU READY FOR IT? BY NOW IT’S A TRADITION TO OPEN THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON WITH THE UTRECHT MUSIC MONTH. DIRECTLY AFTER THE LAST NOTE AT THE EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL, THE GAUDEAMUS MUZIEKWEEK OVERWHELMS THE CITY WITH THE NEWEST NOTES BY THE YOUNGEST GENERATION OF COMPOSERS. THIS IS WHERE THE FUTURE SWEELINCKS ARE DISCOVERED.
INDEX Introduction Henk Heuvelmans
2
Now! New! 3 Music and location: from the Walter Maas House to Museum Speelklok and further...
4
From conservatory to concert stage 5 AskoISchönberg: 40 years of new music An interview with Wim Vos, director
6
Music in creases and folds An interview with William Engelen, sound artist
7
Gaudeamus Muziekweek flies all over the world 8 Music in the open air: ‘Walk With Me’ and ‘Musicaerial’
9
Portrait: Sergey Khismatov and Thanasis Deligiannis, nominated for the Gaudeamus Prize 2012
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Over the border: between composing and making music
Sweelincks, emphatically in the plural form: today’s young composers are really rocketing all over in style, instrumentation and their use of space and material. Many are at the verge of claiming their place in music history. Of course you want to be there! The Gaudeamus Muziekweek warmly welcomes you, not for a nostalgic trip, but for a magical mystery tour into the unknown.
Young creators from all over the world will come to Utrecht from 2 through 9 September to present their works to you. Together with colleagues and established older composers, they will discuss their plans and new ideas, how tomorrow’s music should sound. All sorts of questions arise: is there something like a Hague school, a Dutch musical style, a European sound? And what are the best ways to let the public share in all this? At the Gaudeamus Muziekweek you will hear and see composers start their careers. Some will blossom here into giants on whose shoulders the next generation can stand. That’s why we’re opening this year with the most recent work by this country’s best known living composer, Louis Andriessen, why we’re looking at how previous prize winners are faring. and why we’re offering others the opportunity of being heard by you and an international public. We will gladly guide you along the countless concert locations, where
photo: Herre Vermeer
a variety of well-known musicians and recently discovered ensembles will present themselves to you. Try it for a change and let yourself be carried along. There’ll be no time to become bored; almost all the concerts last less than an hour and not a single concert overlaps another event. So if you want to, you can go to all 32 concerts this week, plus a large number of stimulating sound installations, workshops, lectures and seminars. Gaudeamus has quickly established itself in Utrecht. Besides the annual Gaudeamus Muziekweek, we organize a concert series at the Huis a/d Werf and the notorious Proeflokalen, and innumerable other activities in Muziekhuis Utrecht. Projects that go beyond genres and disciplines are set up together with other organizations and festivals. Did you get the taste of it after visiting this festival? In that case we can offer you a steady supply of today’s music in Utrecht and you can continue to witness the birth of the latest developments in contemporary music. Internationally we also present highprofile festivals such as Gaudeamus Muziekweek New York and Gaudeamus Russia. Gaudeamus thus makes an essential contribution to the Utrecht city goal of becoming the European Cultural Capital in 2018.
Henk Heuvelmans Director
11
A laptop, a dresses and a muse; composing in 2012
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Beyond craftsmanship: interview with Martijn Padding, composer and jury member Gaudeamus Prize 2012
13
Loose, looser, loosest column Aad van Nieuwkerk
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Thanks to / Become a Friend / Gaudeamus Concert series 15 Program overview/ locations / tickets sales
17 – 20
IF YOU WANT TO, YOU CAN GO TO ALL 32 CONCERTS THIS WEEK, PLUS A LARGE NUMBER OF STIMULATING SOUND INSTALLATIONS, WORKSHOPS, LECTURES AND SEMINARS.
english — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — 3
NOW! NEW! Are you tempted by catchwords like these? Does your heart leap when the virtues of something is extoled with these words? ‘No,’ you’ll probably say. We’re continually bombarded with catchwords like these. Empty slogans are meant to evoke an acute feeling of necessity, but are ignored by ever more people. ‘New’ no longer wins hands down. And by tomorrow, ‘now’ has already passed by.
‘And a way of life.’ Manuella Blackburn
‘Lucky Jimmy, I’m an agnostic’ Thanasis Deligiannis
‘And my religion is music.’ Andys Skordis
QUOTES ON QUOTES
Jimmy Hendrix
presentation forms. This young generation of
Such divergent situations play with the
composers again has its entirely own viewpoint
expectations of the listener/viewer and can
on what music is or can be. The diversity in
lead to a deeper experience of the music.
This edition of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek
the pieces by the nominated composers is
zooms in on two important themes that give
enormous, tempting the Muziekweek to an
Of course these different concert situations
direction and meaning to the concept ‘new’:
equally extended variety of concert formats.
demand a different attitude by the musicians.
the ways composer and performers collaborate,
Night programs with ‘sleep music’, lunch
So, for them too, it’s ‘different’. As a musician
and the format in which music is presented.
concerts, reading sessions, evening routes in
you’re challenged to work things out in such
Instead of the traditional division between the
which you walk from one concert to the other,
a ‘different’ situation and to let this work to
lone composer who is ‘ready’ after finishing his
an overwhelming quantity of musical styles
the advantage of the music. And you can feel
score, and the musicians who take it on from
and approaches at full speed in ‘The Night of the
that the wonderful musicians and ensembles
there, this festival edition demonstrates the
Unexpected’, or expressive sound installations
populating the Gaudeamus Muziekweek can’t
results of working processes relinquishing this
directed to the personal musical experience:
rely on routine or experience. The music they
strict division.
A colorful series of divergent and typical
play is new, the thoughts from which this music
concert settings constitutes the program of
emerges are new and the way in which the
this Muziekweek.
result is presented is new: geared at maximal
The other ‘new’ in this edition of the Muziek‘Music is my religion.’
A COLORFUL SERIES OF DIVERGENT AND TYPICAL CONCERT SETTINGS CONSTITUTES THE PROGRAM OF THIS MUZIEKWEEK.
contact between music, musicians and you,
week is the way in which music is presented:
the public.
a broad range of presentation styles that fit
‘But what does another type of presentation do
the music being performed, instead of the
to the music? Doesn’t the music stay the same?’
standard concert format of two 45-minute
We think not. A church offers a totally different
An overview of the whole program can
sessions plus an intermission.
ambiance than does a concert hall, a museum
be found on page 18 and 19.
provides the listener with other information The selection of thirteen brand new pieces
than does a botanical garden. And we are
nominated for the Gaudeamus Prize by
convinced that this information steers the eyes
the jury, consisting of Martijn Padding (the
and ears of the listener. The experience of a
Netherlands), Annie Gosfield (United States)
concert in the dark is completely different,
and Christopher Butterfield (Canada), offers
and you listen to sounds differently when
plenty of opportunities to look for new
walking or when sitting.
4 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english
photo: Sofia Llyas
Music and location: from the Walter Maas House to Museum Speelklok and further... Felix’s Machines
With the arrival last year of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek in Utrecht, the festival returned to familiar territory. Gaudeamus was once the brainchild of Walter Maas, the charismatic organizer and cultural entrepreneur who founded the organization in Bilthoven in 1947 with the aim of ‘promoting contemporary music’. Walter Maas bought the premises from the composer Julius Röntgen, which soon became the port of call for composers in the Netherlands and the favorite haunt of celebrities both in this country and abroad. People such as John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and György Ligeti were guests in Bilthoven, in addition to Dutch colleagues such as Ton de Leeuw and Louis Andriessen.
De Zingende Toren
Now, 65 years later, the Gaudeamus Muziekweek
The collection of the Museum tells esteemed
Observatory forms the striking decor for the
is in Utrecht, not even 10 kilometers from its
stories about the age-old longing to render
winner of the Dutch Harp Festival: Italian
birthplace. The goal is more or less unchanged,
music by letting the automatic music instru
composer Nicoletta Andreuccetti.
but the way in which the organization operates
ments come to life in their context. During
has completely changed. After the war, the arts,
the Muziekweek, Museum Speelklok becomes
One activity is outside the center of Utrecht,
including composing, symbolized an unremitting
an ode to mechanical music, which greatly
but is certainly worth a trip by bike or bus.
trust in the achievements of a new age. Today,
fascinates today’s composers and public. In
‘De Zingende Toren’ in Leidsche Rijn, an art work/
several generations later, composing is an extre
the CM Studio of the Centraal Museum, a little
glass carillon by Bernhard Heesen, will ring with
mely eclectic happening expressed through all
further downtown, you’ll see the beautiful
music by Jorrit Tamminga, Christina Oorebeek, Luc Houtkamp and Wim the Ruiter.
‘Let us not forget that
‘If someone believes
sorts of forms and styles and which has to relate
installation ‘Cold Pin’ by the New York composer
the greatest composers
that composing can be
to a society in which diversity and temporality
Eli Keszler. The Gaudeamus program includes
were also the greatest
done without stealing,
seem to be the only indisputable values.
well-established concert locations such as the
thieves. They stole
it’s like claiming that
from everyone and
he or she can give birth
The central location of the Gaudeamus
to one that’s very special: Hostel Strowis,
everywhere.’
to someone without
Muziekweek 2012 is Museum Speelklok, which
which is offering three nights of ‘sleep music’.
Pablo Casals
having sex. And if it can
coincidently stems from the same period in
Geertekerk and the Nicolaïkerk, in addition
somehow miraculously
Dutch history as the festival. Museum Speelklok
This edition of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek
‘I wish I had been
be done, then I feel sorry
dates from 1956, when the exposition ‘Van
is in cooperation with the Open Monuments
introduced to this
for him or her.’
speeldoos tot pierement’ was held in Utrecht.
Day, which will be held on 8 September. That
concept when starting
Thanasis Deligiannis
Today Museum Speelklok is the festival hub,
day you can visit a number of short concerts
where you can see installations by William
in the Utrecht Museum Quarter. For example,
out as a composer! I am still captivated by the
‘Then wouldn’t they be
Engelen and Felix Thorn, and where the inter
you can hear the POW Ensemble with music
wonders of quotation,
rich or in jail?’
active ‘Passage’ by Pierre Jodlowski will take
for harpsichord and electronics in The Utrecht
borrowing, reworking
Andys Skordis
you on a trip through your own history and
Archive, which houses the richest collection
memories.
of archives, prints, cards, photos, films and
and rehashing.’ Manuella Blackburn
publications on the history of the city and the province of Utrecht. The Sonnenborgh
TODAY MUSEUM SPEELKLOK IS THE FESTIVAL HUB, WHERE YOU CAN SEE INSTALLATIONS BY WILLIAM ENGELEN AND FELIX THORN, AND WHERE THE INTERACTIVE ‘PASSAGE’ BY PIERRE JODLOWSKI WILL TAKE YOU ON A TRIP THROUGH YOUR OWN HISTORY AND MEMORIES.
english — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — 5
FROM CONSERVATORY TO CONCERT STAGE
MARTIJN’S TIP photo: Co Broerse
THE GAUDEAMUS MUZIEKWEEK IS BOTH A HOTHOUSE FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN COMPOSED MUSIC AND A FESTIVAL THAT PRESENTS THE RESULTS OF THOSE DEVELOPMENTS. THIS IS THE PLACE FOR A DISCOURSE ON CONTEMPORARY COMPOSED MUSIC AND THE PLACE WHERE THE RESULTS OF DILIGENT COMPOSITIONAL WORK ARE PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC.
MARTIJN BUSER (31) PROGRAMMING AND PRODUCTION As programmer of the Muziekweek it’s naturally difficult for me to choose; I gladly and proudly programmed each ensemble and composer. But if I have to choose a single tip, for me Ensemble Klang and Knalpot are the two best non-conformist groups in the Netherlands in the past few years. As in a vision I tried to capture the sound of both groups in a new sound spectrum. And to my great joy this combination is indeed going to result in something entirely new! Maximal music at a high volume, an ultimate crossover that will appeal to lovers of contemporary music, electronics, jazz, and progressive pop! Ensemble Klang + Knalpot Sun 9 Sept | 17:00 hrs | Zijdebalen Theater
Ensemble Gending
The heart of the festival is formed by the work of young composers from all over the world. Besides the competition, other new work is also presented, by student composers, composers further in their development, and by internationally celebrated composers. And finally, the Muziekweek functions as a platform for exchanging ideas, methods and best practices for composers as well as performers.
‘Young musicians are more open; their open-mindedness is crucial for the way in which a new piece is performed, whereas experienced musicians tend to revert to older examples.’
This means that the Gaudeamus Muziekweek
Martijn Buser: ‘I think that real changes in
In addition, Gaudeamus is developing plans
is both a festival for professionals as well as a
new music occur in the contact among
for an annually recurring meeting for all
public festival, which is well illustrated by the
contemporaries. Young composers often
composition students in the Netherlands.
two locations. The professional part is mainly
experience a gap between themselves and
During this Young Composers Ball, as the
held in Huis a/d Werf, where, led by the jury of
older, purified musicians. Young musicians are
working title of the platform reads, future
the Gaudeamus Prize, young composers get
more open; their open-mindedness is crucial
composers meet each other to listen, discuss
together on a daily basis to talk about the music
for the way in which a new piece is performed,
and to network. ‘That’s where we want to
they heard the day before. Museum Speelklok,
whereas experienced musicians tend to
think about other concert formats, develop
prominently situated in downtown Utrecht,
revert to older examples.’
collective public relations, establish contacts
is the heart of the public part of the festival.
with young musicians and strengthen
Martijn Buser, programmer of the Muziekweek:
One of the responsibilities that the Gaudeamus
contacts with Dutch concert halls. This way
‘Last year we tried to combine those two
organization has formulated for itself is increas-
the discourse on composing will gain a
functions at a single location so as to connect
ing the visibility of the participating composers.
substantial impulse,’ according to Martijn.
the public side of the Muziekweek directly
Martijn: ‘In contrast to some of the other art
to the professional side. That turned out not
disciplines, young composers often don’t feel
A good example of how such a platform
to work for the simple reason that there was
at ease when presenting themselves to an
actually works, may be seen and experienced
always one of those beautiful organs in the
audience. We want to focus on who these
in this festival edition. Together with a number
Museum Speelklok thundering with an impres-
young composers are, how they think and
of adventurous composers, Ensemble Gending
sive volume right through a conversation.’
what they do. We hope that through these
will take a close look at the role of the Javanese
lunch concerts with the composers, we can
gamelan in contemporary music. Musical
Gaudeamus aims at stimulating contact
profile their work more strongly.’ Thus the
material for all corners of the world will be
between composers and performers of new
lunch concerts will be rounded off with a discus-
rehearsed, analyzed and discussed during the
music and audiences. Specifically for the
sion in which the audience is explicitly invited
‘Gending Reading Sessions’.
up-and-coming generation of composers are
to participate. In addition, those nominated for
four free lunch concerts, organized by staff
the Gaudeamus Prize will introduce themselves
and students of the composition departments
with a short, funny, informative or otherwise
at the conservatories in Amsterdam, The
striking YouTube film, such as may be seen on
Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht/Hilversum.
the Muziekweek site.
At these concerts young student composers
Lunchconcerts conservatories Tue 4 thru Fri 7 September, 12:30 hrs
can present their work, performed by their
In the past year Gaudeamus has also started
contemporaries, to colleagues and the general
a concert series outside the festival. In order
public, and talk with them afterwards.
to ground Gaudeamus in this city through its
Ensemble Gending
This exchange of work and ideas is crucial:
steady presence, this coming year a concert
Tue 4 and Thu 6 September, 14:00 hrs,
a composer’s relatively solitary and abstract
series will be organized around new music in
Sun 9 September, 12:30 hrs
craft is much helped by colleagues’ reflections.
Huis a/d Werf and in Muziekhuis Utrecht.
Het Utrechts Conservatorium
Huis a/d Werf
6 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english
ASKO SCHÖNBERG: 40 YEARS OF NEW MUSIC For decades the flagship of Dutch ensembles, AskoISchönberg has the honor of opening this edition of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek. The program includes works by the top Dutch composers Louis Andriessen and Martijn Padding, and a brand new piece by Marko Nikodijevic, winner of the Gaudeamus Prize 2010. The program is rounded off with two pieces selected by the jury to compete for the Gaudeamus Prize 2012: ‘7 Unceremonious occasions’ by Andys Skordis and ‘Insomniac’ by Charlie Piper. A conversation with Wim Vos, director of AskoISchönberg, about new music past and present.
In the past: a Dutch ensemble culture emerged in the early seventies, with works by Louis Andriessen, among others, achieving an impressive position, first in the Dutch music scene and later also internationally. Presently: as of 2012 we’re left with a highly depleted infrastructure for newly composed music. Triggered by the digital revolution, audiences making different demands, and cutbacks unparalleled in history, only a limited number of small and medium-sized ensembles will survive. What is the role of the composer amidst all this? And is the music that he or she composes so different from 40 years ago? Wim Vos
AskoISchönberg occupies a unique position among Dutch ensembles, in which new compositions, a high level of performance, and attention to education are all related to each other. Wim Vos: ‘We’ve developed into the guardian of a repertoire that can actually only be performed by ourselves. The essence of AskoISchönberg is based on intensive contacts with a number of composers going back some 30 or 40 years. The repertoire that goes with this stretches from Schönberg to the present and we regard it as our task to keep it alive.’
photo: Hans Hijmering
AN INTERVIEW WITH WIM VOS, DIRECTOR
Asko|Schönberg
HOW DO YOU VIEW THE CURRENT SITUATION IN NEW MUSIC IN COMPARISON TO THE SEVENTIES, WHEN YOU CAME INTO BEING?
‘The typical radicalism back then has disappeared in our times. And the concert format has changed greatly. We’ve definitely put behind us the custom of entering and leaving the stage four or five times an evening. And we’re also looking into what increased concentration on theatrical means might offer us and our repertoire. But what really has changed, is musicianship. Today’s young violinist who has just graduated, can join in relatively easily. That used to be quite a different story. However, the repertoire knowledge of many of today’s young musicians still needs to be improved.’ DOES ATTENTION TO THEATRICALITY THREATEN THE MUSIC’S AUTONOMY?
‘No, I don’t believe so. I don’t see today’s composers assuming other competencies in order to win that trick. Even though they work with relatively conventional means, the composers with whom we work know how to achieve a different result each time. Today’s young composers work hard on their development with regards to content. Most composers are now very internationally orientated and know how to generate a lot of work. Although they are a lot more conscious of entrepreneurship, that doesn’t reduce their autonomy. What I do see is increased attention to technology and the enormous potential that offers. HOW DO YOU SEE THAT IN THE NOTES THEMSELVES?
‘Avant-garde music is sort of research music. You’re glad someone’s done it but you don’t necessarily want to listen to it.’ Brian Eno
‘Good music always wants to be listened to.’ Manuella Blackburn
‘Well yes, we are all free to choose what museum we want to visit.’ Thanasis Deligiannis
‘Good…’ Andys Skordis
BUT WHAT REALLY HAS CHANGED, IS MUSICIANSHIP. TODAY’S YOUNG VIOLINIST WHO HAS JUST GRADUATED, CAN JOIN IN RELATIVELY EASILY. THAT USED TO BE QUITE A DIFFERENT STORY.
Nowadays scores look really slick, while you used to get pieces that were too dirty to touch, in a manner of speaking. Midi files accompanying a score are of course relatively new and offer an aural impression of a piece, which can naturally be useful. For those composers who write their work with a computer there’s the technological seduction into the pitfall of external glamor and virtuosity. The meaning of ‘style’ is then sometimes narrowed to the relationship between a series of issues of a magazine, that’s my gut feeling about this. The playback button on the computer is for many composers simply too tempting. This stops other composers from using the computer. Some aspects of composition are of all time. The fact that composers demand the utmost of the technical knowledge of musicians is one of these aspects. I’m convinced this will never change.’ Asko|Schönberg Mon 3 September, 20:00 hrs Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh
english — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — 7
photo: Frederike Feldmann
Music in creases and folds
Since the end of 2010, William Engelen has been
few instruments, for example. Exhibiting it in
creating scores with ‘Falten’, scores released
Museum Speelklok creates a relationship with
from the restraints of two dimensions: ‘It’s a
the carillon book music on view there.’
HENK’S TIP photo: Co Broerse
WILLIAM ENGELEN TRANSCENDS THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN VISUAL ARTS AND COMPOSITION. HE WORKS TOGETHER WITH MUSICIANS WHO TRANSFORM HIS VISUAL WORKS INTO SOUND. ‘I’M AN AUTODIDACT AS A COMPOSER,’ HE SAYS. ‘FOR ME COMPOSING IS FIXATING TIME. I DON’T WORK WITH MUSIC NOTATION, BUT WITH GRAPHIC NOTATION SYSTEMS THAT I CONCEIVE MYSELF, THAT GIVES MUSICIANS A SHARE BECAUSE THEY ARE INVITED TO CREATE STRUCTURED IMPROVISATIONS.’
composition method with which on the one hand I can alternate sound and silence, and on
The question is then if he regards such a score
the other hand simulate the ‘spatiality of sounds’.
primarily as an art object or if he immediately
Folding a sheet of paper creates an object with
aims at a certain musical effect. Engelen:
different layers and folds, with differences in
‘It’s chiefly an object that I look at as visual art.
heights, spatial forms and overlaps. I add music
It’s only when the form appears to be musical
staves to all the parts that don’t disappear into
and readable that I continue with it. In the course
the fold when the object is pressed flat. By then
of time I’ve learned how the different treatments
folding it open, the blank parts turn up, the
of paper and the resulting object determine the
silences. The ‘architecture’ of the score is trans
sound. What started as uninhibited play has
lated into music together with the musicians.
evolved into serious research into the represen
That’s how we can change spatial forms,
tation of space in imagery and sound. I’m very
stratifications and differences in height into
interested in what the score’s spatiality evokes
performance techniques, timbres, pitch and
musically with the musicians of the
other musical elements. ‘Falten’ makes these
Sonar Quartett.’
HENK HEUVELMANS (58) DIRECTOR
connections and the way they develop in time, visually and auditively.’
Engelen is represented at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek with ‘Falten for string quartet’.
Until now most versions of ‘Falten’ have been for
It will be performed at the CM Studio of the
soloists. The scores have generally been standard
Centraal Museum by the Sonar Quartett, who
William Engelen – exhibition ‘Ontplofte blik’
sized A2 and A1 paper. Engelen: ‘The score for
will also perform works by Turgut Ercetin and
Tue 4 thru Sun 9 September, 11:00 – 17:00 hrs
the string quartet is considerably larger. It has
Mathias Hinke. As a visual work, it may be seen
(also 7 July – 28 October)
become a landscape measuring ten meters long
in Museum Speelklok, next to an impressive
Centraal Museum
and 35 centimeters high, through which the
musical machine by Felix Thorn, and the
musicians walk. This exceptional length allows
installation ‘Passage’ by composer and multi
William Engelen – Falten
me to play with the form in different ways.
media artist Pierre Jodlowski, a corridor in which
Tue 4 thru Sun 9 September, 10:00 – 17:00 hrs
I can knot it or fold the paper over a great length.
sensors transpose the movements of visitors
Museum Speelklok
Such interventions have implications for the
into sounds, music and dazzling light.
Wed 5 September, 20:30 hrs
music: long silences or temporarily stopping a
CM Studio Centraal Museum
In 2010 Aliona Yurtsevich was rated as one of the three highest eligible for the Toonzetters BumaCultuur Prize. Since then we have been keeping track of her and have now set up a new production with her, in which music, fashion, theater, movement, and electronics all play a role. We have had many interesting discussions about it with her. But how all these elements will ultimately merge together in a live performance by this talented young composer...that’s something to look forward to with excitement and suspense. Aliona Yurtsevich PIANO-dress: Sun 9 Sept | 15:00 hrs | RASA
8 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english
SEBASTIAAN’S TIP photo: Co Broerse
foto: Herre Vermeer
GAUDEAMUS MUZIEKWEEK FLIES ALL OVER THE WORLD
SEBASTIAAN JANSSEN (27) PUBLICITY AND MARKETING During the festival, I walk around with my phone to keep our social media followers informed about what’s happening. At the end of each day I will enter a blog post on our website, writing about that day, what’s going on in reviews, videos, photos, etc. As for myself, I’m looking forward the most to ‘Cold Pin’ by Eli Keszler, nominated for the Gaudeamus Prize 2012, an exciting and fascinating installation set up industrially. In addition, I would advise everyone to listen to ‘Mozartkugel’ by Marko Ciciliani, performed by the EnAccord String Quartet. This piece beautifully demonstrates how thin the boundary can be between classical music by the ‘Great Masters’ and full-blown kitsch.
From the very beginning Gaudeamus has operated internationally. Gaudeamus invites young composers from all over the world to the Netherlands, and sends Dutch composers and ensembles abroad. This year, emphasis is on contacts with New York and a number of Russian cities. At the European level, Gaudeamus is active with the Ulysses Network, in which leading institutes offer young composers workshops and concert venues for their work. The main thing in international contacts is continuity, according to Gaudeamus director Henk Heuvelmans. ‘That way you can really learn from each other and can achieve more beautiful things.’
Eli Keszler | Cold Pin
In the course of its existence, Gaudeamus has developed a network reaching far beyond Dutch borders. Because the organization has always offered a concert venue to inter national young talent, it’s at the lead in musical developments. Contacts with composers and musicians, established during the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, are also valuable at a later stage. ‘In January 2012 the first edition of a now annual event ‘Gaudeamus Muziekweek NewYork’ took place at The Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, New York. The programmer of The Issue Project Room studied here,’ Heuvelmans explains. ‘The venue recently moved to a much larger and better situated building. They wanted a fine presentation at that new location, wanted to link themselves to an inter national name. So they got in touch with us again. Without that previously established relationship, this wouldn’t have happened. In the opening program there were Dutch names such as MAE and Wouter Snoei, in addition to American names. There we can also position representatives of sound art. We have built up considerable knowledge in this area. Next year violinist Monica Germino is going on tour in the United States. We did our best for this, and on the other hand it leads to new contacts for us.’
Tue 4, Thur 6, Sat 8, Sun 9 Sept | starting 11:00 hrs | CM Studio Centraal Museum EnAccord String Quartet Sarah Nicolls, The Night of the Unexpected 2011
Gaudeamus has also developed an extensive network in Russia. In 2013 Dutch composers and ensembles will tour various Russian cities. Heuvelmans: ‘We gladly seize upon special occasions. Because this is a Russia-the Netherlands year, we can more easily ask for support. A tour through Russia may radiate less on the participants than a performance in New York, but audience numbers are always high. And it offers possibilities of contacting young talent who you would like to bring here for their development.’ Part of the exchange with Russia is ‘The Night of the Unexpected’, in which Russian musicians and composers participate. The ‘Night’ will subsequently travel to Moscow and St. Petersburg.
photo: Elisabeth Melchoir
Within Europe, Gaudeamus participates in the Ulysses Network, to which for instance IRCAM, a prominent institute for new music (electronic or otherwise) in Paris, is also linked. Under the auspices of Ulysses, productions and composers circulate a number of venues in Europa. ‘Young talent can thus develop themselves in a variety of surroundings. Very useful,’ Heuvelmans says. ‘We’re also working on the European Contemporary Orchestra, in which three ensembles want to present a new sound: the French Télémaque, the Belgian Musiques Nouvelles, and orkest de ereprijs from the Netherlands. Members from these ensembles join each other and work intensively with composers. We’re looking into other setups for concerts with them. There’s a world to be won in that field.’
Mozartkugel: Tues 4 Sept | 20:30 hrs| Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh
‘I would advise my young colleagues (...) to drop by sometimes at the kindergarten. It is there that it is decided whether there will be anybody who understands their works twenty years from now.’ Zoltán Kodály
‘And where you will find future musicians and audience members.’ Manuella Blackburn
‘I wish composers had visited me when I was in kindergarten... Then maybe I would still have been friends with most of
Monica Germino, will perform at Gaudeamus Muziekweek New York 2013
The Night of the Unexpected
ECO Small Form #04
Thu 6 September, 21:00 hrs
Fri 7 September, 19:00 hrs
Tivoli
RASA
the children there.’ Thanasis Deligiannis
‘Hmm…’ Andys Skordis
english — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — 9
MUSIC IN THE OPEN AIR:
‘Walk With Me’ and ‘Musicaerial’ THE GAUDEAMUS MUZIEKWEEK PRESENTS TWO STRIKING SOUND INSTALLATIONS CONNECTING PUBLIC SPACES OF UTRECHT WITH MUSIC. WITH ‘WALK WITH ME’ BY SOUND ARTISTS JEROEN STRIJBOS AND ROB VAN RIJSWIJK, GAUDEAMUS EMPHASIZES ITS CONNECTION TO ITS HOME BASE AND DEMONSTRATES ITS AMBITION TO REVAMP MUSICAL EXPERIENCE. ‘MUSICAERIAL’ BY FROUKE WIARDA IS THE OTHER INSTALLATION, WHICH WITH THE HELP OF COLORFUL KITES LITERALLY SENDS MUSIC BLOWING THROUGH THE AIR.
Musicaerial
With an iPhone in your hand and your ear-
Until now Strijbos and Van Rijswijk have
phones plugged in, you walk through the
only handled their own recordings and compo-
streets that connect Museum Speelklok and
sitions in ‘Walk With Me’. This is the first time
Centraal Museum to each other. ‘Walk With Me’
that music by others will be used. Van Rijswijk:
is at the cutting edge of composition and
‘We’re going to deal carefully with this. On the
installation. It is designed as an app (applica-
one hand we want to recycle that music with
tion) and works with GPS, which means that
respect. But the pieces we use also have to fit
‘Walk With Me’ is firmly rooted in today’s world.
within our own music. It’s a quest for us. And it
With the help of GPS, Strijbos and Van Rijswijk
will also be a quest for the visitors.’
can quite precisely establish places within a certain area where they link musical inter
Frouke Wiarda’s ‘Musicaerial’ in Lepelenburg
ventions and happenings. They can transmit
Park is also meant for outside. Her installation
sounds via the iPhone microphone and let these
consists of kites for which composers wrote
sounds undergo a change. They can conjure
music. The kites themselves were designed by
up composed fragments. For some of these
artists. ‘The kites are the source of sounds and
fragments they’re using music performed at
the source of inspiration,’ she says. Vibrations
earlier editions of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek.
in the string, made audible by a contact micro-
Each fixed place forms the middle point of a
phone, serve as the basis for the compositions.
circle within which the effect may be heard.
Sensors on the kites register changes in the
These circles often overlap each other. Thus a
movements, the wind, and the pressure on the
musical experience is created, consisting of
surface of the kite. This data forms the material
various layers, different for each individual part.
that composers such as Marije Baalman, Danny
The music and the sounds broaden and change
de Graan, and Wouter Snoei incorporate in
the experience of walking through downtown
their music, using real-time electronics.
Utrecht.
Wiarda: ‘Others use the kites purely as an
‘EACH FIXED PLACE FORMS THE MIDDLE POINT OF A CIRCLE WITHIN WHICH THE EFFECT MAY BE HEARD. THESE CIRCLES OFTEN OVERLAP EACH OTHER. THUS A MUSICAL EXPERIENCE IS CREATED, CONSISTING OF VARIOUS LAYERS, DIFFERENT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL PART.’
acoustic instrument. Koen Kaptijn connects the The two sound artists have had the app
string to his trombone in order to enter into a
operate at various locations this year, recently
fight with the elements. In all its simplicity this
as part of the Oerol Festival at Terschelling.
object evokes different images and associations
‘The Lange Nieuwstraat is the axis of the
for everyone. Lightness, the idea of a flight,
composition we’re making for the Muziekweek,’
connecting to other spheres. As for myself, I use
Rob van Rijswijk says. ‘It’s the largest distance
a string made of a super fiber, Dyneema, that
we’ve covered until now with ‘Walk With Me’.
conducts sounds in a special manner. The string
Each place has its own characteristics and
not only vibrates because of the wind, but also
challenges. We discover them by walking
by the voice of singer Meri Nikula via loud-
Walk With Me app
around. A hard nut to crack here in Utrecht is
speaker cones. It’s as though you hear voices of
download here: http://bit.ly/GMW12_wwm
the traffic. That sound is about the same for
people from past centuries, voices that are still
Sun 2 thru Sun 9 September
the entire length and it’s emphatically present.
drifting in the atmosphere.’
with iphone between Museum Speelklok
On the other hand there are lovely side streets
Walk With Me app
and Centraal Museum
and courtyards all over, often with special acoustics and atmospheres. Here we can zero
Musicaerial
in with the sounds that we program in the app
Sun 2 September, 13:00 – 18:00 hrs
for those places.’
Park Lepelenburg
Strijbos & Van Rijswijk
10 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english
PORTRAIT:
SERGEY KHISMATOV AND THANASIS DELIGIANNIS, FROM RESPECTIVELY RUSSIA AND GREECE, HAVE BOTH BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE GAUDEAMUS PRIZE 2012. WHAT FOLLOWS IS A PORTRAIT OF THESE TWO COMPOSERS, THEIR BACKGROUNDS, MOTIVES, AND THE COMPOSITIONS SCHEDULED DURING THE MUZIEKWEEK AND COMPETING FOR THIS YEAR’S PRIZE.
photo: Co Broerse
SERGEY KHISMATOV AND THANASIS DELIGIANNIS, NOMINATED FOR THE GAUDEAMUS PRIZE 2012
INGRID’S TIP
INGRID BEER (27) PUBLICITY AND MARKETING During the Muziekweek I bike around on my delivery bicycle so that everyone attending the festival has a flyer, program info and/or a festival news paper. In short, I take care of the publicity. Of all the beautiful festival programs, I’m looking forward the most to the concert by VOCAALLAB. The singers of VOCAALLAB come out so well in the Nicolaïkerk and moreover it promises to be a very beautiful, almost magical program. I can’t wait! VOCAALLAB Tue 4 Sept | 19:00 hrs | Nicolaïkerk
Thanasis Deligiannis
Sergey Khismatov
‘I love music passionately. And ‘There’s not much room in Russia for new
I don’t know how it’s going to sound live:
‘My music should be both playful and
because I love it, I try
music. In St. Petersburg there are maybe
I only have the score and a demo tape.’
serious. No playing around. The pieces develop
to free it from barren
in dialogue with the musicians, but I still remain
traditions that stifle it.’ Claude Debussy
three or four interesting young composers, plus one ensemble that only operates on the
Thanasis Deligiannis: ‘Actually I just fool people
the Composer with a capital C. As in the original
basis of projects. The situation is better in
into believing I’m a composer. I don’t think in
meaning of the Greek word synthesis: putting
Moscow: there around twenty composers are
notes, I think about music as movement and
things together.’
doing interesting things, and the conserva-
image. My father is a traditional musician, he
appealing now, as I
tory’s department of electronic music has new
plays clarinet, and my mother is a dancer. As
wonder what new
equipment with eight tracks. But aside from
a child I started playing instruments, but it
ideas may be inspired
Moscow, there are practically no commissions
was only at the music school that I learned to
or contemporary concerts on the large stages.
sight-read. I still have problems with solfeggio,
It’s often easier to get my music programed at
and the piano lessons were awful. I graduated
festivals abroad than here. In 2006 I finally
in composition, but I learned the most about
got a decent connection to internet. That’s
what sound does and its potential from music
when I first heard ‘Pierrot Lunaire’!’ In 2010
theater courses.’
Khismatov, together with another composer, decided to organize a series of concerts by
’Yriaeas’, the piece that is being performed
contemporary composers in St. Petersburg.
at the Muziekweek, is conceived as a sort of theater dialogue between the instruments.
Khismatov was selected for the Gaudeamus
The double bass is the leading actor, but all the
Muziekweek in 2010 with ‘Spring Relapse’
other instruments also act as if they are the
for voice and electronics, and in 2011 with the
protagonists. If you think away the words and
hellish and theatrical ‘To the left’, in which
the theater, then you’re left with this piece.
the conditions of the homeless in Russia
It has a continuous flow; I removed the bar
are expressed as one big musical delirium.
lines because they got in the way, just like
This year his ‘Microphones Quartet’ will be
prison bars.’
‘ACTUALLY I JUST FOOL PEOPLE INTO BELIEVING I’M A COMPOSER. I DON’T THINK IN NOTES, I THINK ABOUT MUSIC AS MOVEMENT AND IMAGE.’
‘I find traditions
through working with old or established forms. Perhaps within the barren we might find abundance...’ Manuella Blackburn
‘Well, I agree with Claude, but many of my friends accuse me of being a patronizer.’ Thanasis Deligiannis
‘It’s good if you love it.’ Andys Skordis
performed at ‘The Night of the Unexpected’. ‘Ultimately I’m not aiming at creating a big
Sergey Khismatov – Microphones Quartet
‘For ‘Microphones Quartet’ I went to the
Gesamtkunstwerk, rather at returning a ritual
The Night of the Unexpected
Rimsky-Korsakov Museum. They had a concert
in which everything has a place: music, move-
Thu 6 September, 21:00 hrs
piano I was allowed to use. I wanted to create
ment, space, time. The use of video – moving
Tivoli
a piece without fixed tones, but it should not
image! – is natural for me, precisely because of
be sheer noise either. The piano is tapped and
the time factor. What I learned from Greek folk
Thanasis Deligiannis – Yriaes
explored by microphones; the resulting sounds
music is a horizontal way of thinking musically:
Nieuw Ensemble
come from all four corners. Actually it’s a
not based on harmony and counterpoint, but as
Fri 7 September, 20:30 hrs
percussion piece for microphones and piano.
something continuous, almost like in a raga.’
Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh
english — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — 11
OVER THE BORDER: BETWEEN COMPOSING AND MAKING MUSIC photo: Sarah van Sonsbeek
Ensemble Klang
Knalpot
The Gaudeamus Muziekweek is exploring new avenues. Besides other ways of presenting music to the public, Gaudeamus stimulates the search for new forms of collaboration between composers and musicians. The strict division between the two is age-old: the one conceives it, the other performs it. The Muziekweek would like to suggest various alternatives. Two examples are the collaboration between Knalpot and Ensemble Klang, and between J.O.N.G. and composer Arthur Wagenaar.
‘Composers should write
‘I’m sure they now all
tunes that chauffeurs
have their own iPods.’
and errand boys can
Thanasis Deligiannis
whistle.’ Thomas Beecham
‘Composers should whistle.’
‘I’d like to hear someone whistle some electroacoustic music.’ Manuella Blackburn
Andys Skordis
In bringing together Knalpot and Ensemble Klang, the demarcation between composer and performers becomes blurred. At the initiative of Muziekweek programmer Martijn Buser, these two groups dived into each other’s repertoire and prepared pieces together. For the duo group Knalpot (guitarist Raphael Vanoli and drummer Gerri Jäger), the initial emphasis was on improvisation. Gradually the duo began using electronics, allowing them to manipulate sounds and to thus introduce an extra layer. Their music, which materializes while rehearsing, offers a lot of freedom for action. ‘When we rehearse, we often work associatively and try out concepts,’ according to guitarist Vanoli. ‘We record our rehearsals and zoom in on the strongest pieces. We crystallize such fragments into whole numbers that we then further develop in a live setting. A free interpretation of our compositions keeps them fresh, both for us and for our audiences.’ ‘Knalpot doesn’t sound like a duo for guitar and drums,’ says Pete Harden, artistic director and guitarist of Klang. ‘With an incredible feeling for detail, they dive in on a minuscule element and blow it up while you’re looking on. In this they’re radical and unique.’ Klang consists of three wind players, piano, guitar, and percussion. In contrast to Knalpot, Klang has composers writing for the group. Because the music is conceived for the individual members, the group determines the end result to a large extent. Harden: ‘We work a lot with early compositional sketches. Our rehearsals with that material are workshops where we flesh out the music. Composers have a clear idea of what they want. In ‘Schwarzweiss’ Christopher Fox has established a global structure in which he notated the rhythms in detail, but left the choice of the sounds up to us. An open score gives us the opportunity to live in it, as it were. We become part of the creative process. Just like Knalpot, we continually fiddle and tamper with a piece, even if there’s a ‘definitive’ version recorded on a CD.’
During the Muziekweek, Klang and Knalpot will perform each other’s repertoire, independently of each other. In addition, they will work on new music during rehearsals, which they will present together. The concert in September, the final concert of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, should mark the beginning of an intensive collaboration. The J.O.N.G. ensemble (the abbreviation stands for Jonge Ondernemende Nieuwe Generatie: young, enterprising, new generation) performs both classical and contemporary music. Although it emphasizes high-quality musicianship, it also strives to blow the dust off of music and its presentation. Composer and keyboard player Arthur Wagenaar, active in the music theater field with his band Susies Haarlok, works with J.O.N.G. on ‘Soldatenverhalen’ (‘Soldiers’ Stories’). ‘In ‘Soldatenverhalen’ I use drums and electric bass, not necessarily for the notes, but for the power of the sound that these instruments produce. I let the ensemble improvise. Not completely free phrases, but pieces in which they have to react instinctively and directly to signals played by certain members. It’s a drill, like the military learn. The musical reactions are determined, but not the moments that those signals are given. J.O.N.G. is open to everything, it’s in for wild plans. But you stay caught in a strange circle. Classically trained musicians can read insanely good and quickly perform the music you’ve written. But you need time to try things together, to undo those established relationships. And there’s simply no time. In music theater you can rehearse for months to create something. Ensembles simply don’t have that luxury.’
Knalpot + Ensemble Klang Sun 9 September, 17:00 hrs Zijdebalen Theater J.O.N.G. Ensemble Music around Monuments Sat 8 September, 15:30 hrs Park Lepelenburg
12 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english
JONATAN’S TIP photo: Co Broerse
A LAPTOP, A DRESS AND A MUSE; COMPOSING IN 2012 The standard image of the composer sitting at the piano, entrusting his musical imagination to music paper has had its day. Today’s composers employ many other working methods. Prompted by changes in the relationship between maker and performer, or the development of new technologies, today’s composer approaches music from unusual angles. All these possibilities are in the rich spectrum of composers presented by the Gaudeamus Muziekweek. Three composers prominently represented in the festival program talk about the way they work.
JONATAN BRAND (24) COORDINATOR VOLUNTEERS / PRODUCTION I’ve been involved with the Gaudeamus Muziekweek since last year. During this year’s Muziekweek I’m responsible for the volunteers and for some production tasks. I also hope to be able to go to a lot of concerts. I’m especially looking forward to the ‘Slaap zacht’ evenings, when international artists and jury selections perform special night works in the intimate setting of a bedroom at the Hostel Strowis, during which the audience may fall asleep. A special and unique concert experience.
Electronics is a natural element in the sound worlds that Wouter Snoei creates. During the Muziekweek the POW Ensemble will play ‘Keys’, written for harpsichord and two laptops. Snoei uses the laptops to manipulate the harpsichord sounds. In addition, with contact microphones he amplifies touching the keys of the three instruments. ‘Originally I was focused on electronics in order not to be tied down to the limitations of acoustic instruments. I wanted to construct new sounds. Computers offer unlimited possibilities. But you do lose an unpredictability and a liveliness that you get for free from instruments. A musician is important as an eyecatcher. It irritates me when I see a laptop operator fixated on his screen.’
Yurtsevich, herself a pianist, has worked for a number of years as a visual artist and designer in New York before she once again devoted herself to composing. ‘Music develops in my thoughts as a hologram that I can model and rework. Changes in the image correspond to changes in the sound, in the musical structure. In ‘PIANO-dress’ the conceptual image determines the progression of various movements. That
Hostel Strowis
offers me the possibility of addressing the relationship between instrument and performer from various angles. ‘PIANO-dress’ joins sound and image, is both a composition and an installation. It’s not about musical virtuosity and that’s why it’s hard to perform. Often there’s hardly any sound. I believe that there’s also music beyond the borders of the audible. If you don’t perceive any sounds, that doesn’t mean there’s no music.’ ‘It’s crucially important to write for a specific musician,’ Louis Andriessen says. His ‘La Girò’ is programmed during the Muziekweek. The foundation for his conviction was laid sixty years ago when he first heard ‘Birth of the Cool’ by Miles Davis. ‘My brother Jurriaan took it with him from the United States. Listening to music via mechanical means was highly unusual. In our family we all played ourselves. I was already busy working out pieces at the piano. What Davis did was new; the expanded wind section in his band. The songs with their rhythms bore a close resemblance to dance music. The harmonies and the arrangements pointed the way towards polyphony in free jazz.’ That album was the root of Andriessen’s preference for brass instruments, but it also pointed to writing for people, like in jazz. He already did that before Orkest De Volharding. He wrote ‘La Girò’ last year for violinist Monica Germino. The piece is based on Anna Giraud, one of Antonio Vivaldi’s favorite female singers. Vivaldi’s muse inspired Andriessen to write something for one of his muses. ‘I can ask Germino to tell a story or to sing a song in such a way that she seems to be improvising. Her possibilities give me ideas as to what I want to write.’
Wouter Snoei photo: Franc Escapatella
‘In my work as a composer I cross the boundaries of the musical media,’ Aliona Yurtsevich says. During the performance of ‘PIANO-dress’, which will be premiered during the Muziekweek, pianist Tomoko Honda will wear a gigantic dress completely decorated with electronics. ‘This piece wants to thwart the expectations people have of the relationship between a piano and a pianist. Usually the musician serves the instrument; the movements while performing, which are in themselves hardly interesting, only serve to operate the instrument. In ‘PIANO-dress’ the body of the musician becomes the instrument. The moods and the operations, which I have noted in the score, are variations in musical observation.’
Thu 6 – Sat 8 Sept | 23:30 hrs |
photo: Jan de Rode
Through electronics he can expand the sound of an instrument: ‘I use the sounds of the instrument itself as much as possible. This is also the case in ‘Keys’. Every touch of the keys, both of the harpsichord and of the laptops, is part of the music, part of the composition. Because I work with electronics, I think in sounds and of ways of getting processes going and adjusting them. I’m also conscious of the spatial functioning of music. You can place loudspeakers around the audience. That will lead to another arrangement of the instruments and thus to another way of experiencing the concert.’
Slaap Zacht
Louis Andriessen
Wouter Snoei – Keys Music by Monuments Sat 8 September, 12:30 hrs Het Utrechts Archief Aliona Yurtsevich – PIANO-dress Sun 9 September, 15:00 hrs RASA Louis Andriessen – La Girò Asko|Schönberg Mon 3 September, 20:00 hrs Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh
english — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — 13
photo: Co Broerse
Beyond craftsmanship
The jury for the Gaudeamus Prize 2012
Martijn Padding (NL) is chairman of the jury for the Gaudeamus Prize 2012, which is further comprised of Annie Gosfield (USA) and Christopher Butterfield (CAN). Besides composing, Padding is coordinator of the Composition Department at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Three of his works are being performed during the Muziekweek: ‘Three Summer Pieces’ by Asko|Schönberg, and ‘Nederland Muziekland’ and ‘Piéton de Hauterives’ by orkest de ereprijs.
‘A prize is really a prize for the arts, not so much for that guy or girl who wins the prize, because you can easily think of a hundred other com posers. Naturally there’s always one who’s a bit better than the others, but in the arts this is ultimately difficult to measure. So I’d rather think about it as something you celebrate with each other.’
AS YOU DESCRIBE IT, TODAY YOU CAN’T COMPOSE IN YOUR STUDY ANYMORE. BECAUSE THIS WAY OF COMPOSING IS BEYOND THE SCORE, BECAUSE YOU TRY THINGS OUT IN A STUDIO, BECAUSE YOU RUN THROUGH CHOREOGRAPHIES. TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THIS DEMAND A NEW WAY OF WORKING AND THINKING? ‘Dialogue is terribly important. But Mozart
‘The trouble with music
‘The first thing that surfaces in the jury is:
also understood that, he didn’t design his own
appreciation in general
‘It shouldn’t be a compromise!’ We’ve selected
choreographies for his operas. Traditionally,
is that people are taught
someone who made a really crazy installation
composing is working together. People like
to have too much respect
with cables etc.: Eli Keszler with ‘Cold Pin’. That
Michel van der Aa (winner Gaudeamus Prize
for music they should be
type of eccentricity, that isn’t eccentric anymore.
1999) are unique in this sense: they can do
taught to love instead.’
By now that, too, is steeped in an enormous
everything by themselves. But on the other hand,
Igor Stravinsky
tradition. It simply belongs to the rest.
there’s an advantage to dialogue. It allows you to
That used to be impossible. When I was studying
jump really high. If you say, ‘That’s not possible’,
‘Giving rise to those
in the eighties everyone did the same thing. You
the other person responds, ‘But it is possible.’
barren traditions!’
had to have a really excellent command of the
Manuella Blackburn
handiwork, otherwise it wouldn’t be performed.
That dialogue can also be with a computer.
It’s not like that now. The arts aren’t so straight
Because a computer can do things people can’t.
‘Stravinsky, I haven’t
forward anymore. And that has emancipated
If you press a button and hear everything
decided yet if you’re my
the arts. But if you listen to those sort of things a
backwards, then you hear things… if I had to
enemy or not.’
whole evening, you start to think: I sure wouldn’t
write that out myself, it would take me three
Thanasis Deligiannis
mind hearing a really good chord progression.’
weeks.’
HOW DOES THAT APPLY TO YOUR OWN COMPOSITIONAL PRACTICE? long time about a note that I find beautiful.
BUT DOES IT ALSO CHANGE HOW YOU LISTEN? SIMPLY BECAUSE THE CHOICE OF AVAILABLE SOUNDS HAS EXPANDED SO MUCH?
And whether that note comes from a strange
‘Yes, absolutely. You develop a new way of
synthesizer or from a computer or from a piano,
listening. I remember the first time I listened to
that doesn’t really matter that much to me.
Vivier, in the eighties. I sat in De IJsbreker; I had
For many years I worked on productions
never seen the score, never even heard of the
Martijn Padding – Three Summer Pieces
together with Krista Vincent. There was a piece
guy. Afterwards I told the bass player: ‘Jesus, you
Asko|Schönberg
in which we wanted to make glissandi on the
guys really played way out of tune.’ They were
Mon 3 September, 20:00 hrs
piano like on a violin. That’s something you can’t
those terribly good, precisely notated microtonal
Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh
do on a piano. Because a piano only has fixed
chords. And I thought, ‘I’ve heard something
tones. So I asked if she could develop a program
wrong.’ Only much later, when I could get hold
Martijn Padding – Nederland Muziekland
so that when I pressed a piano key, the result
of the score, I understood that my ears had
and Piéton de Hauterives
would be an immediate glissando to another
totally fooled me. That’s a very good example of
orkest de ereprijs
tone. In order to realize this she wrote a special
how art can make you listen better.’
Wed 5 September, 19:00 hrs
‘Love is taught?’
‘My specialty in composing lies in thinking a
computer program.‘
Andys Skordis
Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh
14 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english
LOOSE, LOOSER, LOOSEST RECENTLY, I INTERVIEWED THE VIOLIST OENE VAN GEEL (THE NORDANIANS, ZAPP 4). ‘IT’S TOO BAD,’ OENE SAID, ‘THAT IN THE CLASSICAL MUSIC SCENE AND FOR THAT MATTER, EVEN IN THE ‘NEW’ MUSIC SCENE, THERE’S SUCH A CHASM OF DEFERENCE AND AWE BETWEEN THE COMPOSER AND THE MUSICIANS.’ THE COMPOSER WROTE IT LIKE THAT, SO WE WOULDN’T DARE CHANGE IT. THE SCORE AS INFALLIBLE AND HOLY PRESCRIPTION. PREDICTABLE. VERIFIABLE.
I immediately had to think of the feeling that came over me during the Cage-weekend in the latest Holland Festival. John Cage, who kicked sacred cows with humor and relativism, himself seemed to have turned into a sacred cow in the celebrations of his 100th anniversay. With care – and certainly beautifully – museologically conserved. If he would have been there, he would have enjoyed one thing the most, I reckon. Slagwerk Den Haag played ‘Child of Tree’ and ‘Branches’ on cactuses, vegetables and vegetative-based percussive instruments. During the performance you could hear children in the foyer letting out little cries, simply not conscious of matters of respect, but busy gathering the dried beans and nuts that had fallen onto the ground and bringing them back to the musicians. Unpredictable. Unverifiable. A bit looser, say, then we are used to. Exactly what we can learn from children.
Aad van Nieuwkerk
FROM HARD ROCKERS: TALK WITH YOUR AUDIENCE. TELL THEM WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO. EXPLAIN WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN. CHECK OUT ON YOUTUBE HOW DAVE GROHL (FOO FIGHTERS) SENDS AN AGGRESSIVE AUDIENCE MEMBER OUT OF THE HALL.
Maybe the music gets looser if the roles of the composer and musicians become looser. You could say: that’s exactly what we can learn from singer/songwriters. You invent a song, and you simply play and sing it yourself. Just how you think it should sound and irrespective if someone else can sing it ‘better’. Or indeed, someone else unconcernedly sings the song in his/her own way. Could we learn other things from adjacent stages? You’re darn right. From the pop scene: play by heart. The fact of the matter is that you’re communicating with an audience. Just like having a conversation – you don’t do that using cheat sheets. A while back I saw the Double Espresso saxophone quartet without music stands and without sheet music, and that immediately made the evening so much nicer, more intimate, cozier as it were. From hard rockers: talk with your audience. Tell them what you’re going to do. Explain what’s going to happen. Check out on YouTube how Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) sends an aggressive audience member out of the hall. Or go look how Alban Wesly of Calefax goes about it, then you know what I mean. And what do we learn from the jazz cats? That good notes aren’t automatically always good music. You can also improvise outside bars 23 thru 38, outside the prescribed freedom. Improvisation doesn’t have to be a wild poster wall (‘here you’re free to hang up anything you want’). Loosen control and predictability.
And what can we learn from amateurs? That it doesn’t have to be a problem if your mother, brother, uncle or neighbors take some snapshots or make a video of your performance. Naturally it shouldn’t disturb the performance. But you can simply agree beforehand as to what’s allowed and when. Play a five-minute piece at the beginning of your concert, a piece during which these things don’t matter, and invite everyone to take pictures or to film (and immediately put it on Twitter and Facebook!) – and the deal is that afterwards we all keep quite so that everyone can concentrate on listening. If need be, temporarily dressed in a prim and proper straitjacket. Aad van Nieuwkerk editor-in-chief of VPRO Radio 4
During the festival the Dutch broadcasting organization VPRO will record a special festival program. The concert recordings will be made in close co-operation with the Concertzender, VPRO Radio 4, Omroep MAX and the web radio station Radio 4 Eigentijds. There will be online broadcasts through a livestream at www.radio4.nl/eigentijds and on september 20th there will be a broadcast featuring all the highlights from the Muziekweek at Radio 4. Youtube: http://bit.ly/GMW12_FooFighters http://bit.ly/GMW12_Calefax
english — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — 15
BECOME A FRIEND OF GAUDEAMUS MUZIEKWEEK
GAUDEAMUS CONCERT SERIES Concert calender September thru December 2012
The Gaudeamus Muziekweek is THE inter
BENEFITS
ALBA/COMPOST – BEAR VS SHARK
national festival for young composers and
For € 45,– you become a Friend, entitling you
Composers: Elizabet van der Kooij,
CELLO 8TET AMSTERDAM + HADEWYCH MINIS – DICHTEN
new music. In the first week of September,
to the following benefits:
Ben Lammerts van Bueren
Composer: Boudewijn Tarenskeen
composers, musicians and music fans from
– An invitation to the official opening of the
Thu October 11 | 20:30 hrs
Thu November 29 | 20:30 hrs
Huis a/d Werf (Boorstraat 107, Utrecht)
Huis a/d Werf (Boorstraat 107, Utrecht)
ZWERM + MR. PROBE – POPCORN (INCL. DEZ MONA EKKO) Composers: Yannis Kyriakides, Daan Janssens,
ENSEMBLE GENDING – POETRY AND SOUNDSCULPTURES & THE OBSCURE THOUGHTS OF ISABELLA GREEN
Bruno Nelissen, Stefan Prins, Serge Verstockt,
Composers: Lukas Simonis & Henk Bakker
Stefan Van Eycken
(WORM), Dyane Donck
Thu October25 | 20:00 hrs
Thu December 12 | 20:30 hrs
Huis a/d Werf (Boorstraat 107, Utrecht)
Huis a/d Werf (Boorstraat 107, Utrecht)
POW ENSEMBLE + GOSKA ISPHORDING – STRINGS ATTACHED
The Proeflokaal is from September 18, every
Composers: Wouter Snoei, Lucas Wiegerink,
third Tuesday of each month in Muziekhuis
Angel Faraldo, Kieran Klaassen, Jorrit
Utrecht (Loevenhoutsedijk 301, Utrecht).
all over the world come to Utrecht to enjoy
Gaudeamus Muziekweek and free admission
the many concerts and sound installations
(with guest) to the opening
at beautiful locations throughout the city. An important part of the festival is the internationally renowned Gaudeamus Prize for composers under thirty, which has already
– 50% discount on all tickets for the concert series at Huis a/d Werf – The annual Gaudeamus Muziekweek Highlight CD
produced many talents, like Michel van der Aa the Gaudeamus Muziekweek organizes a
THERE ARE FOUR POSSIBLITIES TO BECOME A FRIEND
serie of concerts throughout the season at
– By filling the reply card in the special Friends
and Yannis Kyriakides. Besides the festival,
Huis a/d Werf, and the monthly Proeflokaal
brochure (this is only for Dutch citizens).
at Muziekhuis Utrecht.
– Through our website (www.muziekweek.nl)
The Gaudeamus Muziekweek stands for the
– By downloading the registration form
you can tranfer money directly via Paypal.
PROEFLOKAAL
development of talent, innovation, exchange,
from our website (www.muziekweek.nl)
Tamminga, Chad Langford
Proeflokaal is the testing ground for musical
and a personal approach. But we can only fulfill
(this is only for Dutch citizens)
Thu November 1 | 20:30 hrs
experimentation and electronics.
these goals successfully with your financial support. By supporting the Gaudeamus
– By sending an email to
Huis a/d Werf (Boorstraat 107, Utrecht)
vrienden@muziekweek.nl
Muziekweek we can continue our dedication to today’s Mozarts, facilitating opportunities for their development.
THANKS TO FUNDERS
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
COLOPHON This magazine is issued by Gaudeamus Muziekweek Loevenhoutsedijk 301 3552 XE Utrecht tel: +31 (0)30 82 00 111
*
info@muziekweek.nl www.muziekweek.nl articles and interviews
Adèle Wickert Fonds
Geert van Boxtel, René van Peer, Floris Solleveld editors Geert van Boxtel, Ingrid Beer,
PROGRAM PARTNERS
Sebastiaan Janssen, Martijn Buser, Henk Heuvelmans, Jonatan Brand translation Helen Metzelaar concept and design Studio Lonne Wennekendonk print 2000, Lecturis BV
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
MEDIA PARTNERS * This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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16 — gaudeamus muziekweek 2012 — english