Concerts in Amsterdam part 1
Vijay Iyer, piano; Nick Dunston, bass; Jeremy Dutton, drum set...trio at Bimhuis, September 25, 2024
So…an obvious benefit of being in Amsterdam is all the music happening. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here—to collaborate and work with musicians I know, yes, but also to go to as many concerts as I can and soak it all in. So far I’ve been to seven (out of eight I had planned to attend…more about that in a minute :)…all of them interesting and unique in their own way, and only a fraction of all the performances/concerts/etc. happening that one could attend. Trying to pace myself.
The first two concerts I attended were part of the Gaudeamus Festival, a yearly festival that includes a big prize and lots of other things—find out all about it via the previous link. I’ve heard of ‘Gaudeamus’ for a long time and know it by reputation but this was my first time attending anything in person. The first concert was a performance of the Dutch modern classic De Staat by the Godfather of Dutch minimalism, Louis Andriessen. Not sure I’ve ever listened to the piece top to bottom (?) and have never heard it live. It was a great performance by the combined forces of AskoSchönberg and Ensemble Klang in the Great Hall of Tivoli Vredenberg in Utrecht…I recognized mezzo-soprano Michaela Reiner among the vocalists, who I worked with for the Hexnut/WRENCH project and who recorded my piece Geometria Situs back when (Hi, Michaela!). Lots of energy, in-your-face low brass, interesting juxtapositions, amplified harp which Ned and I wondered if we ever heard :), and that good ole amplified Dutch minimalism in its rawest form. As a modern reflection on the fact that Andriessen is exploring the connection between music and politics, they invited a young Dutch writer with Nigerian (I think) heritage to read an essay before the performance…it was beautiful and poetic in its own way, including the author’s experiences with her Yoruban grandmother—a very personal reflection of sorts, but seemingly only De Staat-adjacent (?) or De Staat-in the ballpark if it was a very large park. Interesting but a bit of a head scratcher given the “New Music Festival/Prize” setting. Anyway, here’s a pic of the post-performance bows:
AskoSchönberg and Ensemble Klang taking a bow after performing De Staat in Utrecht
A couple nights later I attended a concert by the New European Ensemble Quartet, a string quartet extracted from members of the New European Ensemble (well, duh)...in spite of the generic ensemble name and the fact that these players apparently often play as part of a bigger group, this quartet was GREAT in my opinion. Really sensitive, skilled players who I'm guessing perform as a quartet often since they had that intimate connection and coordination that the best quartets have down. They presented three works—two by young finalists for the Gaudeamus Prize, and one by a judge…program pic follows:
Program for New European Ensemble Quartet concert in Utrecht, part of Gaudeamus Festival
All the pieces had interesting moments—the first piece was longest and had more recognizable, melodic/thematic material than the others, though highly chromatic and not tonal in a traditional way, and included a sort of surprise/joke/wink of an ending with a sustained major triad. The second piece was most memorable for me and included some extreme extended techniques, including the use of col legno with notched bows (regular grooves cut into the back of the bow…I assume cheap ones [?]), and the use of e-bow by the violins and viola for some very pure, sustained tones/chords. With the beautiful setting in the Lutheran Church, a nice dinner before with my friend Oğuz and his family, and the amazing playing by the quartet, it was impossible to not enjoy the evening.
In looking at the upcoming Muziekgebouw concerts, I realized that Seung-Won Oh had a premiere by the aforementioned New European Ensemble coming up on Sept. 14, so Laura and I decided to catch that one. It was part of a series of concerts celebrating the 200th year since Anton Bruckner’s birth by commissioning several works that used Bruckner as a point of departure. I’ve known Seung-Won for years—first met at June in Buffalo in 2002, and then were both composers involved in the Hexnut WRENCH project. Her piece used Bruckner’s 4th Symphony as a point of departure (I think mostly its ambition and general vibe?), while the other piece on the concert used his Symphony “0”—I guess a symphony that Bruckner retracted because he didn’t feel like one of the themes worked or something? Anyway, I don’t know Bruckner’s music well…but the concert was still enjoyable and an interesting juxtaposition with Seung-Won’s piece programmed with Rick van Veldhuizen’s piece for Ensemble Klang.
Seung-Won’s piece featured three relatively large non-pitched percussion setups that framed/surrounded the chamber orchestra—one in the center, and two at each side. At first the two different ensembles were kept very distinct, alternating sections, so it was a striking moment when the percussion joined the strings and winds. I remember Seung-Won’s piece having four clear movements, and being somewhat clear in its formal structure and development of themes/motives/etc. The Veldhuizen piece was more sprawling and diverse (though it may have had four movements too? I’m forgetting…) and included some fixed media segments that had quasi-pop/commercial sounding stuff that was woven into the live ensembles material, which was already a mix of sounds/vibes/etc. that veered in vernacular directions, with electric guitar, horns, electric keyboards, and percussion. But at times the fixed media elements were more orchestral, or the horns took on the role of orchestral horns, and then add to that recorded spoken text in German…it was a lot. Interesting, for sure. OK…this post is sprawling :) so I’ll call it part one and share part two soon.
