April 5th, 2017. The third day of the fiftieth Spring Festival of the Composition Department of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. The evening is kicked off by But What About. An ensemble consisting of players from Equador, Spain and The Netherlands. They are from different musical backgrounds bringing new music to new audiences. In this instance a sampling of composition by Conservatory students.
Mári Mákó's Zither .3 is first. The zither as solo instrument played by stroking the strings with the right hand, hitting the strings with a drum stick and with mallets. And instrument sounds of clarinet and accordion without playing it. With Julian stroking the strings of the double bass. Which makes for a surrealistic soundscape with long scraping and pulsating sounds.
On/Off, a compostion by James Alexandropoulos-McEwan, the marimba opens the piece. A modest tempo soundscape is created. Gradually the music becomes more rhythmical. With beside the marimba a dominant part by the accordion.
Siglinde Burghouts - The Riddles of the Sphinx. On basis of marimba, accordion and double bass the clarinet excels. Than the accordion takes over with continuous starting and stopping sequences.
But What About
Julián said:"We are now going to play Lo Bias by Thanakarn Schofield. It can be pretty loud. So if it is too loud: cover your ears. But we try to blow you up."Indeed Schofield throws in an uptempo composition, in which accordion and bass clarinet predominate. Yet, with excellent support by double bass and drum kit. The tempo winds down and the double bass whimpers. Then a second burst of uptempo music. And the piece ends as it began: Drums.
Julian spoke:"Before we play the final piece of the evening we want to thank the Composition Department. All the organisers of this Festival. Because we think it is a big opportunity not only for the composers but also for us to discover this super interesting and loud sounds."
Murmurous sounds and mythic play by the clarinet. And all kind of alternative ways to produce sound from the instruments. That is Hypnosis by Vassilis Philippou. And With Eric producing kind of low trumpet sounds on his accordion.
Again the line up of composers: Märi Mákó, James Alexandropoulos-McEwan, Jimena Maldonado, Siglinde Burghouts, Thanakarn H. Schofield and Vassilis Philippou.
Antonio Pierna Garcia
Line up of But What About:
- Antonio Pierna Garcia - Percussion
- Julián Sarmiento Escobar - Double bass
- Vincent Martig - Clarinets
- Wilco Oomkes - Accordion
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