Thursday Night - Andriessen Night at the Spring Festival 2022 of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, April 7th.
Špela Pušnik
Students of the Conservatoire played several works for piano or piano duo by Louis Andriessen. Early compositions like Blokken and Ricercare (both 1966) were brilliantly played by Špela Pušnik. While Inęs Ribeiro Lopes mastered 'As you like it' from probably the same year. But also more recent compositions by the master like Caecilia's Contrapunt (2006; written for his sister Caecilia) and Base (1994; a piece for one hand and played on the lower keys) were performed ably by Rui Braga Simőes.
Not taking anything away from the performances of the students but the main course came after the second intermission. Cees van Zeeland and Gerard Bouwhuis arranged the Louis Andriessen composition De Staat for two pianos. Louis authorised the arrangement, but with one condition. One of the two pianist has to be: Gerard Bouwhuis. Conservatoire piano teachers Ellen Corver and Gerard Bouwhuis teamed up to perform this minimalistic masterpiece. The duo managed to bring down the roof with their world class performance.
Ellen Corver and Gerard Bouwhuis
Friday Night - Composition students in the spotlight and afterparty at the Spring Festival 2022 of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, April 8th.
The New European Ensemble (NEuE; founded 2009) has been inviting students from the Composition Department to write for them for about ten years now. Composer and Ensemble work together from November till the performance at the Spring Festival. The students wrote for a selection of the instrumentation of the NEuE: Trumpet (Ryan Linham), Clarinet (James Meldrum), Violin (Rada Ovcharova), Cello (Willem Stam) and Piano (Daan Treur).
NEuE kicked off with the performance of Échappée Indescente by Charles Baumstark. In november he presented the unfinished score to NEuE. A tranquil part. Thereafter he wrote a more rythmic second part, only to return to his original tranquil part and developing that further.
New European Ensemble
Alice Young composed Abyss II - The Void. To express her state of mind the past four months. She not only asked the NEuE members to play her/his instrument, but also the instrumentalists were asked to become vocal. More specific to voice laughter. But the players only laughed by voice, not by face. Notably Ryan Linham laughed with a most serious expression.
Ellis Howarth wrote Somatic Collage. A alumnus of the Manchester based Royal Northern College of Music. A kind of excercise to compose on intuition, not via set patterns in the composer's brain. By the way Ellis did not include the trumpet in the score. In this serene composition clarinet and violin sometimes used the grand piano as resonance box.
Venezuelan composer Martin Francisco Mayo let animals and forces of nature speak and act like humans in Dialogues of the Southern Lakeshore. In the setting of the feast of San Benito. On a layer of strings and piano (Chimbangleros) the clarinet and trumpet (tortoise and armadillo) are having a lively dialogue. In a first interlude the Chimbangleros take the lead. Violin and cello stage a contest of strenght. In a virtuoso solo the clarinet is accompagnied by the four other members touching the strings of the piano an using the piano as a percussion instrument. In the final part the departure of San Benito (the piano) is put to music. San Benito is in the spotlight subsequently accompagnied by one of the other players and constantly by clapping hands. The pianist leaves with only the clapping of hands left. A magical piece.
Martin Francisco Mayo
Then the afterparty by composition teacher and composer Guus Janssen en Conservatoire alumnus Huub Emmer. For a gig Gerard Bouwhuis had invited them seperately. Then the idea was formed to improvise together. They call themselves De Grove Korrel (The Coarse Grain). And Martijn Padding, head of the composition department, dubbed them DJ De Grove Korrel, and invited them to play at the Festival. Guus explained he improvises in a bar monthly, with his drummer brother. So now he improvised with Huub on live electronics. A masterly half hour set of improvisation followed, to conclude the 2022 edition of the Spring Festival.
DJ De Grove Korrel - Guus Janssen (left) and Huub Emmer
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