Menu
Ensemble/Orchestra
Written for the Dianto Reed Quintet (ob – cl – alt sax – bassoon – bass cl.)
duration: 9′
soon to be published by DONEMUS – Amsterdam
Written for Ensemble Vijf
Written for Duo Beumer & van Ham (Sander Beumer and Hans van Ham) with Wildy Zumwalt
Requested by Sander Beumer and especially written for the 2023 World Saxophone Congress.
“Unsettled” has a somewhat nervous tension, as if one is not feeling comfortable. “Anyones lament” is an expression of grief, with not a particular person in mind.
The title “A hovering brute beauty” is a free adaption from Gerald Manley Hopkins’s poem The windhover , a bird that I often watch during my walks over fields and heather.
“Drummer Hodge” is after Thomas Hardy’s poem of the same name. In this poem the soldier, who is sent on a mission in the Second Boer War, is killed in action and buried in a strange and faraway land, his grave eternally reigned by “strange-eyed constellations.”(and still today, we hear about these terrible circumstances) The music is a moment of stillness.
“Sweet dancer” is a title from one of W.B. Yeats’s poems in which he encourages a young girl to keep on dancing, meaning to do what you are passionate about. Great happiness is compared by John Keats to “A lusty flower in June’s caress” a line taken from his poem Isabella; or, the Pot of Basil. An image which evokes a gentle and idyllic feeling to me and sounding almost like a love song.
Published by DONEMUS – Amsterdam preview/order
Light and the half light– four pieces for wind quintet (2022)
3. Here, light is dim
4. Shifting patterns everywhere
Inside a large church or cathedral the different shadings of light coming in from windows is exuberant, but the shifting of incoming light when a cloud hides the sun will also change the atmosphere. There are certain spaces where there is virtually no light. This was an interesting musical idea and so I decided for all parts as well as within each part, to juxtapose the characters of different church modes: the Doric, Lydian, Mixolydian and Ionic. The hexatonic and octatonic scales have been sparingly used to create dissonant passages. Hence the title: ‘Light and the half light.” I do not expect listeners necessarily to notice all this but it was a helpful compositional vehicle.
duration: ca 7′
Published by DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
The Hill to Climb (2021)
On the one hand, the title is a reference to Amanda Goreman’s reciting of her poem “The hill we climb”, a poem and performance that made a great impression in America when Joe Biden was sworn in. On the other hand, it has a universal meaning with regard to our life in which we have to overcome obstacles but then also be able to continue with regained hope. This is expressed in the music by a somewhat depressed atmosphere, ‘toiling’ fast sections and ultimately a feeling of relief.
instrumentation: string orchestra
duration: ca. 7′
not published yet
Alusión (2013)
instrumentation: reed quintet (oboe, b-flat clarinet, alto saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon)
duration: ca. 7′
not published
Concerto for horn and string orchestra – from the Preseli hills (2000)
instrumentation: solo horn and string orchestra
duration: ca. 19′
not published
The race day (2002)
When I first saw the wonderful painting by Jack Yeats, ‘Galway races’, I was immediately caught by it. Later, in 2002, when I was in Ireland spending my summer holidays, I was lucky to be able to go the Sligo horse races. I pictured some impressions of this event in this short and rather light-hearted composition.
Commissioned by and written for the VU Kamerorkest on the occasion of its tenth anniversary in 2002.
instrumentation: orchestra – 2fl(picc) 2ob 2cl(cl-b) 2fg 2h 2tpt trb timp perc hp str
duration: ca. 5’30”
premiere: November 3, 2002 Groate Kerk, St.Jacobiparochie (Friesland) VU Kamerorkest conducted by Daan Admiraal.
publisher: DONEMUS Amstrdam preview/ order
The pride parade (1998)
commissioned by Jeugd Orkest Nederland for its 40th anniversary with financial support from the ‘Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst’
instrumentation: orchestra – 3332 4331 timp 2perc hp str
duration: ca. 13′
premiere: 1998 Musis Sacrem, Arnhem by Jeugd Orkest Nederland conducted by Roland Kieft
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
Hymn (1996)
commissioned by Jouke Hoekstra
instrumentation: fanfare orchestra – 0000 4sax 2322 3bug 2barh timp
duration: ca. 11′
premiere: 1996 by Frysk Fanfare Orkest conducted by Jouke Hoekstra
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
Chant for the living (1996)
instrumentation: solo violin and orchestra
duration: ca. 10′
not published
A Trampwoman’s Tragedy (after a Honeymoon Time at an Inn) (1996)
poems: Thomas Hardy
instrumentation: soprano and orchestra – sopr-m 2222 2000 3perc hp pf str 8.8.6.4.4.
this is an arrangement of the version for soprano, clarinet and piano
duration: ca. 20′
Written for the Midas ensemble with financial support from the ‘Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst’
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
Towards summer – forshadowing tableaux (1994)
commissioned by the Noord Nederlands Orkest for its 5th anniversary with financial support from the ‘Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst’
instrumentation: orchestra – 3333 4331 4perc hp str
duration: ca. 18′
premiere: September 28, 1994 Oosterpoort, Groningen by the Noord Nederlands Orkest conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
Whimsical turns (1993)
commissioned by and dedicated to Jouke Hoekstra with financial support from the ‘Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst’
instrumentation: fanfare orchestra – 0000 4sax 3332 4bug 2barh 6perc
duration: ca. 10′
premiere: 1993, WMC Kerkrade (the Netherlands) by Frysk Fanfare Orkest conducted by Jouke Hoekstra
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
Alternation (1992)
commissioned by the ‘Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst’
instrumentation: orchestra – 2222 2100 2perc cel hp str 8.6.4.4.2
duration: ca. 15′
premiere: 1992 by Nederlands Balletorkest conducted by David Porcelijn (selected by the Project Nederlandse Componisten in 1992)
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
Peccadillos (1991)
instrumentation: nine wind instruments: flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and 2 horns
duration: ca. 9′
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
Fantasia (1988)
instrumentation: 24 wind instruments: piccolo (3rd flute), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, althobo, 2 clarinets, basss clarinet, 2 bassons, contra bassoon (also bassoon), 4 horns, 3 trompets, 3 trombones en tuba.
duration: ca. 9′
premiere: 1987 by Nederlands Balletorkest conducted by Antoni Wit (selected by the Project Nederlandse Componisten in 1988)
publisher: DONEMUS Amsterdam preview/order
