Arabian Waltz
Arranger: Bas Apswoude
About: Recorded on Amstel Tracks cd
Quatuor
Three Quartets (2009)
Duration: 27:05
About: Written for Percussion Group The Hague, Matangi, Amstel Quartet and Sinewaves
Je n'ay deui
Arranger Bas Apswoude
-
Salve Regina I
Arranger: Bas Apswoude
Saxofoonkwartet
Facing Death (1991)
This work takes as its starting point the be-bop lines of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, an artist who was important to the young Andriessen in his formative years. Originally the work was scored for string quartet, a curious paradox since, as Andriessen himself has admitted, be-bop lines are not at all idiomatic for string instruments. They are, however, idiomatic for saxophones, and Parker's angular and frenetic style sits much more comfortably in this version than the "original". Text: Stephen Cottrell / Amstel Quartet
-
Workers Union (1975)
-
Songlines (1992)
Toccata, Adagio & Fuge in C . BWV564 (1708)
Arranger: Bas Apswoude
Duration:13:00
About: Originally for organ
-
Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit (BWV 669)
-
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 659)
-
Vater unser im Himmelreich (BWV 737)
-
Prelude and Fuge in f (BWV 857)
-
Prelude and Fuge in D (BWV 532)
-
2nd Cello Suite; Prelude, Sarabande and Gigue
About: Recorded on Amstel Tracks CD
-
Fantasia & Fuge in c minor BWV 537
-
Allemande from 1st cello suite in G, BWV 1007 (ca. 1720)
About: Arrangement made for the opening of the Grachtenfestival 2011. performance with dancer Besim Hoti.
SAMUEL BARBER (1910 – 1981) Adagio (arr. J. v/d Linden) He originally wrote it as the second movement of a string quartet in 1936, but within two years was arranged for string orchestra. In this form, it became not only his most popular work, but also an unofficial American anthem of mourning, played after the deaths of Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy. The two versions, string quartet and string orchestra, make their own separate effect. The string quartet version, is intimate and occurs in the context of other movements. Not surprising for an artist with wide literary interests, Barber found initial inspiration in a passage from Vergil's Georgics describing how a rivulet gradually becomes a large river. Although the idea doesn't limit the Adagio's emotional meaning, you can see how it influences the overall shape of the work -a long arch beginning quietly, gradually building to an overwhelming climax, and winding down to a quiet end. Barber constructs the long-lined, spiralling theme from musical sequence- that is, a group of notes is repeated slightly higher (as in this case) or lower. Sequence is the most elementary form of variation, and most font-bolds learn to use it sparingly. Barber builds an entire piece from it. The version for saxophone quartet gives an extra dimension to the piece; the natural feeling of breathing a musical phrase. Or another version of the programme notes for this piece: Barber's Adagio for strings - originally the second movement of his string quartet No. 1 op. 11- has become one of the most frequently performed American works in the orchestral repertoire. Johan van der Linden's arrangement for saxophone quartet restores the intimacy of the chamber music version. The Adagio has a profound effect on its listeners - the remarkable ability to draw the listener into a quiet meditation. Because of this, Barber's Adagio for Strings was played at the funerals of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, as well as Princess Grace and Raineir III, Prince of Monaco. Barber's Adagio for Strings can also be found in movies like Platoon, The Elephant Man, S1m0ne, Lorenzo's Oil, El Norte (1984), The Scarlet Letter, and Amélie.
-
-
Een didgeridoo is een lange buis die als je er goed op weet te blazen door zijn lengte en vorm spannende, hypnotiserende klanken kan voortbrengen: intrigerend laag, boventoonrijk en ritmisch pulserend. Het klinkt een beetje zoals het woord 'Didgeridoo' zelf, als je dat een aantal keren achter elkaar uitspreekt. Het aparte, geheimzinnige instrument dat wordt bespeeld door de oorspronkelijke bewoners van Australie, intrigeerde en inspireerde me. Het geluid van de didgeridoo, de toon en het ritme werden dan ook het uitgangspunt voor deze compositie. Met de klank van de didgeridoo in mijn achterhoofd, ben ik gaan zoeken naar mogelijkheden bij saxen en orgel om die klanken en ritmes in het stuk te verwerken. In essentie maken zowel het orgel als de saxofoons natuurlijk ook gebruik van een buis waardoor lucht wordt geblazen zodat er een toon kan ontstaan. Bij het orgel gebeurt dat mechanisch, bij de saxen door middel van de adem. Door bij het orgel twee registers af te wisselen en de saxen dezelfde toon door middel van verschillende grepen te laten spelen, ontstond er een rustig, schommelend ritme dat doet denken aan de didgeridoo. Het idee werkte voor mij als een mal voor de compositie. Ik kon er andere klanken en ritmes aan ophangen, en daarmee componeerde ik uiteindelijk mijn muzikale verhaal. Zoals vaker in mijn muziek is ook dit stuk gebaseerd op de klank, de eenvoud en de schoonheid van een enkele toon waaruit een wereld van muziek kan voortkomen.
The West Side Story
Duration: 08:00
Mensch Machine System
I. Mechanik
II. A.I.
III. Datenfluss
-
-
-
Andante et Scherzo
-
Partita Auf meinen lieben Gott, BuxWV 179
-
Four5 (1991)
Duration: 11:00
Canonic Suite (1981)
Amstel Quartet featuring Steve Coleman
-four movements-
Steve Coleman’s work ‘Was Ankh Djed’ for saxophone quartet and improviser was premiered by the Amstel Quartet with the composer as soloist. The work features many recognizable elements of Coleman’s music in a new context: polyrhythmic and highly syncopated melodies combine with each other and the solo voice, to create a complex and grooving texture. The composer playfully combines his solo alto saxophone voice with those of the quartet members, giveing the four-movement piece an organic and spontaneous feeling which nonetheless builds to an ecstatic mixed meter finale.
Typical of the composer's holistic and universal conception, the piece combines the most modernist aesthetic influences with ideas and imagery around ancient Egypt. In particular, the flexible tuning of ancient reed instruments as a parallel to the sound of the saxophone was a jumping off point for Coleman, along with the serpentine and highly chromatic lines of his mentor, the Chicago-based hard bop saxophonist Von Freeman (the piece’s dedicatee).
About: Prelude Scherzino Pastorale Rondó
Screaming 239a
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Musica Portuensis
-
Catch
Suite Bergamasque
Saxophonescas (1943)
Quatuor pour Saxophones
Shruut (2008)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
Bounce (2010)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Rasch (1990)
Recorded on One Gram of Time cd
-
Rasch II (1995)
Duration: 11:00
About: with piano and percussion
Into the rose garden
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Masterbopblaster
Quatuor pour saxophones (1993)
About: Recorded on One Gram of Time
-
Les courants polyphoniques d’après Klee (2019)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
Sicilienne (1893)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet, Contemporary
Anthony Fiumara, 5 december 2014
Quartette (Allegro de Concert) (1879)
Prelude, Fugue et Variation
Arranger: Remco Jak
Recorded on Amstel Tracks CD
-
Allegro non troppo from Symphony in d
Arranger: Remco Jak
Harmony of the Spheres (2008)
About: Movt. II and IV 1994/2001/2008
-
The Straight Line
Recorded on Straight Lines CD
Extended Circular Music no. 7 (2014)
Reach Out
Canzon Quarta
Arranger: Bas Apswoude
-
O Magnum Mysterium
Arranger: Remco Jak
About: With Organ
Sealed With a Kiss (1972)
Duration: 6:00
Voices from Nowhere
Recorded on Baltica CD
-
Ophiuchus
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Jatwerk voor 4 helers(1992)
-
Summertime (+trombones)
Arranger: Wijnand van Klaveren
Toccata
Arranger: B. Apswoude
Duration: 3:12
Laura Sandee, keys and voice
-
in four movemenets
-
Music in Similar Motion (1969)
About: for saxophones and EWI's
"The real innovation in 'Similar Motion' is its sense of drama. The earlier pieces were meditative, steady-state pieces that established a mood and stayed there. But 'Similar Motion' starts with one voice, then adds another playing a fourth above the original line, and then another playing a fourth below the original line, and finally a last line kicks in to complete the sound. As each new voice enters, there is a dramatic change in the music". Philip Glass
-
Mishima
Recorded on Amstel Tracks CD
In his string quartets Philip Glass, like many other font-bolds, achieves moments of profound introspection about both self and music. Indeed. Philip Glass' string quartets contain some of the font-bold's most intimate music. 'In an odd way," Glass explains, 'string quartets have always functioned like that for font-bolds... ' His third string quartet 'Mishima' was used as the film score for the 1985 Paul Schrader film of the same name. It tells us about Yukio Mishima's life in four chapters: three chapters treat the public, private and literary sides of his life and these are intercalated by the fourth, which deals with his shocking final day ending in his suicide in the samurai way. In the film score, both string quartet and large orchestra are used. but it is the former which is most characteristic of Mishima's life; it reflects the most intimate aspects of the film and the protagonist's character, thoughts, hopes and fears... Despite its conception as film music, the third string quartet is, as Glass puts it. "independent mus ic that could stand alone as a concert suite." In this light, it is logical that this saxophone quartet’s three movement version of "Mishima" was officially acknowledged by Philip Glass. (Text: Olivier Sliepen)
Quartet in B flat op.109 (1932)
About: In 1932, Russian Alexander Glazunov wrote a saxophone quartet after composing many pieces for string quartets. His inspiration for his view on the saxophone was based on the Quatuor des Saxophones de la Garde Républicaine which was established by the French saxophone pioneer Marcel Mule in 1928. Glazunov, educated in the Mogoetsjaja koetsjka (five important Russian font-bolds) and emigrated to Paris in 1928, was contaminated with the increasingly growing saxophone virus in the French capital and played a brilliant role in it. His quartet opus 109 was the first comprehensive saxophone quartet which could measure itself with the best the compositional field had to offer. Soon after its premier the work grew to be a benchmark in the saxophone repertoire. Glazunov’s saxophone quartet is composed of three parts. Allegro, Canzona variée and Finale. In the middle part, a five variation theme, Glazunov gives away how much his focus already was on Europe; the third as well as fourth variations' respective subtitles are A la Schumann and A la Chopin. Alternative notes: In the autumn of his life the Russian font-bold Alexander Glazunov (1865 - 1936) lived and worked in Paris, where he had moved in 1928. He discovered the possibilities of the saxophone quartet in 1932, attending a concert of the saxophone quartet of the "Garde des Républicains" , which was conducted by the eminent Marcel Mule. This quartet , which was formed in 1928, chiefly played arrangements , as repertoire was lacking. Glazunov, who was deeply impressed, decided as one of the first font-bolds of the twentieth century, to write a saxophone quartet. It was quite remarkable, that someone who was known as a traditionalist (his nickname was "The Russian Brahms"), ventured this experiment. In style and form the work is a bridge to the nineteenth century. In general it has a pastoral atmosphere; it is the "piece de résistance" of the saxophone quartet repertoire, also by its length.
Hidden Secrets
Arrangement: R. Jak
In Erwartung
-
Transformation/Verwandlung (2003)
Duration: 15:00
Transformation Verwandlung (2003) for trombone, saxophone quartet, cello, double bass and tam-tam. played with Pierre Volders- trombone
Kolyadki
Duration: 12:00
Quartet in Eb Op. 76, No. 6
-
Quartet in f, Op. 20, No. 5
-
Quartet in Bb, Op. 64, No. 3
The Seven Chakras (2004/2009)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet, adaption of his string quartet, made by the composer
Heartbreakers
About:with boombox and DVD 1997/2006 or with piano, bass and drums and CD
-
Jesus is Coming
-
Post Nuclear Winterscenario
-
Take a Wild Guess (2007)
Duration: 5:00
About: Written 2007 for Ethel with financial support from the FPK. premiered May 7 2008 at Tribeca New Music Festival NYC. Revised 2009. The Wall Street Journal wrote: !JacobTV's new work makes hip-hop look sedate'. Take a Wild Guess is the continuing story of Grab it!, which I wrote in 1999, based voices from inmates, about life behind bars.
-
Pitch Black (1998)
Duration: 11:00
Written in the summer of 1998 for the Aurelia Quartet, commissioned by the Almelo Chamber Music Society and the Dutch FPK.
The soundtrack reproduces the voice of trumpet player Chet Baker, from one of the last interviews before his tragic death by falling from an Amsterdam hotel room window in 1988. Baker talks about his past as a drug addict,his life in prison - "it was pitch black in there you know" - his first audition with Charlie Parker - "among 40 other trumpet players - or were there 60? " - and playing without drums - "more cool". These "speech melodies" form the leitmotifs in Pitch Black.
-
The Body of your Dreams (2002)
Duration: 08:00
About: Based on a tv ad about a fitness device, called the Abtronic Pro. The original piano version was composed December 2002, commissioned by Deutschlandfunk. First performance and radio recording March 15 2003 at Forum neuer Musik by Kees Wieringa Cologne, Germany. Revised in 2004. New versions were added for guitar duo and sax quartet* * arranged by Jose Riojas
2 adagio's
Ataccot
Schneelicht, bebend weiss
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Close Harmony (2010)
Duration: 15:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
About: Premiere oct. 3rd 2010 in Concertgebouw Otto Ketting (geb. 1935) - Close Harmony (2010) Otto Ketting schrijft over zijn jongste creatie: “Mijn saxofoonkwartet ontleent de titel aan de ‘lichte’ muziek uit de jaren 40 en 50. ‘Close Harmony’ stond veelal voor een groep van vier zangers (m/v) die in vierstemmige harmonieën een song vertolkten. De meeste van die groepen waren nogal commercieel getint, maar er waren ook uitzonderingen, zoals ‘Los Hermanos Castro’ (Mexico), ‘The Fair Freshmen’ en vóór alles de ‘Hi-Lo’ (USA) die meer jazz-georiënteerd waren en de meest geavanceerde harmonieën feilloos zongen. Het saxofoonkwartet ‘Close Harmony’ gebruikt bijna uitsluitend een dergelijke dicht bij elkaar liggende akkoordstructuur. Een incidentele afwisseling komt van een eenvoudige tonale melodie die in verschillende gedaanten terugkeert. Het eendelige stuk, in augustus 2010 voltooid, werd ter nagedachtenis aan Willem Breuker geschreven in opdracht van het Amstel Quartet."
Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra
-
Kwartet 1970
Sax Quartet (2013)
Duration: 8:00
OhEngelOh (2013)
Duration: 05:00
Remake of version for string quartet
-
Sonnet (2011)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
The Assignation
-
Sketches of Thule (2007)
with Organ - written for the Amstel Quartet and Pieter van Dijk - commisioned by The Orgelpark, Amsterdam
Far Away, till Midnight (plus strings) (1995)
Duration: 14:00
Geschreven voor het Escher Ensemble 1e uitvoering; Suite Muziekweek in opdracht van de Eduard van Beinum Stichting
Turntable Breathing (2016)
Duration: 15:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
About: In een rap tempo volgen deze laatste paar jaar de 80ste verjaardagen van de Minimal goeroes elkaar op: Terry Riley vierde de zijne in 2015, Steve Reich in 2016, en 2017 staat wereldwijd in het teken van Glass 80. Een aanleiding voor Kypski en het Amstel Quartet om deze stijl - die zowel zijn plek in de klassieke hedendaagse heeft maar ook van grote invloed is op de elektronische muziekscene - in een gezamenlijke compositie vanuit een geheel eigen perspectief te benaderen. De voor de hand liggende aanpak van melodisch materiaal gespeeld door de blazers die vervolgens begeleid worden door vette beats van de DJ draaien ze juist om en lokken elkaar zo uit hun comfortzones: zo zijn het de saxofoons die een hypnotisch kader creëren waarin Kypski alle ruimte heeft om met zijn draaitafel op een melodische manier te bespelen en zo op een unieke manier tot een een vijfde kwintetlid wordt.
-
Six Duos (1997)
Duration: 10:52
About:
Pas sur le sel
El Djem
Al Kebir
Sfax
Nour
Gabès
Capriccio No. 2
Arranger: Bas Apswoude
Gebet: Ave Maria
Duration: 7:00
Klaas (sax4tet and singer)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Two canons after de machaut
Todi, where did you go? (2009)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
With Niti Ranjan Biswas on tabla's
The Pink Panther Theme
Syrinx
-
Soyons...
-
Caccia II (1994)
-
Te lucis ante terminum
Tasten (2014)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
About: First performance: Oranjewoud/The Netherlands, Museum Belvédère May 23rd 2014 Amstel Quartet (saxophones), Yoram Ish-Hurwitz (piano), Ryoko Imai (percussion), for Festival Oranjewoud.
Short Story (2009)
Duration: 6:00
Les Esprits
Trio for soprano alto and baritone sax.
Tapas (2007)
Duration: 16:01
Eight movement recorden on the CD American Dream
The Twins Suite
Arranger: E. vd Wurff
Toccata nona del 9 tono
Blitz
-
Brothers from the soundtrack of The Mission
-
Gabriels Oboe from the soundtrack of The Mission
-
Cinema Paradiso
Fuge from Requiem
-
Adagio and Fugue, K. 546
-
Fugue K 401
-
Quartet no. 19 'Dissonance'
Pictures at an Exhibition
-
De Betoverde Vaatwasser (2022)
featuring Marcel Beekman, tenor
September (2019)
Written for Amstel Quartet
Four Sax ballet opus121
About: For saxophone quartet & string orchestra
Sax Machine (2011)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Songs for Tony (1994)
Michael Nyman (1944) - The Piano Sings (1994) (arr. Remco Jak) The film “The Piano” was one of the most successful films of 1993. Michael Nyman wrote the music for this film and received a Golden Globe as a recognition for his successful accomplishment. The piece ‘The Piano Sings’ is based on the film score. In an interview Nyman admitted that at first he found it difficult to determine the style of the music. One clear requirement was that the music had to be close to the main character, Ada, a mute Scottish woman who moves to New Zealand with her piano in the mid-eighteen fifties. Since she did not have a voice of her own, the music needed to express her feelings. Once the idea to use Scottish folk and popular song occurred to Michael Nyman, everything fell into place. The original version of ‘The Piano Sings’ was written for string quartet and soprano saxophone and consists of eight parts.
River Run (2008)
Duration: 12:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Geographies: Shanghai by Night (2011)
De compositie Shanghai by Night is onderdeel van een serie kamermuziekwerken die de gezamelijke titel 'Geographies' hebben. In deze serie wordt, in muzikaal opzicht, de wereld af gereisd en in ieder stuk een ander land met een daarin gelegen stad aangedaan. De volgende werken in de serie zijn al voltooid: Cairo Awakens voor Altsaxofoon en Piano - een Arabisch stuk Kyoto Anmintaku voor Altsaxofoon en Slagwerk - een Japans stuk Tears of Sofia voor Fluit en Slagwerk - een Bulgaars stuk Prague Jewish Quarter voor Klarinet en Piano - een Joods stuk Shanghai is een moderne Chinese stad met veel hoogbouw dat misschien enigszins te vergelijken is met Hong Kong. Vooral de nacht van deze stad met de vele knipperende neonlichtjes in allerlei kleuren is zeer poëtisch. Dit beeld is verklankt in nachtmuziek met een ingetogen en exotisch karakter. In compositorisch opzicht is dit gerealiseerd door het gebruik van o.m. typische Chinese toonladders, pentatonische melodieën en kwartenkoppeling. Om het 'ademen van de nacht' te verklanken is gebruik gemaakt van een compositietechniek die Ruimtelijke Melodie heet. Dit is een uitvinding van de componist en houdt in dat melodietonen niet in een beperkte omvang naast elkaar liggen maar zeer wijd uit elkaar zijn geplaatst. De melodietonen worden vervolgens in focus gebracht door de verschillende instrumenten te laten aanzwellen. Dit resulteert in muziek die zeer ruimtelijk is en een grote dieptewerking heeft. Karakteristiek is ook het gebruik van guirlandes (akkoordbrekingen) die de bespeelwijze van Chinese tokkelinstrumenten imiteren. Op een bepaald moment in het werk monden deze guirlandes uit in een duizelingwekkende climax, die vloeibaar is als een waterval... Shanghai by Night is speciaal gecomponeerd voor het Amstel Quartet. Peter van Onna, April 2011.
Ripple Volts
Soldaat van Oranje
Opera & Aria
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Pari Intervallo
Recorded on Baltica CD
-
Solfeggio
Recorded on Baltica CD
-
Summa (1980)
-
Fratres
Recorded on Amstel Tracks CD
Sunlight Sonata (2012)
I Confession
II Weeping
III Consolation
IV Absolution (Sunlight)
Recorded on'Pelēcis CD featuring Laura Sandee
-
On the Shore of North Vidzeme(2014)
Sacrificial caves of Svētupe
Pastures of Ainaži
“At the boatsman” in Salacgrīva
Recorded on 'Pelecis CD featuring Goska Isphording
-
Gaudeamus? : Capriccio for saxophone quartet and organ(2018)
Recorded on'Pelēcis CD featuring Una Cintina
-
Vier Weihnachten
Recorded on'Pelēcis CD featuring Michaela Riener
-
Snow Prelude and Fugue (1999)
Recorded on'Pelēcis CD featuring violin & flute with Winnie Hui-Wen Cheng & Ilonka Kolthof.
Part I from 'Tango Suite'
Duration: 5:00
Fantazias (1680)
Amstel Quartet recorded a selection of Purcell's Fantazias on the album 'Songs of Clarity' by soprano Klaartje van Veldhoven
Saxless (2013)
Duration: 8:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
There is no 'normal' playing in the instrument in this piece, thanks to this fact the piece is called SAXLESS.
Suite
Arranger: Ties Mellema
My Name Is (1967)
Tread on the Trail
-
Good Medicine (1985)
Duration: 13:00
Arranger: B. Apswoude with permission from the composer
Espressioni
-
A Held Breath
Grave et Presto
Presto from 7 Improvisations
Todos los Fuegos el Fuego (2018/2019)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
About: “Todos los fuegos el fuego” is a musical cycle that immerses the listener for one hour in a mystical act, sparking off the imagination and opening up unknown emotional conditions.
-
Angel (2020)
Covid-19 heeft veel trauma's, ontberingen en onrust veroorzaakt bij miljarden mensen over de hele wereld. Het verandert de manier waarop we denken over een breed scala aan onderwerpen, inclusief de manier waarop we met de natuur omgaan. Tegelijkertijd biedt het ook de mogelijkheid om na te denken over ons eigen leven, na te denken over wat belangrijk is en nieuwe manieren te ontdekken waarop we onze impact op de planeet kunnen verminderen. Er bestaat een mogelijkheid de impact van de klimaatcrisis te minimaliseren. 'Angel' geeft een artistieke kijk op de relatie tussen mens en natuur en is geschreven ter nagedachtenis aan Giya Kancheli. ** Bewerking van de componist voor het Amstel Quartet
-
Songlessness (2021)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
About: Tijd is voor de mensheid altijd een vraagstuk geweest. We hebben te veel of te weinig. Soms vliegt het voorbij en soms lijkt het voorbij te kruipen. Tijd is onvermijdelijk en genadeloos. De nieuwste compositie Songlessness van Maxim Shalygin uitgevoerd door saxofoonkwartet Amstel Quartet en organiste Una Cintina verkent onze tijdsperceptie, maar ook de flexibiliteit ervan. Met Songlessness onderzoekt Shalygin een paradox. Hij ontdekte tijdens zijn carrière als componist dat langzame muzikale ontwikkeling niet altijd zorgt voor het gevoel van langzaam verstrijkende tijd. In Songlessness praktiseert hij deze paradox door gevarieerd gebruik van tempo en melodie, en schijnt hij licht op ons bewerkelijke tijdsbesef. Het werk bevat melodische vormen die uiteindelijk samen een eindeloze melodie laten ontstaan, geïnspireerd door Wagner’s idee van ‘unendliche melodie’. Melodie is een tijdsgebonden muzikaal concept. Het kent een begin en een einde, maar hoe weten we dat we bij het einde zijn? Hoe wordt het leven van een melodie in stand gehouden? Kan een melodie voor altijd bestaan?
-
Drop after Drop(2022)
Maxim Shalygin: "Since the first day of the war in Ukraine, a terrible pain has settled inside me. Every time I close my eyes, I want to wake up from this terrible dream...but alas, it is not a dream. 'Drop after drop' is a kind of an ingot of that pain and memories of my childhood, when my relatives were telling me about the war years and sung wartime songs. I hear those songs inside me again and I wish they would stop..."
Rocking Birds
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
l'Espoir
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Ronde des Princesses
Fantasia - G dorian
-
Ricercare
Duration: 12:00
-
Toccata in a
-
Chromatic Fantasy
Duration: 07:33
A Dutch organist, harpsichordist, font-bold, and teacher, Sweelinck spent most of his life in Amsterdam. In 1580 he became the organist of the Oude Kerk (Old Church) succeeding his father, Pieter. Although he never ventured much out of Holland, Sweelinck's influence spread through the Northern German organ schools via his students, who include Scheidt, Scheidemann, Praetorius, and Hasse. Sweelinck was the first to use independent pedal parts, including fugue subjects in the pedal line. He took many important forms from around Europe, including the Italian ricercar and the English virginal style, expanding and developing them in ways unknown before. In fact, many of his pieces contain the embryo of the fugue form, later perfected by J.S. Bach. His compositions bridge the gap from the Renaissance to the Baroque periods. Sweelinck might be considered the last font-bold of the renaissance fantasies. Like other dutch font-bolds of his time, he was strongly inspired by English music.
-
Pseaulme 111
for 8 saxophones From: Livre Quatriesme et Conclusionnal des Pseaumes de David (The fourth and Last Book of Psalms)
Consistent Contradictions (2012)
Duration: 9:22
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
About: I wrote this piece specifically for a wonderful saxophone Amstel Quartet. However, I would like to see the musicians here have demonstrated not only their individual skills, but also the skill of ensemble playing. In this music, almost no solo episodes. Part of each musician is complex and rich, and is associated with colleagues over the ensemble. To achieve this unity helped me complex and syncopated rhythms that came to me from my so beloved jazz music. A.S.
Andante Cantabile
Incantatie IV (1990)
Offertorium: Felix namque I
July (1995)
Duration: 7:47
-
May (2010)
Duration: 7:13
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
June (2010)
Duration: 5:21
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
As if Nothing Happened
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Run Riot is Turnage's first saxophone quartet and highlights his craft and skill as a font-bold. There are echoes here from the traditional French classical quartet style nuanced with beautiful and haunting melodic and rhythmic qualities. It is this gift of combining the old and the new which is particularly alluring here.
Excitatio ad contemplandum (1996/2012)
Duration:19:00
-
Lamentatio (1995)
Duration: 10:00
La Vie est Belle (2005)
About: originally written for string quartet; adaption made by the composer
-
Chocolate Island
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
1 Gram of Time (2005)
Duration: 6:34
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
Klootzakken (2012)
About: 1 minute opera about Lance Amstrong. De hardnekkige ontkenning van dopinggebruik door Lance Armstrong en de vele getuigenissen over het tegendeel vormen de aanleiding van de actuele opera: 'Lance De Opera!' [Klootzakken] Het libretto is geschreven door Joost Prinsen. De muziek werd gecomponeerd door Merlijn Twaalfhoven. Uitvoerenden: Joost van Velzen (tenor, Vocaallab), Marijn Korff de Gidts (slagwerk), Jelte Althuis (basklarinet, Calefax) en het Amstel Quartet.
Karmatikka (2009)
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
With Niti Ranjan Biswas on tabla's
The Gravity of D
Nove(1995)
Minor Incidents (2012)
Duration: 14:00
Dedicated to the Amstel Quartet
- Assi and Mansour Rahbani
- Fayrouz
- Oum Khaltoum
- Mahmoud Sobh
- Sayid Darwish
Window and Encounter
Recorder on Baltica CD
Passamezzo (1991)
In Transit (2007)
Duration: 10:00
written for Duo Vertigo [percussion] and the Amstel Quartet
Squawk Box (2007)
Duration: 13:00
We tend to think of it as a commodity, aviation, but only for the last century we became to understand the principles of flight and how to turn it into a commercial product or fun on the edge. Nowadays, if we want to travel from continent to continent, we hop on board of airplanes as if things are routine and common. As a matter of fact: they are. Flying even has become fun for the lucky or fortunate among us. But behind the routine of flying there is a high amount of skills involved. Either on the ground (think of aircraft design or air traffic controllers) and in the air (pilots). In Squawk Box we start with the fun part, flying as a passenger with an F-18 pilot. He takes us with him in a steep and fast climb to 7.500 ft, the high alpha pass slow flight, the wingover and inverted flight. In part two we stay literally on the ground with ground-control on John F. Kennedy Airport, wondering what these controllers are communicating with taxiing airplanes. The staccato jargon they are using, and the ways they sometimes forget the role they are in. We hear a ground controller sending her regards to one of her colleagues in an aircraft operated by Jet Blue. One pilot is confused about taxi lights that are off at some area and an Air France pilot wonders where the hell he to taxi to. The third part brings us back to the F-18 pilot, who now takes flying to a different level. He demonstrates hefty maneuvers like a ridgeline crossing. The passenger in the backseat in the meantime, has forgotten about the fun part of flying, turning green after being exposed to too many G-forces. It starts with a simple loop and continues with low altitude, high speed flying to simulate a bombing run. During this low altitude flight the pilot executes a ridgeline crossing, quickly moving the aircraft round its longitudinal axis. The flight and music suddenly halts after performing a heavy G-force high speed turn to slow the aircraft quickly as a preparation for a carrier landing. All three parts together are host to an abstract of the the mediaeval melody l'homme armé. Squawk Box is dedicated to the Amstel Quartet. Since the F-18 pilot, whose voice we hear in this peace, died one week after the first performance during an airshow, Squawk Box serves as a musical memorial for Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis, a.k.a. "Kojak".
-
Sidewalk Bend (2010)
Duration: 04:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
Lachrymae (2009)
Duration: 08:07
Adaptation of organ piece by the composer
-
Potemkin Staircase (2012)
Duration: 2:00
Commissioned by the VPRO for the Amstel Quartet to Saar and Bart
Adagio from 5th Symphony
Duration 5:00
So Softly (1995)
Duration: 8:00
-
Ghosts (2006)
Duration: 23:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
Atlantica (2001)
Duration 08:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
-
Heaven Lay Close
Premiered by Amstel Quartet, December 2009, De Toonzaal
"Heaven Lay Close is an 18-minute work in four sections, each based on a traditional tablas rhythm. Each section also has a melodic content which, although original, seeks to evoke the spirit of the kind of music one normally associates with the tablas but now in a more Western, 'classical' context due to the presence of the quartet. The marriage of these two traditions results in a new, or neutral territory, where each tradition has been able to influence the musical outcome to a roughly equal degree.
The work was written with funds from an Arts Council of Ireland Artist Bursary."
-
Delicatissimo (2010)
Duration: 04:00
Dedicated to Amstel Quartet
Xas (1987)