It's almost July already, the season is coming to an end. But I have a few more fun things in this newsletter to look forward to.
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Back to work
It took a long time, but the associations were also allowed to go wild again. This means that I was allowed to work again at Harmonie Akkrum, Flevo Brass Emmeloord and Jeduthun Oldemarkt. What a pleasure to see all these people again and to be busy with music live again. Playing at Soli Brass Leeuwarden has also started again.
The transition to the old daily rhythm was difficult. From being home every evening, putting the kids to bed, getting up on time and making new things, to conducting or playing every evening and finding your moment of peace somewhere during the day. That was a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, everything is slowly falling into place again.
Of course, the composing continues. There is a new work in the works and some sketches for new solo works. The Requiem, to be completed in December, is also slowly taking shape. More about this soon.
A new single on July 10
My new single Two Tides for violin and cello will be released July 10th. Played by Luis Rodríguez Lisbona on violin and Wisse de Rijk on cello.
If you don't want to miss it, follow me on spotify!
The story behind: The Final Frontier
The 2021 NBK work was already in my head long before I got the assignment. After a visit to the Eise Eisinga planetarium with Fedde (my son) I got the idea to do something with the fascination for space. I had some ideas for this, but no reason to finish it yet. The assignment from the NBK and reading Stephen Hawking's “Brief Anwsers to the Big Questions” gave me some starting points to finish the work.
Hawking's ideas about energy and space were the starting point for the first part. The second part is a musical exploration into the great unknown with a lot of energy and speed. The third part brings up the atmosphere of the big questions. The last part builds on this with the idea that space is the last frontier that humanity has yet to cross.
In January 2020, the work had to go to the RIC for inspection, where the committee provided comments. Jan Van der Roost's tips were particularly valuable in this respect. I've changed a few things in the instrumentation and middle section. After the assessment, the work has been made compulsory for the NBK.
We are working with Soli Brass to make a beautiful recording of this work. I hope to be able to publish this in the summer to give everyone an idea of the work.