May

Frans Brüggen (1934-2014) did pioneering work as a recorder player and conductor for the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century in the field of early music and historical performance practices.

Less well-known is Brüggen’s love of new notes. While causing a worldwide sensation in the sixties and seventies as a recorder virtuoso, he would invariably have a contemporary work on his music stand after the break. He often had these written for the occasion by composers such as Luciano Berio and his close friend Louis Andriessen.

Six years after Brüggen’s passing, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century will be paying tribute to its founding father and conductor. The program includes the standard Brüggen repertoire, such as his personal reconstructions of Bach’s Flute Concerto in D Major and Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 (the first piece he recorded with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century), as well as newer works.

Orchestra director Sieuwert Verster: ‘Considering Frans’ lifelong fascination for contemporary music, we thought it would be appropriate to honour him with a new orchestral piece by Louis Andriessen dedicated to him. This also allows us to fulfil one of Frans’ lifelong dreams. He would always say: ‘If we ever start playing new music with the orchestra, Louis is the composer who should write it’.

Verster had his doubts initially. Had Andriessen not refused to compose for the orchestra on principle for half a century? But then he went on to write Mysteriën for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Agamemnon for the New York Philharmonic, and The Only One for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Verster: ‘It seems Louis had developed a taste for it, because he agreed right away when we presented our plans’.

With May for the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and Cappella Amsterdam, Andriessen adds a fourth title to a recent string of orchestral pieces. Nevertheless, Holland Festival has a first: never before did Andriessen write for period instruments, and the major role for mixed choir is a rarity in his work as well. For the text of May, Andriessen ducked into his father’s library, where he stumbled upon the poem of the same title by Herman Gorter. With its daring metaphors and strong emotions, the work exemplifies the style of the Tachtigers, a group of writers who shook up the world of Dutch literature in the late nineteenth century with a ‘new sound’.

Besides Andriessen’s May, there will be two more premieres during this concert. For years already, the Polish composer Paweł Szymański has been a regular at the Chopin Festival, where the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century performs each summer. He dedicated his À la recherche de la symphonie perdue (2018) to Brüggen.

Lucie Horsch will play Louis Andriessen’s Sweet, a piece for recorder and tape that he wrote for Brüggen in 1964. After close contact about the score, Andriessen made a new version especially for Horsch.