related works
Le café de nuit : for orchestra / Jan-Peter de Graaff
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
picc 2fl 2ob eh 2cl cl-b 4h 3tpt 2trb trb-b tb timp 3perc hp pf cel str
Concertino for symphony orchestra : 1995 / Bernard van Beurden
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2fl fl(pic) 2ob ob(eh) 3cl 3fg 4h 3trp timp 3perc str
Symphonische Suite : voor orkest / Israel Olman
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Metanoia : for symphony orchestra / Willem Jeths
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2fl 2ob 2cl 2fg 2h 2trp trb-t trb-b tb timp perc str
composition
Le café de nuit : for orchestra / Jan-Peter de Graaff
Other authors:
Graaff, Jan-Peter de
(Composer)
Description:
"Le café de nuit" is a 13-minute fantasia/nocturne for orchestra, based on the painting (with the same name) by Vincent van Gogh, and the letters he wrote to this brother Theo during his stay in Arles, where he rented a studio above the café. In the letters, he describes this place as "a place where you can ruin yourself, go mad, commit crimes". This subject really interested me as a composer as there is really a conflict within the concept of a café. Usually, one goes to a café to escape the ongoing world and everyday problems, to dance, to celebrate life and to drink and go drunk to immerse oneself in a different reality. However, there is a danger, as van Gogh states, as the café also influences the world outside. It is a place where the darkest side of human behaviour emerges. In the piece I tried to find this strange balance between joy and danger, between alertness (or even panic) and being drunk, between passion and truth.
Jan-Peter de Graaff