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
At the Gate : Overture for orchestra / Michael Fine
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2fl 2ob 2cl 2fg 2h 3tpt 2trb trb-b timp hp str
In C : for symphony orchestra / Jan Willem van Dormolen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2fl(picc) 2ob(eh) 2cl(cl-b) 2fg 4h 3tpt 2trb trb-b hp str
Symfonische Etude : orkest, 1952 / Hendrik Andriessen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
pic 2fl ob ob(eh) 2cl 2fg 4h 3trp 3trb tb timp perc hp 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