composer
Kees Arntzen was born on 5 September 1957 in Amsterdam.
After finishing his degree in music education and guitar at the Amsterdam Conservatorium, Kees Arntzen studied theory and composition at ...
related works
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and instrument(s)
Scoring:
7zang perc / GK
Drie Amsterdam Scénes : for voice, viola and keyboard / Ned McGowan
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
voc vla synth
Mono no aware : for percussion, piano and violin / Victoria Vita Poleva
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
vn pf perc
Deux Interludes : voor saxofoon alto, marimba, harp en piano / Piet Kingma
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
sax-a mar hp pf
composition
...dejar abajo... (Homenaje a Alberto Ginastera) : for flute solo, guitar solo and small ensemble / Kees Arntzen
Description:
Three alpine folk songs are at the heart of ‘…dejar abajo…’, a composition for small ensemble with concertante flute and guitar. The songs convey personal experiences upon leaving the city of Innsbruck. When one crosses the Brenner pass in the direction of Italy, the city in the valley remains visible for a long time. After a bend in the road the image of life and love left behind may suddenly re-emerge.
Composer Heinrich Isaac must have experienced something similar when he had to leave Innsbruck by horse or carriage in the fifteenth century, and set to music the existing text of ‘Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen’.
Two other folk songs named ‘Da unten im Thale’ and ‘All mein Gedanken die ich hab’ join this melody in the slow movement of this work in a so- called ‘quodlibet’, a free form in which the fragments of the melodies sound simultaneously. With a steady hand, the composer weaves them together into a tight counterpoint.
Furthermore, ‘…dejar abajo…’ is an ode to the great Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastero, a modernist par excellence, who nonetheless remained faithful to the folk music of his country, which he cherished as a source of inspiration. His ‘sonata for guitar’ opus 47 (1976) is considered one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century guitar repertoire. Rare sound effects and playing techniques go hand in hand with reminiscences of the music of the Pampas.
Kees Arntzen, December 2019