related works
unde imber et ignes : for soprano and orchestra / Rick van Veldhuizen
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and orchestra
Scoring:
sopr-solo 2fl(picc) fl-a(picc) ob ob(obdam) eh 2cl cl-b 2fg cfg 4h 3tpt 2trb-ten trb-b tb timp 3perc hp str
Codex Z : for large wind orchestra and bambuso sonoro ad libitum, 1991 / Enrique Raxach
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band; Organ and wind band
Scoring:
4.3.16.2 5sax 4544 5perc cb/cl-a (bambuso sonoro/synth/org ad lib.)
Musica reservata : for symphonic band and symphony orchestra, 1986, (revision 1987) / Hans Kox
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band; Orchestra
Scoring:
I: 2271 3sax 4331 crt bug barh 2perc cb II: 2222 4331 timp 1-2perc hp str
Eerste suite : suite pathétique, opus 14 C, voor harmonieorkest, 1986, revisie 1989 / Marc van Delft
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band
Scoring:
2(1)81 4sax 4434 2barh 4perc (cb ad lib.) 2cl/2sax-s-solo
composition
(un)mensch : for symphonic wind orchestra / Rick van Veldhuizen
Other authors:
Veldhuizen, Rick van
(Composer)
Description:
(un)mensch is a piece about radicalisation, and the tendency of humans to seek extremes. In current times, as in times past, people have dismissed radical or extreme behaviours as ‘inhuman’ or ‘evil’ behaviour, in the process distancing our humanity from it. This refusal to accept extremes as naturally human leads us astray, ‘Othering’ people we perceive to be different, and losing our concept of a shared humanity.
This piece takes the biggest villain in history, Adolf Hitler, as its starting point. Often considered ‘inhuman’ so one doesn’t have to associate oneself with him, portrayals of this historical figure paradoxically also paint him as a madman, plagued by amphetamine addiction, tinnitus and mental disorder. In short, his evil is often portrayed as both inhuman and quintessentially human.
(un)mensch, in turn, seeks to radicalize existing musical styles and ideas. From Ligeti-like micropolyphonies to Glass’s arpeggios and the unofficial anthem of the Third Reich, everything gets turned into a blurred, topsy-turvy version of itself. At the centre of this is an extensive quote from Richard Wagners Das Rheingold: the emerging and explosion of an idyllic, nationalistic dream, the fair copy of which perished with Hitler in his bunker in 1945.
Rick van Veldhuizen
26 March 2015