related works

Magyar újrakeverés : Theatrical action for tenor recorder, mezzosoprano, string orchestra and electronics / Rick van Veldhuizen

Genre: Multimedia
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring: zang/rec-t str tape

Estampie : Version for harmony orchestra / Bernard van Beurden

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: pic 2fl 2ob 3cl cl-b 2fg sax-s 2sax-a 2sax-t sax-b 3trp 4h 3trb 2tb db timp perc

Fire Swirl : for wind orchestra / Douglas Knehans

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: picc 2fl 2ob eh 4cl cl-b cl-cb sax-s 2sax-a sax-t sax-bar 2fg cfg 2cor 3tpt 4h 2trb-t trb-b euph tb timp 6perc pf hp db

Rainfall on Pink City : version for concert band / Robert Groslot

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: picc 2fl 2ob cl-s 3cl cl-a cl-b sax-a sax-t sax-b 2bsn 4h 3tp 2corn 3trb euph tb perc hrp pf synt db

composition

(un)mensch : for symphonic wind orchestra / Rick van Veldhuizen

Author(s):
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