related works
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring:
zang/rec-t str tape
The spell of dance : for wind band, 1984 / Kees Schoonenbeek
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band
Scoring:
2151 3sax 4332 barh 3perc g-b (cb ad lib.)
Dances from the North : for harmony orchestra / Chiel Meijering
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band
Scoring:
picc 2fl 3ob 4cl b-cl 2fg 4sax 4h 3trp 3trm euph 3b-tub perc db
Wals : voor harmonie orkest / Geert van Keulen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band
Scoring:
I: 1171 3sax 2322 euph perc II: 1181 2sax 2322 euph perc cb/g-b
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