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

Circus Knieval : for wind orchestra / Willem Breuker

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: picc fl 2ob 3cl cl-a cl-b fg sax-a sax-t sax-bar 2tpt 4h 3trb bar euph tb perc

Suite voor harmonieorkest : (Hommage à Peter Iljitsj), 1964 / Jos van Amelsvoort

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: 2242 3sax 4222 2crt 2barh 2 bombar perc

Circles : for symphonic band / Frédéric Devreese

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: picc 2fl 2ob 6cl cl-b cl-cb sax-s 2sax-a sax-t sax-bar 2fg cfg 4h 3trp 3trb 2bar tb bass timp db

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