related works

Vie di scampo : for dulcian, baroque trombone, organ, triple harp, 2 baroque violins, violone / viola da gamba and electronics / Rick van Veldhuizen

Genre: Multimedia
Subgenre: Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring: dulcian trb org hp 2vn viola da gamba tape

Movements : opus 63, for symphonic band, 1987 / Jo van den Booren

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: 3262 5sax 4332 barh timp 3perc cb

Tombelène : Version for symphonic band / Godefroid Devreese; arranged by Frédéric Devreese

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: picc 2fl 2ob(eh) cl 5cl cl-b cl-db sax-s sax-a sax-t sax-bar 2fg cfg 4h3tpt 3trb bar tb bass cel hp timp perc db

Blades of Light : for pop orchestra / Chiel Meijering

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Band
Scoring: 2fl 2ob 4sax fh 4tpt 4trb perc fenderrh e.g e.g-b 2vl vla vc 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