related works
cōnflārī : Version for cello, piano and French romantic organ / Rick van Veldhuizen
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
vc pf org
Poème Héroique : Version for symphonic band / Godefroid Devreese; arr. Frédéric Devreese
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band
Scoring:
picc 2fl 2ob 6cl cl-b cl-cb sax-s sax-a sax-ten sax-bar 2fg cfg 4h 3trp 2trb-ten trb-bass bar tb bass timp perc hp cb
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Band
Scoring:
2260 3sax 4232 2bug 2crt 2altoh 2barh 2euph perc cb
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