Jan van Vlijmen – Monumentum

tracks:

1. Heptagon 25.20
2. The Invisible Door 10.38

The mezzo soprano appears in the second part.

Definitely one of the better symphonic works by a Dutch contemporary composer. I’ll give this one a spin several times this week.

Jan van Vlijmen split the various instrumental groups within the orchestra and has them battle each other in a highly expressive melee of quietly mysterious tones and explosively aggressive counters .
In this way, he resembles the exponents of the second Wiener Schule, Berg and Webern, who understood the power of contrasting elements so well. Moreover, the brooding, almost threatening undercurrent of the piece is reminiscent of that other master of the musical clair-obscure, Bela Bartok. That’s ample praise coming from a person who has the highest possible regard for the Hungarian …I think Vlijmen deserves it.

Another one who deserves praise is Edo de Waart, of course. Ever since I heard him conduct some of Stravinsky’s works for wind ensemble I’ve realized orchestral leaders rarely come that good.
Here, De Waart makes the most of Vlijmen's vivid, contrastive composition
The piece was written as a memoriam for Benno Premselaar, nicknamed the Art Pope. Premselaar was a central figure in Dutch cultural life between ’60 and ’90.

Radio Philharmonisch Orkest, Edo de Waart