Concertzender news letter november '12

Dear reader,

There’s a great deal we want to tell you this month. We’ve got a new theme channel, an extraordinary CD of the Month and at Vredenburg we will record a concert by the famous  Brodsky string quartet.

It’s winter time once again… Don’t worry because the Summer Darkness Festival will offer you some light in the darkness. In November?! Yes, it’s true. For we have made recordings of this ‘summer darkness’, and we will broadcast them in the dark November days.

You will also find the Vredenburg special discount in our e-zine. Unfortunately there is no prize question this time.

In November there is a mini festival with music of the relatively unknown composer Charles Koechlin. You will read all about him  in ‘Introducing…’, and also about the man who is compiling  the programs of his work: Leendert de Jonge. Talking about unknown: this article also includes information on the ‘ondes martenot’, a very special and relatively unknown musical instrument.

And last but not least: Govert Jan Bach – yes, a distant relation – will compile a program on Johann Sebastian Bach, starting Monday 5 November. We proudly announce that Joop van Zijl, the former news anchorman, will be its host. Read all about it in this news letter!

De Concertzender

X-Rated gets its own theme channel

Since 19 October the program ‘X-Rated’ has its own theme channel.

X-Rated is the only Dutch radio program devoting attention to electronics, but also to:

• experimental
• minimal
• avant-garde
• industrial
• ambient

» read more about our new theme channel on Concertzender.nl

or

CD of the Month: ‘The Expanding Universe’ by Laurie Spiegel

Mark van de Voort, of the new music department,  chose ‘The Expanding Universe’ by Laurie Spiegel as this month’s featured record. Her debut album from 1980 has been reissued on CD for the first time, and includes 90 minutes of extra material.

“A young woman surrounded by gigantic music machines. It sounds rather exotic, but the music the American composer Laurie Spiegel (67) draws from her music computers is quietly enchanting,” says Mark.

“No dry crackle-and-pop exercises, but scintillating baroque electronic folk with strong minimal music influences.”

Unseen Worlds
“The American Unseen Worlds label is responsible for this extraordinary reissue. The label has unearthed and digitized many all but forgotten minimal music classics before.”

» listen to the Concertzender program from July 2008, compiled by Mark van de Voort

Spiegel’s music is exactly what the Concertzender program ‘Crosslinks’ is all about. She draws inspiration for her mesmerizing electronic weavings, full of shifting rhythms and catchy melodies, from the following sources:

• master guitarist John Fahey’s repetitive avant-folk
• Bach’s brilliant baroque pearls
• Ali Akbar Khan’s world sounds

Computer expert
“Spiegel’s claim to fame is her work as a software designer,” Mark explains. “She developed the popular Music Mouse for the Mac. Laurie Spiegel is not only a computer expert, but also a driven guitarist and lute player. You can hear this experience in classical electronic works like ‘Patchwork’, ‘The Expanding Universe’ and the ‘Appalachian Grove’ series, music that will appeal to a much wider audience than electronic music lovers alone. It is playful and deep at the same time.”

Broadcast on Laurie Spiegel
On Monday 5 November the program ‘Thema’ will be solely devoted to Laurie Spiegel’s electronic music and the intriguing CD of the Month ‘The Expanding Universe’. The program airs between 20.00 and 22.00 CET.

Recordings Summer Darkness Festival to be aired on dark November nights

The Concertzender has made recordings at this July’s Summer Darkness. Starting in late November we will fill the wintry Wednesday nights with Summer Darkness concerts.

First of all the result of last month’s competition. The question was: ‘Who is the composer portrayed in the picture?’  The answer is: Simeon ten Holt. The winner is F. de Winter from Brielle. Congratulations! The DVD about Ten Holt and the score of one of his works are on their way to you.

The recordings can be heard in various Concertzender Live broadcasts on ‘X-Rated’.

Broadcasts
The concerts will be spread over four broadcasts on Wednesdays at 22.00 CET. The dates and musicians are:

• 21 November:  Sieben
• 28 November:  Axiome
• 19 December:  Empusae
• 26 December:  Michel Banabila

Every episode will also include registrations by:

• Mars
• Challenge Of Honor
• Camerata Mediolanense

Concertzender to record concert Brodsky Quartet

On Thursday 15 November the Brodsky Quartet will perform at Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh. It will be one of the concerts the Concertzender will record at Vredenburg this year.

The Brodsky Quartet celebrates its 40th anniversary. To commemorate this occasion each of the members of the string quartet has made a ‘wheel’ of his or her 40 favorite pieces. These include Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, but also works by Elvis Costello, Björk and Lou Reed.

The anniversary concerts are also interactive, for the musicians like to answer questions from the audience.  Because the audience, and that might mean you, is one of the main guests at the celebrations. With the ‘wheel of 4 tunes’ (pun intended) the audience will determine what will be played that night.

The Brodsky Quartet consists of:

• Daniel Rowland, violin
• Ian Belton, violin
• Paul Cassidy, viola
• Jacqueline Thomas, cello

The concert will commence at 20.00 hrs.
» read more about this concert on the Vredenburg site or order tickets

Joop van Zijl to host ‘Geen dag zonder Bach’

Monday 5 November the Concertzender will present a new program, every weekday from 13.00 to 14.00 CET: ‘Geen dag zonder Bach’ (‘Not a single day without Bach’). Joop van Zijl, former Dutch news anchorman, will host it. Govert Jan Bach compiles the program.

Pablo Casals made it clear: “For me, no day goes by without Bach”. And at the Concertzender we wholeheartedly agree with him. This is why we will present a daily portion of Bach, starting 5 November, every weekday  between 13.00 and 14.00 CET. “In the weekend the listener will have to grab something from his own collection; I’m sure everyone will have an album,” says Joop van Zijl (in picture), who will host this program in his own inimitable way.

Compiler of ‘Geen dag zonder Bach’ is Govert Jan Bach (in the photo below), a distant cousin of Johann Sebastian’s and an authority on the music of his famous relative.

Thorough but playful
Johann Sebastian Bach seems to be the personification of classical music and receives enough airplay on other classical music stations.  The Concertzender, with Joop van Zijl and Govert Jan Bach, however, has a different approach.

Complete works
In the program we will ransack Bach’s complete works in a thorough but playful manner. In this we will follow a system: each program will start with a cantata or other vocal work, followed by a piece of chamber music or a concerto. We will conclude the program with keyboard music, for both harpsichord and piano.

Non-dogmatic
‘Geen dag zonder Bach’ is non-dogmatic. We will hear both historically informed and other performance practices. We will also devote attention to all kinds of arrangements, both by Bach himself and by others.

We will also compare performances, and we will devote attention to other composers from the Bach family:

• uncles
• cousins and nephews
• sons

Bach’s sources of inspiration
There is also room for Johann Sebastian’s teachers or role models like:

• Reincken
• Buxtehude
• Vivaldi

Host Joop van Zijl

Between 1977 and 1996 Joop van Zijl was the prime Dutch news anchorman. As a child he was already a great music lover. He still presents the annual New Year’s Concert from Vienna, featuring the Wiener Philharmoniker, and now he will host the Concertzender’s daily program ‘Geen dag zonder Bach’.

Introducing…

Leendert de Jonge – program maker new music

Looking for the unknown, that is Leendert’s favorite pastime. “I’m working for ‘De Vorige Eeuw’ (The Previous Century). That is very pleasant, since this period has a wide range of musical styles. I like to find music by composers who have sunk into oblivion, and preferably compositions that were never heard on radio before.”

“I like to fill in the blank spaces on the musical map. The programs I compile usually concern the first half of the last century. I don’t have a specific method. I usually get my ideas from reading program notes or websites.

Compiling a program is a real puzzle sometimes. Of course I like to program complete compositions, but you are also limited by the time available. Then you have to look for useful combinations – and this can be quite challenging.”

Treasure trove
“The Concertzender is one big treasure trove. Just have a look in the program guide. You can hear a wide range of musical styles, and what’s even more important, you can listen to most of them on demand. Thus you’re able to return to previous broadcasts. Or you may enter a composer, title or performer in the search engine; this will take you to what you want to hear.”

Flute
“I studied the flute at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatorium with Koos Verheul and I’ve always played as a free-lancer in ensembles and orchestras. In this way I could always decide what I wanted to play. I performed baroque music, but also symphonic repertoire, big band pieces and film music with The Beau Hunks. That band, named after a Laurel and Hardy film, is specialized in reconstructing and performing obscure American film scores not available in print. 

At a certain moment I also liked to do other things, immersing myself in music in a broader sense. I got the opportunity to compile the program ‘Deze Eeuw’ (‘This Century’) for KRO radio. In this I devoted attention to recent developments in music. When the program was discontinued, I became a music director. In this role I was in charge artistically for radio and TV recordings. One of my tasks was to maintain the sound balance. For a while I regularly worked with the VARA matinee and the Sunday Morning Concert. Ensembles often ask me as a musical director for CD recordings.

I then worked for the music department of the Purmerend library on a part-time basis for a while, and contributed to the MCN (Music Center the Netherlands) music encyclopedia. This was discontinued because of cutbacks, and at the moment I am looking for a paid job.

A number of years ago I saw in an announcement that the Concertzender was looking for program makers. I wanted to continue making programs for radio. What I liked about it, was the complete freedom in picking music, and the fact that you were able to broadcast complete compositions. This should really go without saying. Not a little bit of this and a part of that…  I don’t have a real mission, but when I’m able to introduce the listener to unfamiliar music, my programming makes sense.”

Charles Koechlin
“Getting back to the flute: my leitmotiv has been the composition ‘Les Chants de Nectaire’ by the French composer Charles Koechlin, who lived from 1867 to 1950. I came across the title of this work for solo flute with the addition ‘manuscript’. I then looked up this manuscript with three opus numbers featuring 32 titles each, and performed the world première. These 96 monodies, melodies without accompaniment, are of such a high quality that they might truly be called the monophonic equivalent of polyphonic works like Bach’s ‘Kunst der Fuge’.

He was an exceptional composer who can’t be easily labeled, since he wrote in many styles. If you want to know more about this composer, you can find his music at the Concertzender.

There will be a mini festival devoted to his works, organized by the Amsterdam Orgelpark. From 30 November through 2 December various solo compositions for organ, ‘ondes martenot’ (rarely heard as a solo instrument), flute and piano will be performed. The program also includes chamber music inspired by movie stars from the early days of sound-films, especially Lilian Harvey.

The program ‘De Vorige Eeuw’ on Tuesdays 20 and 27 November (16.00 to 17.00 CET) will be devoted to Charles Koechlin. I have programmed premières of his works for ensemble.”

Ondes Martenot
“The ‘ondes martenot’ (in picture) is a monophonic instrument that uses an electron tube, best
known from tube amplifiers in old radios, to generate sound waves. The instrument is played by means of a keyboard. In front of this keyboard a metal strap is placed with a ring transmitting electricity, which the performer may slide without intermediate steps, allowing him to play with glissandi and produce vibrato.

It also allows for microtonal music: the ondes martenot’s octave may be divided into 50 steps, much more than the 12 a piano keyboard offers. The instrument has a range of seven octaves and the volume can be adjusted from inaudible to fortississimo. It also features ‘stops’ to change the timbre. Its performer is called an ‘ondist’ .”

Photography
“Koechlin, in the picture to the right, was not only a composer, but also an excellent photographer. He travelled a great deal and left an archive of thousands of impressive stereo photos. These are photos with an effect comparable to the preset 3D. He also visited the Netherlands a number of times, for instance in 1908. For those interested I can give a lecture on these visits.

Photography is a passion I share with Koechlin. It has become much more than a hobby for me. In a couple of years there may be an exhibition of my work, mainly landscapes. Music and photography are just as important to me now, as they were to Koechlin.

And I also enjoy visiting museums and read poetry or novels.”

» for more information on the Koechlin festival on www.orgelpark.nl

or

Special offer: Vredenburg gives a discount on concert tickets

Vredenburg, one of our partners, offers a discount on concert tickets every month. This offer is only open to readers of the Concertzender news letter. On Sunday 11 November you are given a discount on a concert in the Sunday Afternoon Jazz series featuring the Hans Mantel Trio & Ferdinand Povel.

Hans Mantel (on the left in the picture) is a seasoned jazz fan and expert. Special guest is saxophonist Ferdinand Povel, winner of the VPRO Boy Edgar Prijs 2011 (the major Dutch jazz award). Povel (on the right) is of great importance to Dutch jazz, not only as a saxophonist, but also as a teacher.

Line-up

• Hans Mantel, bass
• Ferdinand Povel, saxophone
• Hans van Oosterhout, drums
• Jasper Soffers, piano

Offer

• Sunday 11 November  
• 16.00 hrs.
• Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh
• You pay € 12,- instead of € 16,-

• The offer is open from 1 through10 November; a maximum of 4 tickets per order. There are 50 tickets available.

» read more about the concert on the Vredenburg site

» order your tickets on Vredenburg.nl and use the offer code 4262.

Next CZ newsletter

The next Concertzender newsletter will be published in November.
Keep an eye on  » our website for the latest news.

Help us to keep broadcasting

Are you a fan of the Concertzender but not yet a donor?
» sign up as a donor or » make a contribution.
Depending on the amount you donate you will receive:

• a tour of the studio and the office
• a CD made by the Concertzender with Young Dutch Performers
• 2 tickets for the annual special concert with a lecture

Are you already contributing, but do you know people who aren’t supporting us yet?
» sign them up for our newsletter and inform them of the various ways to donate.