Dear reader,
December was not only a holiday month, but there was also a serious loss in Dutch music life. Otto Ketting, one of the principal Dutch composers, passed away. The Concertzender will commemorates him in four special broadcasts.
But there is also positive news this month, in the jazz department, to be precise. The new year will almost immediately kick off with a new program - saxophonist Hans Dulfer will improvise the first edtion of ‘Front Runnin’ that evening.
The CD of the Month was also made by a jazz saxophonist: Gerry Mulligan. It features extraordinary old live recordings of a special big band.
Of course we have the regular prize question and there is a special discount for readers of this newsletter for a fantastic family show by Frank Groothof at Vredenburg.
We wish you all the best for 2013, a year in which you’ll hopefully be able to hear a great deal of music, in spite of all the cutbacks in the cultural sector.
We wish you happy reading,
The Concertzender
Concertzender commemorates composer Otto Ketting
On 13 December the conductor and composer Otto Ketting died at the age of 77 in his hometown of The Hague, after a short illness. The Concertzender celebrates his music with various broadcasts.
 Ketting is considered to be one of the most important composers in the Netherlands. He wrote chamber music, symphonies, ballet music and chamber operas.
Ketting took his first music lessons from his father, Piet Ketting. Otto continued to study the trumpet at the The Hague conservatory, and composition with Karl Amadeus Hartmann in Munich. He later became a teacher and made a name as a conductor of 20th century music. Ketting also wrote about music. In 1957 he was awarded the Gaudeamus Prize for his composition ‘Passacaglia’.
Most performed orchestral work
In the early 1970s he wrote ‘Time Machine’ for the Dutch Wind Ensemble. For many years th e piece was the most performed Dutch orchestral work, both at home and abroad.
Ketting also gained some fame with film music. He wrote the score for director Bert Haanstra’s feature film ‘Dokter Pulder Zaait Papavers’.
Commemorative broadcasts by the Concertzender
In January the Concertzender will broadcast four programs of music by Otto Ketting:
- in the program ‘Kroniek van de Nederlandse Muziek’
- on Wednesdays at 20.00 CET
- the first episode is on 9 January
This episode will include Ketting’s film music and of course ‘Time Machine’, as well as the following works:
- 3rd Symphony
- De overtocht
- De aankomst
- Het oponthoud
- Kom, over de zeeën
- Monumentum
- Trio Sonata
Discount on family show ‘Carmen’ by Frank Groothof at Vredenburg
Vredenburg, one of our partners, offers a discount on concert tickets every month for readers of the newsletter. This month’s offer is the family show ‘Carmen’ by Frank Groothof.
Carmen is the story of the gorgeous Carmen, who plunges her jealous lover José into misery, seduces the bull fighter Escamillo and has a lack of respect for rules.
 Frank Groothof tells, sings and dances the story, accompanied by the saxophone quartet Syrène. Illustrator Thé Tjong-King made exciting drawings especially for this production, to be projected against the backdrop. A guitarist and three flamenco dancers add color to the story about this desperate love.
Concert information
- Frank Groothof, acting and singing
- Harrie Geelen, lyrics
- Featuring the saxophone quartet Syrène
Offer
- Sunday 13 January
- 11.00 hrs.
- Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn
- You pay € 12,50 instead of € 16,50 (adults) / € 10,23 instead of € 13,50 (children)
- The offer is open from 1 through 13 January; a maximum of 4 tickets per order. There are 50 tickets available.
» read more about the concert at the Vredenburg site
» order your tickets through Vredenburg.nl and use the offer code 0013.
Order soon, while stocks last!
‘Front Runnin’: new program featuring Hans Dulfer
 ‘Front Runnin’ is the new jazz program by Hans Dulfer at the Concertzender. The first edition will air on Tuesday 1 January at 22.00 CET. Totally unprepared and improvising Dulfer will take the listener on a trip past highs and lows in jazz. “When I don’t like it I will simply turn the music off. Or I may play three albums all mixed up.”
The famous saxophonist Hans Dulfer (in picture) explains why his program is called ‘Front Runnin’. “I want to look ahead. Jazz continues to change. In my program I want to keep tabs on things. I get my music through young musicians, from friends and acquaintances, or I may hear something at a jazz or pop club. That is what I’ll be playing. As long as it’s new, and different.”
Different from other programs
Dulfer: “My radio program is different from other programs. I improvise, just as I would in my music. I never rehearse with my band, either. I will just start to play and see what comes out. You should never follow others. You should always be original, different, far from the common herd.
That’s how I like to make my radio programs: I don’t read preconceived scripts, but I let myself be surprised by records I have taken along to the studio. These may be of any kind of music: jazz, all of a sudden a heavy metal track, or Latin, Tibetan. Or three albums all mixed up.”
Improvising
When asked ‘How will you improvise?’ Dulfer answers: “You should have a gut reaction to music. Sometimes I may play a record and realize halfway through that I don’t like it. Then I will simply turn it off. My life consists of improvising. Doing new things all the time.”
Program
- ‘Front Runnin’ with Hans Dulfer
- Every Tuesday, 22.00 - 23.00 CET
- Repeats on Saturdays, 16.00 - 17.00 CET
CD of the Month: ‘Gerry Mulligan and The Concert Jazz Band at the Village Vanguard’
The label Poll Winners, which specializes in reissues, recently released the album ‘At the Village Vanguard’ featuring live recordings from 1960 and ’61 by The Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band.
 Gerry Mulligan (in picture) was born in 1927 in New York and died in 1996. He was a famous baritone saxophonist as well as a competent pianist and clarinetist. He also received credit for his arrangements and compositions for Miles Davis and others.
In the period 1960-64 Mulligan was active with his Concert Jazz Band, with which he wanted to innovate the old big band genre.
Village Vanguard
This reissue combines the 13 piece big band’s first and third LP. They both contain live recordings; these are exactly like live concerts should be: lengthy tunes with a great deal of room for various soloists. The classic Body And Soul gets an inspired treatment featuring solos by Mulligan and trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. And in the standard ‘Come Rain Or Come Shine’, trumpeter Clark Terry and Mulligan excel. In other words: a perfect registration of what this orchestra was capable of in a live performance.
 Bonus
As a bonus Poll Winners has added the band’s third album - ‘A Concert in Jazz’ – from 1961 to this CD. This recording was made at Webster Hall, but without an audience. An added perk is that a number of arrangers wrote compositions especially for this date. George Russell rewrote ‘All About Rosie’ and John Carisi arranged ‘Israel’: a piece that Mulligan had recorded with Miles Davis in 1949.
The orchestra is in great shape and has no problems in playing the arrangements with the utmost precision. The only difference with the Vanguard recordings is that trumpeter Clark Terry has been replaced by Doc Severinsen. For all lovers of big band jazz this is a welcome reissue of a remarkable orchestra.
Prize Question
Always wanted to own an album by I Fagiolini? Simply answer the prize question and the CD of Italian Vespers may land on your doormat.
The question is: ‘In memory of what event were these vespers written?’
 What is the prize?
The CD ‘1612 Italian Vespers’, performed by I Fagiolini conducted by Robert Hollingworth (Decca 478 3506).
How to win:
We will raffle off the prize among the entrants with the correct answer. We will publish the result 14 days after the publication of this newsletter:
- in an e-mail to the winner
- in a news item on » our website
- in the next newsletter in the prize question column
Winner of the previous prize question
The previous question was: ‘What is the connection between Gustav Mahler and Sergey Rachmaninov’s piano concertos?
The correct answer was: Gustav Mahler conducted the second performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto nr. 3. The winner is the Staples-Kampmeijer family.
This section is made possible by various record labels. They offer us their CDs, DVDs and concert tickets. The ‘Italian Vespers’ is donated by Klassieke Zaken.
 Next newsletter
The next Concertzender newsletter will be published in February.
Check » our website for the latest news.
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