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Sunday 7 DecemberTheme: Early |
Special Christmas ProductionsThe Christmas story has always been an inexhaustible source of musical inspiration. This month, programme maker Kees Koudstaal's Sound the Trumpet, Strike the Viol! programme focusses on recent and special Christmas CDs featuring Early Music.
The new Christmas CD from the Dutch Apollo Ensemble is also featured. This recording highlights the Christmas story with works from the North German tradition before Bach, including Buxtehude's famous Christmas carol In dulci jubilo. Listen: Sound the Trumpet, Strike the Viol!, Sunday 7 December, 11:00 - 12:00 CET. |
Wednesday 10 DecemberTheme: Contemporary |
Richard Rijnvos – La SerenissimaErik Voermans will dedicate the December 10th Theme broadcast to the work of Dutch composer Richard Rijnvos.
From the latter, you will hear two recent movements: Quattro quadri from 2018, performed by Jan Hage on the Utopa organ in the Orgelpark. This is followed by Lettura del labirinto (2024) for harpsichord, a piece Rijnvos dedicated to the memory of Louis Andriessen. Jane Chapman is the soloist. Listen: Theme, Wednesday 10 December, 20:00 - 22:00 CET. |
Fridays 12 and 26 DecemberTheme: World |
Warmth from the Orient Express
On December 12th, Orient Express will be filled with warm sounds and melodies from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and India/Uzbekistan. This will include the refined playing of Alihan Samedov from Azerbaijan on the balaban, a woodwind instrument. You'll also hear Kazakhstan's Raushan Orazbaeva playing the kyl kobyz, a two-stringed instrument. On Boxing Day, there will be another Orient Express, this time entirely dedicated to music from Armenia, featuring The Gurdjieff Ensemble, Tigran Hamasyan, and Nara Noïan. Listen: Orient Express, Friday 12 December, 22:00 - 23:00 CET. Listen: Orient Express, Friday 26 December, 22:00 - 23:00 CET. |
Sunday 14 DecemberTheme: Crosslinks |
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On demandTheme: Jazz | World of Jazz |
Pocket Concerts
Their collaboration results in performances rich in texture and emotion. They performed together at various festivals and concert series, where they explored new musical landscapes. Their synergy reflects a shared commitment to innovation, offering an unprecedented musical experience. Read more and/or listen to their Pocket Concert. Subscribe to the Pocket Concerts channel on YouTube. |
On demandTheme: Contemporary |
Dick Raaijmakers – more radical than radicalThe programme Contemporary Music (formerly Nowadays) focuses on the work of Dick Raaijmakers (1930–2013), a pioneer of Dutch electronic music and one of the most radical thinkers about sound and technology.
Two of his Five Canons for Tape from the 1960s are included: extremely strict constructions based on simple ticks, sometimes bone-dry, sometimes surprisingly poetic. In addition, you can hear Raaijmakers’ rarely performed Industrial soundtracks which were created for promotional films by Philips and the steel industry. This contrasts with his humorous and conceptual side, with the iconic Ping-pong (1983) and excerpts from Der Fall Leiermann, in which Schubert, Berio, and Raaijmakers meet. Finally, Raaijmakers derails technology in Flux and Intona, works featuring microphones that are burned, boiled or sawn apart. These are radical performances that question the role of machines in music. Listen: Contemporary Music, broadcast Wednesday 19 November. |
NowTheme: General |
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Thursday 25 DecemberTheme: Early |
El Canto de la SibilaOn Christmas Day, the programme On Cloud Nine which is produced by Johan Le Fèvre, features a polyphonic version of the song Juicio fuerte será dado (A Harsh Judgment Will Be Passed). This song is performed by the Dutch ensemble Música Temprana.
Because women were not allowed to sing in church, the song was sung by a boy dressed in liturgical robes, holding a menacing sword aloft throughout the entire performance. The Latin text was usually translated into the vernacular. Spanish, Catalan and Sardinian versions of the song exist. Listen: On Cloud Nine, Thursday 25 December, , 21:00 - 22:00 CET. photo: a boy soprano sings El canto de la Sibila (source: Mallorca.es) |
Monday 29 DecemberTheme: Contemporary |
Path of Miracles, a musical pilgrimage by Joby Talbot
The four movements—Roncesvalles, Burgos, León, and Santiago—each depict a stage of the journey: from the awe and anticipation of departure to the spiritual stillness along the way and the intense, subdued release upon arrival. With influences from medieval hymns, world music, and Asian vocal techniques, Talbot unfolds a rich, rhythmic, and often mystical choral sound. A musical pilgrimage that established his international reputation. We present the 2005 premiere performance of Path of Miracles, performed by Tenebrae under the direction of Nigel Short. Join us for a journey with the music of this monumental piece. Listen: Contemporary Music, Monday 29 December, 19:00 - 20:00 CET. |
Monday 15 DecemberTheme: Early |
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ColophonConcertzender
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Next newsletterThe next Concertzender newsletter will (likely) appear late December / early January.
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The Concertzender in December: Time flies when you're having fun
The December 7th episode focuses on two releases. The CD Messe de Minuit, featuring Christmas compositions by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, was recently released by the Château de Versailles label. Among the works featured is Dialogus inter angelos et pastores Judaeae.
Since 1993, Rijnvos has composed exclusively in thematic cycles, dedicated to subjects that continue to fascinate him. For example, Block Beuys, inspired by the German artist Joseph Beuys. Rijnvos's Grand Atlas illuminates the seven continents of the world. Venice also fascinates him and is a source of inspiration for his growing cycle La Serenissima.
Warmth and atmosphere in December aren't just found in Christmas carols and end-of-year concerts. Just ask Cobie Ivens. She produces various programs for Concertzender and is also one of the two creators of Orient Express, the programme featuring music from Central and South Asia, the Middle East, and other regions.
DreamScenes #100
In November, we had a special guest in our studio: Ronald Snijders, the internationally renowned flautist and composer, and winner of the Boy Edgar Prize. Together with Elizabeth Fadel, he explores new musical landscapes. 
Almost everyone knows his name, but his music is much less well-known and rarely played. Therefore, Wouter Steenbeek presents a selection from Raaijmakers’ varied and often groundbreaking oeuvre.
Vacancies
The text can be traced back to a much older work, El Canto de la Sibila, which describes the Last Judgment and the coming of the Savior. This song's source is a poem that was supposedly passed down by the Greco-Roman prophetess Sibyl. Her image can be seen in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The song is still traditionally performed on Christmas Eve. It was even recognized as world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2010.
In the programme Contemporary Music (formerly Nowadays), programme maker Heleen de Groot presents the impressive choral work Path of Miracles by the British composer Joby Talbot. Talbot is known for a wide range of styles, the composer drew inspiration for this piece from the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
Discount tickets for the Weihnachtsoratorium in the Concertgebouw
