Asko|Schönberg & Ensemble Klang – Oscar Bettison’s On the slow weather of dreams

English-American composer Oscar Bettison moved to the Netherlands in the late 1990s to study with Louis Andriessen and Martijn Padding. A period he characterises as defining in finding his musical voice, as adventurous and unpredictable as Andriessen’s. For the opening night of Gaudeamus Festival, he wrote a brand new piece in response to Andriessen’s De Staat. Bettison wrote his piece for the same instrumentation as De Staat, a mirror composition with a very different atmosphere. A group of pianos, harps and guitars form the core, while some players change position and singers urge the brass and invoke the night.

Beforehand, composer Calliope Tsoupaki addresses ‘The State of Dutch New Music’.