With De Staat (1976), Louis Andriessen wrote music for eternity. This highly personal mix of Stravinsky, American minimal, European avant-garde and jazz caused a shockwave in the international music world. Asko|Schönberg pairs this politically charged work with a brand new work by Oscar Bettison. Bettison studied with Andriessen and is composer in residence with Asko|Schönberg this season.
Andriessen was inspired by minimal music when composing De Staat, but applied minimalism in his own completely unique way. Bettison wrote his piece for the same instrumentation as De Staat. He sees his work as a “nocturnal wonderland”. A group of pianos, harps and guitars form the core in the middle of the stage, while some musicians change position. The singers spur on the brass and invoke the night.
Extra: the state of De Staat
Louis Andriessen wrote De Staat as a reflection on the relationship between music and politics. As a result,
Asko|Schönberg, Gaudeamus, Musica Festival (Strasbourg), Ensemble Klang and Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ invited seventeen very diverse and surprising European composers and artists to make their personal reflection on this theme. In Utrecht (Gaudeamus Festival), Amsterdam and Strasbourg the works (installations, graphic scores, videos) are shown to the public and the musical works performed by Asko|Schönberg.
Participating composers and artists:
Pelumi Adejumo writer, lucid dreamer, singer
Zeno van den Broek composer, artist
Thanasis Deligiannis transdisciplinary artist, director, composer
Cathy van Eck composer, performer, sound artist
Joy Guidry bassoonist, improvisator, performance artist, composer
Valérian Guillaume actor, scenographer, writer
Ted Hearne composer, performer, conductor, band leader
Janne Kosmos composer, versatile artist
Dmitri Kourliandski composer
Johannes Kreidler composer, performer, conceptual media artist
Moor Mother poet, musician, activist
Genevieve Murphy composer, performer
Keir Neuringer saxophonist, composer
Stephanie Pan voice artist, composer, interdisciplinary maker, performer
François Sarhan composer, installation artist, writer
Maya Verlaak composer, performer
Jennifer Walshe composer, librettist
With the support of the Performing Arts Fund NL
Performances
- 4 September 2024, Gaudeamus Festival, Utrecht
- 12 September 2024, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam
- 20 September 2024, Musica Strasbourg Festival, Strasbourg (France)
- 13 November 2024, Theater aan de Parade (November Music), Den Bosch
- 24 November 2024, Amare, The Hague
- 25 November 2024, SPOT, Groningen