Andriessen, Hendrik

Although much else has now been recorded, the piano music of the Dutch composer Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981) largely remain to be discovered. This first conspectus of his piano music covers fifty years of composition. It shows how early influences among them Bach, Brahms, Franck, Hindemith and Ravel were subsumed into a musical language distinguished by its textural clarity and harmonic warmth. Five of the works in this album are receiving their first recording.

The goal of this recording is to celebrate French music through its past: its antique dances, its pastoral ambiences, its atmospheres of legend… starting with a homage to François Couperin. Often considered as the very quintessence of French musical art, this very great composer and harpsichordist succeeded in charming musicians from all times and places, even far removed from his personal universe. We know, for example, that Brahms held him in high esteem. Nearer to our own time, Hendrik Andriessen (1982-1981) – a major figure in Dutch music – borrowed a lovely melody from our composer (from La Basque, in the Second Book of Harpsichord Pieces), as the theme for a set of variations composed in 1944. Led by a tender and agile flute, accompanied by a harp and strings, the work discreetly evokes the rhythms of the antique dances (the Sicilienne, the Chaconne, the Gavotte…) and also contains a ‘scholastic’ fugato; other more lyrical or meditative moments confer an intensity and even a nobility of expression on these charming ‘concert variations’ that make one regret the little reaction that Andriessen's music has suscitated outside of his own country.

Eduard van Beinum - Concertgebouw Orchestra - Live - The Radio Recordings (2000) {11CD Box Set Q Disc 97015 rec 1935-1958}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.08 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.80 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 411 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2000 Q Disc | 97015
Classical / Orchestral

Finally Dutch conductor Eduard van Beinum is receiving attention he so richly deserves with many of his superb performances appearing on CD. Philips has issued most of his commercial recordings for that label, available mostly in Holland. Dutton Laboratories, LYS and Japanese Decca also have issued a number of recordings (with many yet unissued—see our Features article on Van Beinum). Now we have this set of live concert performances dating from 1935 through 1958. The earliest are from 78 rpm acetates some of which were not in very good condition. Some, not all, have surface disturbances even the most precise digital processing cannot eliminate. However, for the collector this is relatively insignificant considering these remarkable performances.