The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - Play Dutch with me

In its innovative Horizon Series, the Concertgebouworkest is presenting Play Dutch with me. Antony Hermus is conducting orchestral works by Dutch composers. All week long, home-grown chamber music is being performed.

Dutch composers are well thought of internationally. On the Horizon programme Play Dutch with me, Antony Hermus will be conducting works by Dutch composers written forty years ago alongside new works by the young composers Celia Swart and Bram Kortekaas. What’s the current state of home-grown music? The Dutch compositional world is in flux, as is the Concertgebouworkest itself. Three Dutch soloists also feature here as tastemakers: soprano Katrien Baerts, harpist Remy van Kesteren and percussionist Dominique Vleeshouwer.

Forty years ago Flexio, a work composed by Theo Loevendie for the Concertgebouworkest, was considered too demanding, while the orchestra performed Keuris’s Movements, criticised as being too conservative, on tour. Do similar contradictions exist today? The young composers Celia Swart and Bram Kortekaas – the latter looks back on the disputes between the Notenkrakers (Nutcrackers) action group and the Concertgebouworkest in 1970 – draw on a range of musical traditions and on new media in equal measure. Dutch music has a very distinctive language, thanks in part to Louis Andriessen, who influenced generations of young composers all over the world. This programme features his playful Tapdance for percussion and ensemble.

From 29 November to 6 December, chamber music performances are being given at various locations. The week concludes with a musical party. There are in-depth video introductions and of course the Horizon Guide which is full of background information and available free of charge