Of course, new music city Den Bosch also has its own city composer!
If you listen to this programme regularly, you’ll know that in anticipation of this year’s Day of the Composer on 15 June, on which city composers present their city songs, we’re focusing on Dutch city composers.
Of course Den Bosch, home of November Music and the FAQ Festival, has its own city composer as well: Bart van Dongen, has held this title since 2021. He was born in Zeeland in 1959, but has been active in Den Bosch for a good while. He even preceded Anne-Maartje Lemereis, who began representing Goes in 2022 and was mistakenly presented as the ‘first Dutch city composer’.
This episode opens three windows into Van Dongen’s work, all of which are drawn from concerts we’ve recorded ourselves. We’ll begin with Conduction. In this piece, we can discern Van Dongen’s roots in the jazz world. Moreover, he has been influenced by pop music, as is inherent to his generation.
Before The Kitchen Sessions, the composer spent some time hanging out at the gallery-cum-cooking school Achter de Kan. Amidst visual art and culinary arts, he improvised on the piano, later transcribing various improvisations (“ingredients”).
In Één, we perhaps witness Van Dongen at his most accessible. The composer reaches out to the people: not necessarily catering to their taste, but rather seeking out places where a composer can be heard. In the church, he leads the Brabants Chamber Choir, singing together with the organ and the carillon, ensuring that the music is heard outside as well. The setting for this performance is the Heikese Church in Tilburg, but the piece could resonate equally well in Den Bosch.
Playlist
1. Conduction
2. The Kitchen sessions: ingredients 3, 6, 10
3. Één
