Description
To the score:
About the work:
Margina Rolfina Bolt is my grandmother, the mother of my father. She was a teacher and moved with her husband to Indonesia.
The family lived in Indonesia before and during WWII. My grandmother was a P.O.W. in Indonesia and imprisoned with her children.
During that time, both my grandparents wrote events, thoughts, protest-songs and poems. Later on secretly, because education and therefore pencils were forbidden by the Japanese.
When Margina returned to the Netherlands, she was told to not complain, because she hadn’t been cold during the winter. They each got an orange and that was it.
Their stories were too disturbing and people stopped communicating when confronted with their truth.
Ever since there was a Silence in my family.
When my grandparents both had died, my father and uncles found a diary with writings of both my grandparents. Thanks to my niece Maaike Wolters, we still have it all documented in a book.
The Inspiration:
This composition is dedicated to my grandmother Margina and based upon a poem written by my grandfather:
Toekomst . . . . . . ?
(Future . . . . . . ?)
Liev’ling, kijk eens naar je haren
(Darling, look at your hair)
Zilver mengt met het goud
(the silver mingles with the gold)
‘t Harte schrijnde me bij ‘t ontwaren
(the heart ached percieving)
Lieveling, wij worden oud.
(Darling, we are becoming old)
Hoe kort nog streek mijn schuch’re eerste zoen
(Such short time ago my shy first kiss)
Bevend langs je zachte wang
(trembled across your soft cheek)
‘t Geluk was mateloos, liev’ling en toen
(My happiness was, darling en then)
Scheen ons het leven eind’loos lang.
(Life appeared endlessly long)
Jongenlief, die zilv’ren slapen
(Sweet boy, those silver cheeks)
Streelde ik reeds lang gele’en
(I streaked down long ago)
En als ik keek naar onze knapen
(And when I watch our boys)
‘k Wist: de Zomer ging, de Herfst verscheen.
(I knew: Summer went, Autumn appeared)
Maar telt de kleur van ‘t loof alléén misschien?
(But counts the color of the foliage alone?)
De stam is vaak nog lang niet oud
(The trunk won’t grow old for ages)
Elk jaargetij heeft zijn eigen vreugd’en die
(Every season has it’s own joy, who)
Zilver aanvaardt, krijg zuiver goud.
(accepts silver, recieves gold)
Work in progress:
Developing the work
The composition started as a work for piano and viola with the working title “Maria Magdalena”. But when I finished the piece for wind orchestra, I realized I had actually written my grandmother and in particular the above mentioned poem by my grandfather.
Score of the sketch:
Score of the first draft for wind orchestra:
Night Music
During the composition class of the Musik Akademie Marktoberdorf with Keiron Anderson, I added a ‘night music’ inspired by his work and that of Bartok.
The composition will be improved and elaborated in 2023.
Orchestration: Asian Percussion
My father was a pacifist and I want to honor his view by not orchestrating militaristic percussion instruments, like snare drum, nor compose marching rhythms that reminded him of the boots of the Japanese guards walking around.
With the addition of Asian/Persian percussion instruments, I want to introduce the sound of the Indonesian night. My father often spoke about the sound of the buzzing of the nights and how much he missed that when they moved back to the Netherlands.
In order to do this, I will study:
- Serial and minimalistic music and link that to isometric mottet from the Renaissance.
- Reichs music for 18 musicians and how it refers to the Gammelan orchestra.
- Bartoks night music.
