Le Penseur – (the Thinker)
Music for Wind Band,

Le Penseur – (the Thinker)

InstrumentationWind Band
Grade6
Duration13 minutes
PublisherJanssen Music
Demo Score→ Download
Le Penseur (Full Midi)

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When The Thinker was conceived in its original size (approx. 70 cm) in 1880 as the crowning achievement of The Gates of Hell, seated on the tympanum, it was given the title The Poet. He represented Dante, author of the Divine Comedy who had inspired The Gates, bent over to observe the circles of hell, meditating on his work. The Thinker was therefore initially both a being with a tortured body, almost a damned soul, and a free-thinking man, determined to transcend his suffering through poetry. The pose of this figure owes much to Carpeaux’s Ugolino (1861) and to the seated portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici carved by Michelangelo (1526-31).

Remaining in place on the monumental Gates of Hell, The Thinker was exhibited individually in 1888, becoming an independent work. The colossal version, enlarged in 1904, proved even more popular: this sculpture of a man lost in thought, but whose powerful body suggests a great capacity for action, has become one of the most celebrated sculptures ever. There are numerous casts worldwide, including the one now in the gardens of the Musée Rodin, a gift to the City of Paris installed outside the Panthéon in 1906, and another in the gardens of Rodin’s house in Meudon, on the sculptor’s tomb and his wife.

A challenging composition for wind orchestra based on several “leidmotifs”, written from the perspective of the thinker, who ponders the different emotions and characters of the leitmotifs before coming to a conclusion, but with an open ending, because after all, the thoughts go on again…

Little Folksong Rhapsody
Music for Ensemble, Music for Soloist,

Little Folksong Rhapsody

InstrumentationWind quintet
Saz & Duduk
Grade4
Duration10 minutes
PublisherJanssen Music
Demo Score→ Download

…is based on 6 authentic Turkish and Armenian folk melodies as written / recorded by Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935). They are mostly songs taken from life and with a slightly melancholic character. The songs are about the different seasons, settling disputes, encouragement to dance and everyday activities such as visiting a market.

A special role is reserved for the Saz and the Duduk, two typical folk music instruments from Turkey and Armenia. The combination with Western wind instruments gives the work a special color and atmosphere, with the last movement having a rousing character.

Little Folksong Rhapsody was commissioned by wind ensemble Zuiderwind.

De Aaj Vaan (The Old Banner)
Music for Fanfare Band,

De Aaj Vaan (The Old Banner)

InstrumentationWind Band
Grade4
Duration4 minutes
PublisherJanssen Music
Demo Score→ Download

… is a concert march for fanfare band was commissioned by Fanfare Sint Cecilia Herten (NL) on the occasion of their 125th anniversary.

This concert march exudes solemnity with her lyrical and colorful passages, including a festive ending. I was inspired by the original banner of the jubilee fanfare band.

A concert march that connects old traditions with new musical initiatives.

Score and complete set of parts are not available before May 2023!

SKINES
Music for Fanfare Band, ,

SKINES

InstrumentationFanfare Band
Grade5-6
Duration15 minutes
PublisherJanssen Music
Demo Score→ Download
Skines (Full Midi)

Skines was commissioned by “Fanfare St. Caecilia Schinnen” (NL).

Skines is an old name for the village and the landscape around the Limburg village of Schinnen. It means to shine or glare.

In three merging parts, the musical story is told of a kestrel that, while praying (looking for prey), absorbs, undergoes, adapts and (triumphantly) survives all the appearances or brilliance (in both positive and negative sense) within the landscape.

The apparitions are a metaphor for elements, influences and/or sounds (without a concrete name) within the regions, which can be seen from the air and which have a major influence on the flora and fauna, as well as the people in the Limburg landscape.

The second part describes the kestrel (sung the soprano voice) the feeling these apparitions evoke in him. The text is a free translation (in German) of a short poem from “The Chinese Flute” by the Chinese writer Li-Tai-Po (701-762);

In dem Fremde

In fremdem Lande lag ich.
Weißen Glanz malte der Mond
vor meine Lagerstätte.

Ich hob das Haupt, Ich meinte erst,
es sei der Reif der Frühe,
was ich schimmern sah,
dann aber wußte ich:
der Mond, der Mond,
und neigte das Gesicht zur Erde hin.
Und meine Heimat winkte mir von fern.

Live recording during WMC 2022 – Fanfare St. Caecilia Schinnen (NL) – Theo Wolters, conductor – Claudia Couwenbergh, soprano
(Re)Connected
Music for Wind Band, Other Arrangements, ,

(Re)Connected

InstrumentationWind Band
Grade5-6
Duration15 minutes
PublisherJanssen Music
Demo Score→ Download
(Re)Connected – Full Midi

… is a musical adventure for concert band, commissioned by the “Royal Military Band Johan Willem Friso” (NL) and their chief-conductor Tijmen Botma.

Due to the Covid pandemic, there have been hardly live performances by orchestras around the world for (sometimes more than) a year. With this work an attempt is made to make renewed contact with the numerous concert audience. 

(Re)Connected is therefore a work in which famous melodies of grandmasters from the past are connected in a special way and in which a (renewed) interaction between musicians and the audience takes place.

The work opens with Toccata by Claudio Monteverdi from “Orfeo”. Subsequently, the 1st cello sonata by Johann Sebastian Bach takes a prominent place, with a quartet of musicians interacting with the material.

On the basis of the exhibited themes, a fugal structure develops in which new material is used from the Overture “Entführung aus dem Serail” and the final movement from “Die Kleine Nachtmusik” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

After this virtuoso intermezzo peace returns with the famous theme of the adagio from the 9th symphony (“from the new world”) by Anton Dvorak. From this develops a dramatic part based on main theme of Dvorak 9th.

After a brief recollection of Bach and the “(Re)Connected” motif, which is clearly discernible throughout the work, the finale begins based on the impressive theme “Ode to joy” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th symphony.

An interactive musical adventure in which musicians and audience are (re)connected with the so beloved grandmasters from music history.

Choral Intermezzo
Music for Fanfare Band, Music for Wind Band,

Choral Intermezzo

InstrumentationWind Band
Fanfare Band
Grade4
Duration5 minutes
PublisherJanssen Music
Demo Score (Wind Band)→ Download
Demo Score (Fanfare Band)→ Download

A colorful intermezzo for wind or fanfare band commissioned by the Band of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee.

After a short opening the horn solo plays the main theme. After the first theme follows a solemn choral which develops into a fusion between the main theme and the choral, with a smooth and connecting 3rd theme.

Useful as an intermezzo during a concert.

Wind band version

The Muses
Music for Ensemble,

The Muses

InstrumentationDouble Quintet
(+ Contrabass)
Grade6
Duration12 minutes
PublisherJanssen Music
Demo Score→ Download

This composition was commissioned by wind ensemble “Helicon” on the occasion of their 40th anniversary.

From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing,

Who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon,

And dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring

And the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and,

When they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus

Or in the Horse’s Spring or Olmeius,

Make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon And move with vigorous feet.

From “Theogony” by Hesiod (± 715 BC)

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science and the arts. Under the care of the god Apollo, they were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture.

Full Midi Demo

The nine Muses

CalliopeThe beautiful voiceMuse of the heroic epic,
philosophy and rhetoric.
EratoThe lovableMuse of the hymn, the song and the lyricism.
EuterpeThe joyfulMuse of flute playing.
PolyhymniaThe rich in chantsMuse of rhetoric and sacred songs.
KleioThe proclaimingMuse of historiography.
MelpomeneThe singingMuse of song and tragedy.
UraniaThe heavenlyMuse of Astronomy.
TerpsichoreShe who loves to danceMuse of dance and lyrical poetry.
ThaleiaThe festive & floweringMuse of comedy.