NATURE AND MUSIC
The Starling- Suite is a five-part work for piano solo.
Who doesn't know the starling? This noisy good-for-nothing, who, like a jolly vagabond, flutters through fields and cities.
The starling lives part of the year in a big flock, this is the imaginary spot where our music starts:
A big starling-flock, two sparrows come out of the flock, build a nest, breed their eggs and raise their young. Finally the young birds
fligh out, and form another swarm.
The music is not really difficult to play.
The starling was the favorite bird of the Dutch naturalist Jac. P. Thijsse, therefore I dedicated this suite to the
Heimans and Thijsse Association. (Dutch site)
In September this suite will get performed by the presenting the bronze starling, a Dutch prize for people who inspire the people
to take care for nature, or to take interest in nature. More information about this can be found by clicking the link above.
In the Flight of the Stark we follow the way the Stark had to go to bring the little boy Hugo to his father and his mother
in Amsterdam. Hugo learns to know the beauty of the world, the Stark points him out Antartica, the monkey's in the woods,
the desert, the sea, and finally Holland.
This music for four hands piano is technically easy to play.
The book Birds contains four musical works for clarinet and saxophone; two avocats on their
southbound journey, two grebes' mating dance, the song of two swans, and Turkish turtle doves play a role in the books.
In the Seagull Sonata for soprano recorder, violin and church
organ you will not find the sound of the seagulls, but their movements, when you watch them
flying through the sky, it looks like ballet, like visible freedom.
The Epipogon Sonata for two guitars centres on a quest for a rare orchid by Eli Heimans and his wife, and their two children.
Eli Heimans describes this quest in detail in one of his columns in "De Groene Amsterdammer" in 1906.
The Vlieland landscape is of course the subject of the Vlieland Sonata.
Oyster-catchers at the North Sea, seals on a sandy bank, two atalantas (butterflies) at the Dutch Wadden Sea,
and Grass-of-Parnassus (small white wildflowers) just past the 'Posthuys'.
In The Herb Garden in Leuven for solo guitar,
16 short pieces take you on a walk through the large herb garden in Leuven.
1-Strolling through Leuven, heading for the Herb Garden
2-Ribwort Plantain
3-Scarlet Pimpernel
4-Rampion Bellflower
5-Waterlily
6-Bamboo
7-The fish in the pond
8-Hosta Blue Mammoth
9-Epimedium in a shady garden
10-Campanula Takesimana
11-In the greenhouse
12-Liriodendron Tulipifera
13-Waltz for a fruit tree grower
14-The apple trees
15-The bees surround the blackberries
16-Farewell to the Herb Garden, re-entering Leuven.
The Witch-hazel for guitar contains 2 pieces that deal with nature.
Ruta, for solo guitar and the Witch-hazel, a canon for three guitars.
Ruta (Rue) is a small shrub with a very special array of flowers. Of each flowering branch, the first bud to open always consists of five petals (pieces). Every following flower consists of four petals (pieces).
This guitar piece is similar; each piece starts as a five-piece and continues as a four-piece.
In the back of the book, a canon for three guitars is printed: The Witch-hazel, named after a small tree that may flower as early as February with bright yellow blossom.
Lastly, the Campanula for the carillon.
This piece was named after the campanula because this plant with its large bell-shaped flowers
resembles a carillon."
Walks
"Walking is another favourite subject that features in my music on a regular basis.
I am very fond of taking walks (often alone) and I tend to visualise music during my walks.
My music for walks is: A stroll in Maassluis for piano,
A summer evening stroll for flute
and piano, A stroll through the valley, for two guitars (the second part of the Epipogon Sonata)
and the piece I mentioned above: Strolling through Leuven, heading for the Herb Garden, from
The Herb Garden in Leuven for solo guitar."
