Symfonische Muziek op. 59

location of manuscript: www.nederlandsmuziekinstituut.nl archive registration number 351/055 Dedicated to Eduard van Beinum and the Concertgebouw orchestra For large orchestra Allegro Adagio molto espressivo, un poco strascinante Allegro agitato Andante maestoso Commissioned by Gemeente Amsterdam Program note: The work has four movements, which have been grouped together two by two; after the second movement a short interruption follows. a. Allegro. The first movement has the character of a scherzo with a trio. The scherzo has been composed more or less as an uninterrupted crescendo. The trio brings to some extend some repose, although in the background the long string melody are set against motives from the scherzo. The reprise from the scherzo moves analogously to the exposition but starts on a different dynamic plan (piano instead of pianissimo); the instrumentation has been extended. At the peak, horns, trumpets and trombones sound their admonishing voice, then following a short passage, in which the timpani come to the forefront: b. Adagio molto expressivo, un poco strascinante, three-part sorrowful music, with which the first level is concluded. Thematically related to the beginning of: c. Allegro agitato. This part is of a violent and nervous character. The set-up is in five parts, of the five sections only the second passes rapidly, the fourth section is however a very comprehensive episode, the third and fifth sections are modified recurrences of the first. At the end of the fifth a pinnacle is reached, and the timpani are heard in solo, this time however to make way for the: d. Andante maestoso, passacaglia in which the inner balance is recovered. Cellos and double basses play the basis of the passacaglia-theme that afterwards is introduced by two harps, flute and bass clarinet. The seven variations that follow change only very little in the harmonious structure of the theme, all the more on the other hand to the melodic lines, whereas a separate instrumentation is made for each variation. A short coda ends the work in a positive sense. - MARIUS FLOTHUIS Amsterdam Marius Flothuis led an eventful life. Early on, he was politically aware and left-wing orientated. He lost his job at the Concertgebouw Orchestra on his refusal to register with the Kultuurkamer, a regulatory cultural agency installed by the German occupying forces during World War II. He was arrested for his resistance work, imprisoned in Camp Vught and deported to Sachsenhausen in 1944. Meanwhile, he continued composing and survived the hardships. In the postwar Dutch and international music worlds he held numerous positions. by Joyce Kiliaan