Philip Jongeneel ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>David Harbin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>Dear All, Has anyone heard the Adams CD that comes with this months BBC
>>Music magazine?  Is it worth getting?
>
>Having just played this CD, I must say that the item that interested me
>most was the piece by louis Andriessen "De Snelheid".

A couple of years ago I attended a performance of his De Stijl.  I've
appended part of my review FYI.

   The word "riff" is defined by The New Grove as "in jazz, a short
   melodic ostinato", going on to give as example of a "riff tune"
   Glenn Miller's In the Mood.  Rock musicians also make extensive
   use of them, the Rolling Stones (Satisfaction, Jumpin' Jack
   Flash) being masters of the elegantly-crafted, driving riff.

   Dutch composer Louis Andriessen is no stranger to riffs; his
   remarkable De Stijl is a fascinating amalgam of contemporary
   styles, with Minimalism well to the fore.  But it is a riff-based
   minimalism: one might (indeed Terry Riley once did) speak of the
   "pulse" of most minimalist music, but in De Stijl only someone
   in the later stages of rigor mortis could fail to observe the
   *beat* .  Archie Shepp meets Steve Reich and the result is almost
   overwhelming.

   De Stijl calls for four amplified female speakers and what
   Andriessen calls his "terrifying 21st century orchestra",
   consisting of four trumpets, four trombones, fives saxophones,
   three flutes, two pianos, electronic organ, two electric guitars,
   bass guitar and two percussionists.  John Celona and the UVic
   Sonic Lab played the piece for all it was worth on Friday night,
   bringing to a raucous close a quite remarkable evening's
   music-making.

deryk barker
([log in to unmask], http://www.camosun.bc.ca/~dbarker)