Vermeulen even spent many years in France.  Sadly, we French people do
not often remember the great musicians from abroad who chose Paris or
other parts of our country.  Vermeulen was a much feared critic in the
Netherlands, but when he found out that Megelberg was much more powerful
than him (Megelberg played many great 20th-century composers, but let the
two great Dutchmen, Pijper and Vermeulen, to lesser orchestras who were not
up to the complex styles of either composer), he settled in Louveciennes,
in what he always regarded as a free artistic country.  Even the New Grove
described him as an essential critic but a second-class composer, which
seems incredible now.

The point of my post is that whereas Vermeulen's life was miserable,
(especially during WWII,) he insisted on the fact that his music was
totally joyful -- something like "euphorizing chemical drugs, without
the secondary efects and subsequent depression".  This is by no means
self-evident when one is not prepared to the harshness of his style, but
it must be kept in mind, even in Symphony No. 5 which was composed in
the darkest moments of his life.  Maybe No. 6 (les Minutes Heureuses:
the Happy Minutes), based on the notes A-C-D (la-do-re, or "l'adoree",
the beloved, in French), is the symphony which most directly conveys
his inextinguishable love for life and belief in the bright side of it.
It is "comforting music"!  and surprisingly fine, too, even though its
originality may seem less overwhelming than in No. 2 for instance.

Best wishes,

Thanh-Tam Le
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