SIMEON TEN HOLT
'CANTO OSTINATO'
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2022 | 4pm
FRANKIE, LOS ANGELES
300 S. MISSION ROAD, LOS ANGELES, 90033
FRANKIE, LOS ANGELES
300 S. MISSION ROAD, LOS ANGELES, 90033
Simeon Ten Holt
PROGRAM:
SIMEON TEN HOLT - CANTO OSTINATO (1976)
West Coast Premiere
ECHOI
Gloria Cheng, piano
Vicki Ray, piano
Dustin Donahue, percussion
Jonathan Hepfer, percussion
Sidney Hopson, percussion
SIMEON TEN HOLT - CANTO OSTINATO (1976)
West Coast Premiere
ECHOI
Gloria Cheng, piano
Vicki Ray, piano
Dustin Donahue, percussion
Jonathan Hepfer, percussion
Sidney Hopson, percussion
ABOUT THE WORK:
‘My compositions take shape without any predetermined plan and are, as it were, the reflection of a quest for an unknown goal.’
‘My own idea about the ideal performance is not per definition the only right one.
You can say though, that the composition arises from nothingness and that its creation takes place along gradual lines.
Canto Ostinato, as it were, creates itself.'
'Much is happening in this composition. The musical movement gets to a halt while the general movement continues.
The performers, so to speak, are climbing a mountain whereas the landscape is more steppe-like at the same time. That is the paradox.’
- Simeon ten Holt
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PROGRAM NOTE BY SIMEON TEN HOLT: Canto Ostinato can be performed in a variety of combinations of keyboard instruments. The composition finds its origin in a traditional source. It is tonal and uses functional harmonies. Although all parts have their own fixed place during the performance and cannot be exchanged, neither the beginning nor the end as limits of form, have any absolute significance.
Cause and result, tension and relaxation, as inseparable functional pairs become independent and are halted in the sequence by repetition. Chords or groups of chords, enclosed in bars and sections, are loosened from the melodic link and start leading a life of their own. Time is an important element. The bars or sections get a repeat mark and the performers must decide themselves on the number of repeats. This repeat procedure is aimed at the creation of a situation in which the musical object confirms its independence and can search for the most favourable position regarding the light. Time turns into space in which the musical object starts to hover. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: The Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt (1923-2012) began his career immersed in the intricacies and innovations of serialism, exploring what he described as ‘the semantics of musical language’ in an endeavour to expand his musical expression. However, in 1970 he abandoned the complex twelve-note technique that had been the standard since the Second World War, and returned to sounds and patterns that were easier for the ear to understand. In doing so, he created a unique Dutch minimalist style, using simple triads, shifting rhythmic patterns and repetition.
Canto Ostinato is the quintessential example of Ten Holt’s groundbreaking minimalist style, one of his most well-known and critically-acclaimed compositions. Constructed using short cells that can be repeated an indeterminate number of times by performers, the music is hypnotic and emotionally moving, taking listeners on a journey through musical landscapes. (Notes from Brilliant Classics) |