List of publications
Contemporary music and tonality, in ‘Mens & Melodie’, music magazine in the Netherlands, October 1977. Defending the possibility of tonality in new music as an alternative to atonal modernism.
Messiaen and his piano oeuvre, in ‘Piano Bulletin’, magazine of the Dutch branche of the EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association), 1986/3. Discussion of Messiaen’s works for piano, especially his ‘Quatre études de Rythme’ which were a crucial inspiration for Darmstadt serialism.
Postmodernism and new music, in ‘Maatstaf’, cultural magazine in the Netherlands, 1988/4. Discussing new trends in contemporary music in England, especially the appearance of more tonal styles in a postmodern context.
Pelléas, Mélisande and Boulez, in ‘The Musical Times’, British music magazine, July 1992. Review of the production by Welsh National Opera as conducted by Pierre Boulez, whose no-nonsense approach is criticized for its insensitivity, obliterating the subtleties of Debussy’s score.
Towards a dynamic classicism, in ‘Mens & Melodie’ (see above), February 1995. Exposé of the philosophy of re-interpretation of older musical traditions and how they can be revived and made contemporary.
The sick fund, in ‘Hollands Maandblad’, cultural magazine in the Netherlands, 1996/3. Analysis of the Dutch subsidy system for new music, which created a problematic network of vested interests, disconnected from musical practice.
Notes upon a chorale, in ‘Tirade’, cultural magazine in the Netherlands, 1997/2-3. Discussion of ‘Night Music’ (viola and piano) and its sources. With an introduction by the painter and writer on cultural subjects Toine Moerbeek.
The fear of the unknown, in ‘International Arts Manager’, international magazine for music agencies and promotors, July/August 1999. Discussing the problems of programming of new music.
Recreating the Classical Tradition, essay in ‘Reviving the Muse’, a tome with various essays upon the problems of new music, published by the Claridge Press UK, 2001. This text explores the possibilities of a restoration of the classical tradition as it still forms the bulk of the central performing culture in the West.
Young generation reaps the fruits of Composers Group Amsterdam, interview in ‘Buma Stemra Magazine’, magazine of the Dutch Performance Royalty Society, March 2003. Discussing the newly set-up composers group and its attempts to have the Dutch subsidy system reformed.
Composers Group Amsterdam: a step towards integration, analytical essay in the ‘Dutch Journal of Music Theory’, November 2003. Discussion of the philosophy of the group and the various ways its members treat historical examples.
The new music consensus in the Netherlands, in the ‘Dutch Journal of Music Theory’, answering critical reactions, November 2004.
The fate of ‘fund music’, in ‘Art and Science’, cultural magazine in the Netherlands, 2004/3. Analysis of the Dutch new music scene and its problems.
Cultural identity, in ‘Art and Science’, see above, 2005/3. Discussion of the relationship between new art, new music and the present cultural and political situation in Europe.
Will the Concertgebouw become one big brothel? in ‘Trouw’, one of the important Dutch national newspapers, March 2006. Extensive article analysing the controversy which erupted after the programmer of the Zaterdag Matinee, the most important platform of new music as presented by the radio orchestra in the Concertgebouw, was replaced by a different type of executive. This caused many protests from the new music scene where composers feared the loss of a staunch supporter.
Renewal in music: a wide-spread misunderstanding? in ‘Mens & Melodie’ (see above), 2007/6. Analysis of the concept of ‘renewal’ in new music since Schönberg, as influenced by science and introducing a category in musical value judgement which is not related to the notion of artistic quality.
Tagore: language as the music of interiority, in ‘Mens & Melodie’ (see above), 2008/5. Discussion of the song cycle ‘Rajanigandha’ on poems by Rabindranath Tagore, whose language conjures-up strongly musical images.
The Classical Revolution, an extended essay in book form, in which the philosophy of new classical music is explored and explained, and modernism and its progeny criticized. Critical reception has been very positive or very negative, depending upon opinions about modernism. Extensively discussed by the ‘Neue Musik Zeitung’ and forcefully attacked in the ‘Neue Zeitschrift für Musik’. Published by the Scarecrow Press, New York, in 2013; 2nd edition by Dover, New York, 2017.
Zu Konrad Boehmers Beitrag, in the German classical music magazine ‘Neue Zeitschrift für Musik’, 2014/1. Short repartee on an article in the same magazine 2013/6 by modernist composer Konrad Boehmer who attacked ‘The Classical Revolution’. Boehmer is wholeheartedly thanked for the extensive confirmation of all the problems of modernism as an ideology as defined in the book.
Zurück ins Blickfeld der gesellschaftlichen Aufmerksamkeit…, in the ‘Neue Zeitschrift für Musik’, 2014 / 2. Article about some of the problems involved in a revival of classicism, as demonstrated by JB’s Symphony nr III. Advocating a new music with roots in history, which can restore continuity with a general practice – within the central performance culture – as existed before postwar modernism. A new form of classicism can stimulate discussion which, in turn, could bring classical music back into the sphere of a wider public debate.
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