Louis Andriessen - De Materie - Part I (excerpt)

James Doing, tenor
Materie Orkest
Netherlands Chamber Choir
Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor
Robert Wilson, staging director
Netherlands Opera

This is an excerpt from the world premiere in 1989 of Louis Andriessen's masterwork De Materie. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest works of the 20th century, It is also one of the most original, and it is certainly quite an approachable work. This is from the highest point of Part 1, where the tenor comes in and sings a text from the Idea Physicæ of David van Goorle (Gorlaeus, as he was better known). You can read more about this masterwork here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Materie
http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/catalogue/cat_detail.asp?musicid=6803
http://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moredetails.asp?musicid=6803

I will probably post another excerpt from this work soon. If you like the work, purchase the CD. It has a much better performance than the one here.

NOTE: The subtitles are in modern Dutch, but the text is sung in Middle Dutch. I apologize that there are no translations for the English here, but I can provide them if there is interest.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• louis
• andriessen
• de
• materie
• david
• van
• goorle
• gorlaeus
• reinbert
• leeuw
• robert
• wilson
• opera

[JoricioCagel]

strange, but great! reminds me a bit of Glass' Einstein on the Beach (also with Robert Wilson!)

and the rhythms beginning at 5:10 are a bit like the ones used in the soundtrack for matrix revolutions;-) thanks for uploading!

[jre58591]

Those rhythms are a reference to the part before the tenor comes in. The part with the tenor is actually much more lyrical, in contrast to the parts before, which are very rhythmic and motoric to an almost frightening level.

[alheli1984]

Wow, this is amazing. I am buying this stuff right now. How come I never came across with it?

[jre58591]

It's terribly unknown in the US. As far as I know, it has had only 1 complete performance. The second and third parts have been performed a bit more on their own, though. I attended a performance of De Stijl earlier this year, actually.

[edrw500]

Thank you soooooo much for putting this up.

But yes, when is the fourth part coming? :)

[jre58591]

Soon. It can take a while to prepare these files. Also, I have to choose from where I want to take the excerpts from, and that could take a while too.

[Hjadlowker]

Oh! What a wonderful work! I had no idea! I really regret there's no translation: The text is obviously fundamental for it's complete enjoyment, and I speak no Dutch whatsoever... shame on me. Anyways, the links provided were very helpful. Thank you so much. And I'm also a great admirer of Mr. Wilson's.

[Composerland]

The writing & performance is excellent, but "approachable" I doubt. A person needs to approach this music herself/himself. This is intense. Bright. Loud. Intellectually demanding. I'm amazed at how in tune everyone largely remains. Not easy - for anyone involved.

[truejanine]

I was one of the movers ( Janine) in this opera and i have learned a lot!! It was a great experience!

[rspringler]

Thanks so much for uploading this! What a fantastic piece of music!

[alheli1984]

That's incredible. I am a huge fan of Andriessen(I've performed a few of his works including "Paintings" and "Percosse") but I have never had the opportunity to hear his works performed live in the US. I've heard more of his works live in Mexico!