Sebastian Brouwer, tenor; Eduard de Boer, piano Text (scroll down if you like to read it) by Willem Wilmink / Franz K. Custos, after Peire Cardenal (1180 – 1278) Inspired by the novella 'Unter dem Oberschichtlichen Lack' from the collection 'Ungereimte Bilder' by Franz K. Custos Home recording by Marco Giaschi, Pamaro Productions (pamaroproductions.com) Illustration: detail from the painting 'Nieuwmarkt' by Jean Thomassen (b. 1949) An incident in the life of my wife prompted me to set Wilmink's poem 'De Gekkenstad' (The City of Fools to music. Because what is described in this poem is very much related to this incident, I took the liberty of having the well-known satirist Franz K. Custos adapt the poem ever so slightly. Wobke Wilmink, Willem's widow, has given her approval to this variation, albeit exclusively in combination with the music of this song. Text (scroll down for an English translation): Er was een stad, ik weet niet waar, daar viel een regenbui, zo zwaar, wie daarin liep, werd niet slechts nat, maar ook krankzinnig, in die stad. De mensen werden kierewiet, maar eentje trof dit noodlot niet. Zij werd gespaard voor ’t grote leed omdat ze thuis een dutje deed. ’t Was met de regenbui gedaan toen deze vrouw is opgestaan. Ze kwam op straat en zag meteen veel soorten gekken om zich heen: één piemelnaakt, één zonder hemd, één spoog ten hemel, vroom gestemd, een ander sloeg wat met zijn stok, één die zijn jas aan stukken trok. ’t Was een gegooi, geduw, getrek... Ik ben de koning, dacht een gek en keek misprijzend naar ’t gemeen. Eén sprong er over banken heen. Men vloekte en dreigde op die dag of huilde met een schaterlach, sprak woorden zonder samenhang of trok gezichten, vreemd en bang. Zij die gespaard was, stond perplex bij ’t zien van zo veel knettergeks. Tussen de dwazen die zij vond, keek ze wanhopig in het rond, zocht in de massa om zich heen verstandigen, maar vond er geen en dat verwonderde haar zeer, maar zij verbaasden zich nog meer, geloofden allen stellig dat zíj haar verstand verloren had: zo anders als zij zich gedroeg, dat was voor hen bewijs genoeg dat elk voor zich verstand bezat en zij alleen de gekte had. Ze wordt geslagen in gezicht en nek, verliest haar evenwicht, ze wordt gemept, gesleurd, getrapt en twijfelt of ze ooit ontsnapt. Ze duwen, scheuren haar haar zijn jas. Nadat ze nog gevallen was, rent ze met grote sprongen naar haar veilig huis, dan zit ze daar, beslijkt, geslagen en verwond, maar blij dat ze een uitweg vond. In dit verhaal werd u verteld hoe 't met de wereld is gesteld. Een mens die zijn moraal vergeet, op macht belust, is trots en wreed Maar iemand met een normale aard wordt door de anderen gek verklaard. En men doet haar veel pijn daarbij, omdat ze niet zo is als zij ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zVp0DDEosg

The Overture to the opera-in-progress 'A Wanderer in the Spirit Lands' is a musical depiction of the protagonist Franchezzo’s life on earth. Having been born with a refined taste, he is highly gifted as an artist, but, under the influence of someone whom he will later refer to as his ‘archenemy’, he becomes prone to superficial pleasure-seeking (Saltarello theme at for instance 0:40), promiscuity (sensuality motif at for instance 1:59 & 3:55) and bitter mockery (mockery motif at for instance 1:30 & 3:38), thus making a mess of his life. As an eyewink to the aspect of debauchery, there is (for instance at 1:02 & 3:04) a quote of the lines De' i mariti il geloso furore / degli amanti le smanie deride (I mock the jealous fury of husbands / and the wanderings of lovers) from the aria 'Questa o quella' (This woman or that one) from Verdi’s opera Rigoletto. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg7lNlbC9n8

00:00 I. Anreise (Journey) 01:32 II. Ankunft (Arrival) 04:06 III. Beerdigung (Funeral) 07:27 IV. Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night) This composition was originally written in the years 1984 – ’86. The Dutch Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst (Fund for the Creation of Art) had offered me a commission because I had obtained the Dutch Prijs voor Compositie in December 1984, with which I had concluded my study of composition with Hans Kox at the Utrecht Conservatory. Once finished, the piece was scheduled to be performed by one of the orchestras of the Dutch radio. However, when the composition was completed, this planned performance was cancelled. Subsequently, the composition wasn’t performed and the manuscript ended up in my manuscript cupboard. And there it would probably have remained, hadn’t it been for my fellow student Elisabeth Bosch, who at the time studied both singing and percussion, besides being an accomplished horn player. She was also a pioneer in music notation software and offered to input my score into the computer. As time went on, I completely forgot about this. But then, thirty-three years later, Elisabeth hugely surprised me with offering me the file of the score! And on top of this, she had inputted it in the music notation program Sibelius, the program that I happen to use myself! Having recovered from the pleasant shock this surprise gave me, I took the opportunity to revise the score and prepare a sound file of the music. This score is the result of both Elisabeth’s fabulous and painstaking work and my revision of the music. In Thomas Mann’s famous novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain), protagonist Hans Castorp ends up among tuberculosis patients hoping to be cured in the Berghof, a sanatorium near Davos, Switzerland. The world Castorp now lives in turns out to be highly surreal and reading Mann’s novel inspired me to write a sequence of orchestral pieces, suitable both as ballet and as concert hall music, in which I have tried, first and foremost, to capture the surreal atmosphere. So far, the sequence consists of a cycle of seven continuous movements. This composition basically consists of the first four of these movements, which can be performed as an in independent composition. My ultimate aim is to compose a full-scale ballet, based on Thomas Manns’ brilliant and highly inspiring novel. As a short Overture, the opening movement, Anreise, depicts Hans Castorp‘s travel to the sanatorium, higher and higher up the ‘magic mountain’. In the second movement, Ankunft, this is followed by his first impressions of the strange and eerie world of the Berghof. The depiction of a Beerdigung then leads to a movement called Walpurgisnacht, after the episode from the novel’s chapter five with t ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt3wFeDa82k

Anhang. 13. Beim Verneigen. Applausmusik 14. Die guten Komponisten. Schlager NonKo: Diejenigen, die am besten in der Lage sind zu beurteilen, Welche Komponisten wirklich gute Musik schreiben, Das sind die guten Komponisten, Die guten Komponisten. NonKo & KonKo : Diejenigen, die am besten in der Lage sind zu beurteilen, Welche Komponisten wirklich gute Musik schreiben, Das sind die guten Komponisten, Die guten Komponisten. Wozu, wozu, doch eure Kunst, Wenn nicht, wenn nicht für uns? [37] NonKo & KonKo & Publikum: Diejenigen, die am besten in der Lage sind zu beurteilen, Welche Komponisten wirklich gute Musik schreiben, Das sind die guten Komponisten, Die guten Ko(hoho)mponi(hihihihihi)sten! [37] Vgl. das Gedicht Herr Meier aus Christian Morgensterns Galgenlieder Personen: Bunte Gesellschaft von Komponisten (BuGeKo) -- Großer Chor und Kammerchor zusammen Konformistische Komponisten (KonKo) -- Kammerchor Nonkonformistische Komponisten (NonKo) -- Großer Chor Kulturminister -- Großer Chor: Alt 1 Konformistische Komponisten 1 - 5 -- Kammerchor: Tenor 1 & 2, Bariton 1 & 2, Bass Nonkonformistischer Komponist -- Großer Chor: Bariton Untersuchungsausschussmitglieder 1 - 4 -- Großer Chor: Sopran, Alt 2, Tenor, Bass Betreuungsausschussmitglieder -- Kammerchor: Alte und Bässe In the second half of the Komponisten-Schlager, Gruno's TNT Postharmonie Groningen joins in; conductor: Peter Kleine Schaars. When, in May 2005, the music society Bragi asked me whether I would like to compose something for chamber choir, large choir and orchestra, for their 2007 lustrum, not for a moment did I think of Franz K. Custos' Ungereimte Bilder (Absurd / Not rhyming Tableaus), although I had dealt with them intensively, a number of years earlier. However, during a summer walk in the mountains, all at once Custos came to my mind again. I suddenly realized that chamber choir, large choir and symphony orchestra would be the ideal medium for setting his Ungereimte Bilder to music! And at the same time I became aware that the tremendous power of expression of these verses cry out, as it were, for suiting music. Once home again, I proposed the Custos idea to the Bragi lustrum committee, and this met with approval. It was decided to apply for a commission for a 30 minute composition with the Dutch Council for the Creation of Music. When this Council eventually granted a commission for a 15 minute piece, it seemed at first that the plan could not be realized. But then, Mrs. Steegstra-Bosma, Bragi and the As You Like It Foundation declared themselves willing to supplement the fee to the extent of reaching the amount that in the 2002 fee schedule of the Society of the Dutch Composers League GeNeCo is mentioned as compensation for a 30 minute chamber music pi ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIACuFHbfRA