Petit Air II/ Friedrich's Tagebuch

Two innovating yet tragic figures, who felt unable to express their grand and progressive ideas, died at the end of the 19th century.  The poet Stéphane Mallarmé wrote Petit Air II, in which the last scream of a dying bird reminds the poet of his own desperate attempts to word his feelings.  He died - appropriately enough - of a cramp of the glottis in 1898.  The German emperor Friedrich III was given only 99 days to apply his modern, democratic ideas and to warn Europe of a nearing great war - but his throat cancer was already in a highly developed stage and he could no longer speak.  He had to breathe through a narrow, whistling pipe in his throat (which once was rammed in too forcefully by the young doctor Bergmann) and died in June 1888.  The results for Europe were disastrous.  Petit Air II and some of the unfortunate emperor’s notes and diary fragments form the vocal material of this compostiion about the frustration of not being able to communicate.  The work consists of several ways in which the instrumentalists do NOT play together or attempt to communicate.  Meanwhile, the singer attempts to communicate with the audience.

“Extreme emotions”, “well-balanced”, “beautiful”, “compelling”, “whacky”, “very musical”, “as much theatrical as musical”, “interesting, less conventional timbral palette”, “uncompromising radicalism”: these are all quotes from reviews that suggest how Martijn Voorvelt’s music is perceived.

Voorvelt (Amsterdam, 1967) has a Ph.D. in musicology; composing was only a hobby until his Raging, building unexpectedly won the EOE Optiebeurs prize 1994 for young European composers. He happily decided to focus on composition. Since then his works have been performed in many countries around the world.

Voorvelt regards a musical performance as a theatrical act, both dramatic and absurd. Visual elements and surprising events are often found in his music. A quest for uninhibited expression has led him to experiment with independent parts and overlapping compositions. But there are seductive melodies and harmonies as well. Above all, the music is about the moment and the intensity of the performance.

Voorvelt is also a singer-songwriter and a keen birdwatcher.

For more information about Martijn Voorvelt, click here.