From: Ex Corpore Hermetico, for Mixed Chorus a Capella 

 

I. Hymnus
II. Mors non est
IV. Ignorantia – Cognitio

So far completed movements from a planned cycle in five parts
Text from the Corpus Hermeticum, ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino
Movements II and IV commissioned by the Dutch Fund for Podium Arts, and dedicated to the Dutch Vocaal Ensemble MUSA and their conductor Peter Dijkstra 

Youtube:

Part II:

Part IV:

Dutch Vocaal Ensemble MUSA conducted by Peter Dijkstra

Kansai Rhapsody, Op. 75

Commissioned by the Dutch Fund for the Podium Arts
Based on an idea by Koji Kakutani
Composed for and dedicated to Harmonie St. Petrus en Paulus, Wolder – Maastricht and their conductor Matty Cilissen

Official premiere: March 10, 2019, by the Machikaneyama Wind Orchestra, in Osaka.

Odysee:

https://odysee.com/@EduarddeBoerComposer:e/eduard-de-boer-kansai-rhapsody-premiere:c

The idea to compose a piece based on folk music from the Kansai region in Japan was suggested to me in 2012 by Koji Kakutani, artistic director of the Kinki University Band from Osaka. After the terrible tsunami in 2011 in the Tohoku region, I wrote an Elegy for Tohoku, based on one folk melody each of the three prefectures of this area: the Fukushima, the Miyagi and the Iwate prefectures.[1] After this piece was performed by the Kinki University Band, Mr. Kakutani asked me if I could write a composition for the 50th anniversary of his band, in 2013, and he sent me sheet music and links to audio files of folk melodies from the four prefectures of the Kansai region: the Wakayama, the Nara, the Hyogo and the Osaka prefectures.

Unfortunately, it turned out that I didn’t have the opportunity to compose such a piece for the occasion of the anniversary, but I found the idea to write a Kansai Rhapsody based on folk melodies from each of the four prefectures quite appealing, so the idea never left me.

During the 2013 World Music Contest for wind bands in Kerkrade, Harmonie St. Petrus en Paulus from the neigbourhood Wolder in the Dutch town Maastricht performed the Elegy. Some time after this concert, I suggested the idea of a Kansai Rhapsody to the orchestra’s manager Jo Haesen and conductor Matty Cilissen. Both reacted favourably and eventually this resulted in a commission by the Dutch Fund for the Podium Arts.

The composition consists of a Prelude, followed by four consecutive movements. The sheet music that Mr. Kakutani sent me often differs considerably from the sound files he sent me links to, and I made free use of both types of sources, since I found both of them attractive:

Prelude. Adagio. Loosely based on the sheet music version of Kawachi Ondo, the song that dominates the Finale.
I. Kushimoto Bushi (串本節), a folksong from the Wakayama prefecture. Andante – Allegro. The Andante is based on the sound file version, the Allegro on the sheet music version that I received.
II. Yoshino Kobiki Uta (吉野木挽歌), a folksong from the Nara prefecture. Adagio – Allegro.
III. Dekansho Bushi (デカンショ節), a folksong from the Hyogo prefecture. Adagio.
IV. Finale: Kawachi Ondo (河内音頭), a folksong from the Osaka prefecture. Allegro vivace. Loosely based on sound file versions of the song. Here the themes from the previous movements reappear, often in counterpoint with the Kawachi Ondo melody or with each other.

In this composition, I didn’t try to use the Japanese melodic material in a dogmatically ‘authentic’ way. I rather felt attracted to the idea of letting the beautiful Kansai folk melodies inspire my imagination, while leaving intact the typical ‘Japanese’ atmosphere that they emit; much like my fellow countryman Vincent van Gogh did when he made his famous paintings inspired by Japanese art.

Illustration on cover: Bridge in the Rain, after Hiroshige, by Vincent van Gogh

Uit een Sprookje (From a Fairy Tale). Version for Cello and Piano, Op. 50c

I. Er was eens… (Once upon a time…)
II. Zorgen (Sorrow)
III. Gevecht (Fight)
IV. Happy End
V. En ze leefden nog … (And they lived happily…)

There is also a version of this piece for wind orchestra, Op. 50b (Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzkDClaRXE4&list=PLFphAvDeWM1RW7PWSX6fIU3A4A5njXCY2), and one for two orchestras, Op. 50a.
The composition has been incorporated in Sprookje (Fairy Tale) for accordion orchestra.
Movements III and IV have also been been arranged for fanfare orchestra and have also been incorporated in Divertissement for multiple pianos.

Schumann Resonances, Op. 82

Introduction 

The Schumann Resonances are a series of standing electromagnetic waves in the extremely low frequency (ELF) portion of the earth’s electromagnetic field spectrum that exist in the cavity between the earth’s surface and the ionosphere. The German physicist Winfried Otto Schumann predicted their existence in 1952, which was confirmed a few years later by measurements. In the 70’s it was discovered that the Schumann Resonances correlate with human brain waves.

The main Schumann Resonance frequency hovers around 7.83 Hz with slight variations. According to a number of people, starting a few years ago, this frequency has been on the rise. A number of researchers, however, maintain that it isn’t the frequency of the waves that is increasing, but rather their amplitude, their amount of charge, as a result of phenomena such as higher solar activity. One way or another, this increase appears to have quite an impact on human consciousness and well-being, and it may well be the underlying cause for the general feeling that time seems to be speeding up.

The composition Schumann Resonances is about this process of intensification. It depicts stages of ‘adaptive stress’ on the one hand and moments of bliss on the other, that people may experience, and it culminates in a musical depiction of a state of higher awareness that will eventually be reached, at least in my view.

The thematic material is derived from music by the Schumann that all classical music lovers know: Robert Schumann. One of the themes I took from his work is the theme from his song Aus alten Märchen winkt es:

Aus alten Märchen winkt es
Hervor mit weißer Hand,
Da singt es und da klingt es
Von einem Zauberland…

 From old fairy tales one is beckoned
With a white hand,
Where there is a singing and sounding
Of a magical land… 

I furthermore forged the main themes from the first and last movements from his late set of piano pieces Gesänge der Frühe (Songs of the early hour) into one theme. The Gesänge were written a few months before he succumbed to both the final stage of syphilis and the heavy doses of mercury he had been subjected to as a treatment for this. As I see it, this treatment, reinforced by his tendency to seek refuge in alcohol, severely damaged his aura, leaving his soul open to contact with entities, both benevolent and malevolent, from the astral plane. To me, his Gesänge der Frühe, and especially the outer movements, sound somehow distinctly ‘otherworldly’, and that’s why I chose material from this particular composition.

Unsurprisingly, the composition Schumann Resonances starts slowly. The music very gradually gets faster and faster, along the way depicting several feelings having to do with adaptation difficulties prior to reaching a higher state of awareness; such as exhaustion, dizziness, depression and not being grounded. These episodes are alternated with moments of inspiration and upliftment. Eventually, a new and blissful state is entered, where the ultra fast tempo that has been reached coincides with more or less the slow tempo of the beginning.

Youtube (electronic recording):