You cannot silence the urge to make music. Even in bitter times, some Dutch composers resisted. On Wednesday evening, November 9, we honor them with the special chamber music concert Vrijheid in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.

Solo flautist of the Residentie Orkest Eline van Esch was responsible for the program, an ode to Dutch composers from the time of World War II. According to her, they are "often harrowing stories about musicians who were either Jewish and were deported or ended up in the resistance and then lost their lives. Some even continued composing during their imprisonment, such as Marius Flothuis, who refused to obey the German occupiers and ended up in Sachsenhausen concentration camp via camp Vught. There he lost his scores but fortunately got them back later. All these stories are told in detail in the podcast series on NPO 4 made by the Leo Smit foundation: Music to Life - Stories of musicians during the war. It is absolutely recommended to listen to this podcast, perhaps before the concert. I was inspired by the Leo Smit foundation to give this concert in the Nieuwe Kerk also because our theme '75 years of freedom' in 2020 could not take place because of coronagraphs.

'These extraordinary composers simply deserve to be heard with regularity. Their music was forbidden during the war, and often after. The music of those who indeed did not live after the war has received too little attention and these composers do not deserve that. Moreover, it is a part of our musical history. It has become a wonderful program that I put together in consultation with Sven Arne Tepl.

'As narrator I have asked Dineke Mulock Houwer. She has served on the board of the Residentie Orkest in the past and has also devoted herself enormously to the monument Oranje Hotel in Scheveningen. The Oranje Hotel is a symbol of occupation and resistance, cultural heritage and icon of The Hague. During the war, it was the temporary residence/prison for resistance fighters, Jews and communists, among others. In 2009, the municipality had plans to close the "hotel. Dineke Mulock Houwer managed to prevent this. She initiated the restoration and did so for her parents and parents-in-law, among others. It is now an impressive museum about the horrific stay of 25,000 prisoners, 250 of whom were executed on the Waalsdorpervlakte. Thus she proved to be the right person for the element of narration of the evening of Nov. 9. Also special is that mezzo-soprano Maria Warenberg, the daughter of our Associate concertmaster, will be at this concert. She will sing three songs by Martin Spanjaard, a Dutch conductor who died in Auschwitz and who, among other things, still stood for the Residentie Orkest .'

'The question of what freedom is seems clear to me when seen through the eyes of these composers and all the people who suffered in this terrible inhuman war. Being free to express your opinion, freedom of religion, never being judged by your origin. Respect for fellow human beings and what they stand for. Being allowed to be safe in the community where you live.'