Chris Leenders, percussion 

Martin Ansink, percussion 

Murk Jiskoot, percussion 

Ramon Lormans, percussion 

Mara Oosterbaan, violin 

Orges Caku, violin 

Timur Yakubov, viola 

Miriam Kirby, cello 

Tobias Borsboom, piano 

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)
Suite 'La Création du monde', op. 81b (1923) (piano and string quartet) 

• Prélude  

• Fugue 

• Romance 

• Scherzo 

• Final 

 
John Cage (1912-1992)
Third construction (1941)
 

Break 

 
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat, op. 74 'harp' (1809) 

• Poco adagio - Allegro 

• Adagio ma non troppo 

• Presto 

• Allegretto con variazioni 

End of concert approximately 9:45 p.m. 

Swinging syncopations in succès de scandale 

In the 1920s, jazz made its appearance in recorded music. In addition to the American George Gershwin, French composers such as Ravel, Poulenc and Milhaud in particular were inspired by the rhythms and bluesy sounds of jazz. La Création du monde was commissioned by the Ballets Suédois, the Swedish successor to Diaghilev's Ballet Russes in Paris. Milhaud was something of a magpie, open to all sorts of exotic influences. For example, he would later incorporate samba into his compositions after visiting Brazil. 

La Création du Monde was written by Milhaud in 1923 after a visit to New York's Harlem neighborhood. The freedom and originality of jazz he heard there inspired him to capture the African creation story in music. The ballet piece of about 18 minutes is notable for its instrumentation with lots of percussion and saxophone. It also has obvious jazz and blues influences with rousing rhythms and swinging syncopations. The XYZ of music states, "The Overture (...) is a solo for saxophone, whose timbre here has an Old Testament dignity, accompanied by simple figures of the strings and mysterious dissonances of the timpani. This is followed by jazz fugue with a driving accompaniment by percussion. The double bass begins the bluesy fugue theme, followed by the trombone, clarinet and trumpet. After several quiet episodes in which mainly horns solo, the exciting jazz band returns. At times reminiscent of Gershwin's famous Rhapsody in Blue. 

In the end, La Création du monde was more of a succès de scandale than a real success. The costumes by Fernand Léger worked beautifully visually, but were hell to dance in - heavy and inflexible, and difficult to move freely in. The costumes and sets are preserved in museums and galleries, and the music has taken its place at Concert Hall. Milhaud's composition, however - like Stravinsky's ballet Le sacre du printemps - is still rarely performed as a ballet. Tonight, Milhaud's version for piano and string quartet will be heard. 

Unorthodox instruments from inventor  

John Cage was one of the most important avant-garde composers of the 20th century. The son of an inventor, he initially studied theology and wanted to become a writer. Only later did he discover composing and apprenticed with Arnold Schoenberg and others. To Cage, Schoenberg said, "You are not a composer but rather an inventor" with which he had a good point. 

Cage initially composed in Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique. Soon, however, he began to experiment with unorthodox instruments (tin cans) and instrument use such as a "prepared piano. Later, Cage experimented with 'chance' and 'indeterminacy' ('indeterminicy'). The most famous example of this is 4'33'' from 1952 where the performer(s) simply sit still and do nothing for this length of time; the ambient sounds shape the piece. 

Construction is the title of a series of Cage's pieces written solely for unorthodox percussion instruments. Composed in 1939-1942 while Cage was working at the Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle and touring the West Coast with a self-founded percussion ensemble. Third Construction was dedicated to his wife Xenia Kashevaroff-Cage, who also played in his ensemble. The piece was written four percussionists and consists of 24 sections of 24 bars. 

Meditative atmosphere in wartime 

Just as the Pastoral stands between the heroic Fifth and Seventh symphonies, so the 1809 "Harp Quartet" opus 74 stands between Beethoven's middle and late quartets. As a kind of resting point between grand works. The sometimes meditative atmosphere, however, is not consistent with the time of its creation. With great violence of arms, the city of Vienna, where Beethoven lived, was taken by Napoleon's army in 1809. According to Beethoven's friend Ferdinand Ries, the composer took refuge in his brother Carl's basement and covered his head with a pillow to protect his weak hearing. Vienna was occupied the next day and in the following weeks the citizens suffered great hardships. Beethoven was despondent. His sources of income had been cut off, his patrons had fled, and his favorite parks were now military camps. The composer fled to the spa town of Baden, 25 km outside Vienna, where he wrote this string quartet. According to his letters, Beethoven found it difficult to compose in wartime. 

The nickname Harp Quartet refers to the pizzicato passages in the Allegro in the first movement where the strings play plucked notes in pairs. These are reminiscent of plucking on a harp. Like many nicknames of Beethoven's works, this one was invented by the publisher. The second movement is a beautifully serene, slow movement. This is followed by the furious third movement (Presto) which has the same beat motif and key as the famous Fifth Symphony. The finale is traditional in structure, with an almost "innocent" theme, six variations and a coda. The moods range from powerful to gently lyrical. 

Ruben Heimans