Music of the Low Countries

Belgium and The Netherlands have, for centuries, been centres of music making and composition and it is composers from the 20th and 21st centuries in particular that we present in this concert. Only one piece in the programme has ever been performed in New Zealand.

Miserere for choir, tubular bells, organ and strings (2006/2007) was written by Dutch composer Wietse Stuurman (b. 1976). Stuurman studied music at Amsterdam University with a special interest in ancient music, yet his compositions are also influenced by contemporary composers such as Arvo Pärt, and Henryk Gorecki. This work is a haunting setting of the psalm text.

Dutch composer Evert van Merode (b. 1980) studied in Amsterdam. His work Stabat Mater dolorosa (2013) was originally written in 2011 for choir and piano. The Bach Choir will present a version reworked for choir, violin, cello, and harp. In this piece one can hear Gregorian chant and influences by such composers as Nadia Boulanger. This is an evocative work depicting Mary standing at the foot of the Cross.

Flor Peeters (1903–1985) is quite possibly the foremost 20th century Belgian composer of religious music. At the age of twenty he was appointed Organist at St. Rombout’s Cathedral in Mechelen, a post he held for almost the rest of his life. He gave over 1200 organ recitals all over the world, and wrote many publications, including A Practical Method for the Accompaniment of Gregorian Chant (1942). A prolific composer of liturgical and organ music in particular, he also wrote many songs, piano and chamber music, and concerti for organ and other instruments. His Missa Festiva was composed in 1947 and uses Gregorian chant as a unifying device. The work is written for a five part choir and organ and shows Peeters’s fine sense of harmony, with influences by Jongen and Franck.

Huub de Lange was born in the Dutch city of Groningen in 1955 and studied at the University of Utrecht. He wrote in 2004 his seven movement Requiem in memory of his nephew. It is scored for choir and string quartet. This setting contains the familiar movements of Introitus, Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, and In Paradisum, but here de Lange differs from other settings of the Requiem and concludes with an abbreviated Te Deum (We believe in one God) movement. This setting is a moving tribute to his nephew and shows the depth of emotion felt by the composer.

The concert begins at 2pm, Sunday 11 September, at St Teresa’s Church, 299 Karori Rd, Wellington.

Admission $30 / $20 unwaged. Free entry for children. Tickets are available from eventfinda.co.nz, Marsden Books, and from 1:30pm on the door.