All programmes

Music by Glass, Fiumara, Riley, Vrolijk and Lang

Ever since the end of the nineteenth century the Holland-America Line took fortune seekers across the ocean from Amsterdam to New York. With them travelled music and it pollinated composers on both shores. Join the Amstel Quartet on a boat trip and sail past the ecstatic music of Terry Riley and Philip Glass, via the magically beautiful sounds of Renske Vrolijk and the powerful tones of David Lang on to Anthony Fiumara’s serene quartet. Philip Glass, who will be turning 80 in 2017, has a particularly prominent place in this program, with his dazzling classic “Music in Similar Motion” and the hauntingly beautiful soundtrack of Mishima. A mer-à-boire for the minimal-fan

prog

Music by Van Onna, Lago, Schumacher, Matitia and others

In the footsteps of Phileas Fogg, the adventurer of Around the World in Eighty Days, Amstel Quartet plays compositions from all corners of the globe.

Twenty inspiring years of touring and travelling with Amstel Quartet clocked in 80 minutes with Fogg-like punctuality

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) – Fantasia Chromatica (arr. Apswoude)
Guillermo Lago (1960) - Ciudades (2011)*
Montevideo, Córdoba, Addis Abbeba, Sarajevo
Rabih Abou-Khalil (1957) - Arabian Waltz (1998/2003) (arr. Apswoude)

-intermission-

Kadri Gopalnath (1949) - Hidden Secrets (arr. Jak)
Jorrit Dijkstra (1966) - Shruut (2008)*
Peter van Onna (1966) - Geographies: Shanghai by Night (2011)*
Tan Dun – Three Sketches in Hunan Accent (arr. Apswoude)
Floating Clouds, Ancient Burial, Sunrain
*) written for the Amstel Quartet

(programme subject to change and in agreement)

Music by Mozart, Ravel, van Onna, Rivier, Abou-Khalil, Bach, Gopalnath, Torke, Dun.

Dim Sum: “small individual portions of food, usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate”.

In the autumn of 2010 the Amstel Quartet toured China with this programme, presenting an extremely varied and eclectic mix, which was highly successful among Chinese audiences. Peter van Onna’s Shanghai by Night has recently been added to the Amstel Quartet’s repertoire and - along with Tan Dun’s music - adds the unmistakable Chinese touch.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) – Adagio and Fugue KV 546 (1788) (arr. Jak)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) – Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899) (arr. Mellema)
Peter van Onna (1966) – Geographies: Shanghai by Night (2011)*
Jean Rivier (1896-1987) – Grave et Presto (1938)
Rabih Abou-Khalil (1957) – Arabian Waltz (1998/2003) (arr. Apswoude)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 659 (arr. Apswoude)
Kadri Gopalnath (1949) – Hidden Secrets (arr. Jak)
Michael Torke (1961) – June/May (2010)* (written for the Amstel Quartet and New Century Saxophone Quartet)
Tan Dun (1957) – Three Sketches in Hunan Accent (1979/2008) (arr. Apswoude)
Floating Clouds, Ancient Burial, Sun Rain
*written for the Amstel Quartet

circa 80 minutes in total (without intermission, including introductions and applause)

for a shorter version, remove either Rivier or Gopalnath from the programme.For a longer version, if required, add Barber (10’) to the second part of the programme.

(programme subject to change and in agreement)

Music by Pärt, Vasks, Germanavicius, Kõrvits, Dubra, Kacinskas

No need for hallucinogenics here, but it is a ‘trip’ nonetheless. Hallucinating music! - Pizzicato Magazine on Baltica

Of course everyone knows the music of Arvo Pärt and Peteris Vasks. But did you know that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are brimming with musical talent? Experience the most harmonious music ever at the hands of the Amstel Quartet. This foursome may rightly proclaim themselves specialists in Baltic music. Since the release of their 2005 CD Baltica, they have deepened and broadened their knowledge and experience of this music. And their repertoire has continued to grow. Join us on an exploration of these mysterious sounds.

Estonia: Arvo Pärt & Tõnu Kõrvits
Latvia: Pēteris Vasks & Rihards Dubra
Lithuania: Jeronimus Kacinskas & Vytautas Germanavicius

Music by Wim Henderickx

Two pieces by the Belgian composer Wim Henderickx. Wellbeing for your karma and chakra's.

The Amstel Quartet and Jorrit Tamminga (live electronics) will perform the impressive The Seven Chakras.

Each of the parts finds its inspiration outside of music. Suggestive elements aim to put the listener into a meditative, contemplative mood.

1 Muladhara (Earth)
2 Svadhisthana (Water)
3 Manipura (Fire)
4 Anahata (Air)
5 Vishuddha (Ether)
6 Ajna (ThirdEye)
7 Sahasrara (Lotus)

Shri Yantra for 8 channel soundtracks

Together with Jorrit Tamminga, Wim Henderickx wrote an electronic composition entitled Shri Yantra. Wim Henderickx based the musical structure of this work on the Buddhist Shri Yantra, an abstract geometrical figure, which forms the guide for mediation and development of the conscious mind.

The combination of these pieces offer the audience a complete experience. Integrating lighting effects adds ambiance to the performance. This can also be presented in the way of musical theatre.

(programme subject to change and in agreement)

Music by Wilson, Ranjan Biswas, van Geel, Gopalnath, Maessen, von Tilzer, Fondse.

with Niti Ranjan Biswas, tabla

The two worlds of the virtuoso tabla player Niti Ranjan Biswas and the Amstel Quartet first came together in the production of LAAD LOS by theatre company the Dogtroep. The combination of the two very different cultures had an addictive effect: the five musicians decided to prolong the collaboration.

Contemporary composers took their inspiration from the classical Indian music and wrote compositions for the programme. Even though Western and Indian music have been combined successfully in the past, the combination of a saxophone quartet and tablas is completely new. As the Indian and Western cultures show great contradictions, the starting point will always be the essence of the music itself. Creativity is what the Amstel Raga programme is all about. Not world music, not classical music; Amstel Raga!

Ian Wilson - Heaven lay close
Niti Ranjan Biswas - Improvisation on a 16th century piece
Oene van Geel - Karmatikka

-intermission-

Kadri Gopalnath - Hidden Secrets (arr. Jak)
Sylvia Maessen - Todi, where did you go?
Marion von Tilzer - Wheel of Fortune
Martin Fondse -Tribute to Indian Cinema
(programme subject to change and by agreement)

Music by Lago, Schumacher, Lauba, van Onna, Khalil, Matitia

A journey around the world. Not in eighty days, but on one night. Following in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg, the Amstel Quartet presents with Globetrotters a vast repertoire of compositions from all corners of the earth. It sees the Arabic World through the eyes of Rabih Abou Khalil, it visits the nocturnal Shanghai of Peter van Onna and experiences the American Broadway Suite of Jean Matitia. After Amstel-Coconut Blue – specifically written for the quartet by Pascal Schumacher – the quartet will return to Great-Britain with the highly ornamented Irish folk music of Ian Wilson. Precisely on time, listeners are able to leave the concert hall: the journey around the world is completed.

Guillermo Lago (1960) - Ciudades (2011-)
Pascal Schumacher (1979) - Amstel-Coconut-Blue (2015)
Christian Lauba (1952) - Massai (2009)
Peter van Onna (1966) - Shanghai by Night (2011)
-intermission-
Christian Lauba (1952) - Mambo (2018)
Ian Wilson (1941) - The Charms Invited (2011)
Jean Matitia (1952) - Broadway Suite (2016)
Rabih Abou-Khalil (1957) - Arabian Waltz (1996)

*written for the Amstel Quartet
**written for Richard Ducros and Olivier Sliepen
***arranged for the Amstel Quartet

A cross-pollination of Western and Arabic sounds

Music by Um Kalthoum, Fairuz, Sayid Darwish, Mohammed Abdo, Rahbani Brothers and many others

Anass Habib singing, Amstel Quartet saxophones

Together with Moroccan singer Anass Habib, Amstel Quartet delves into the world of Arabic music, full of emotion and poetry. From Fairuz, ‘the cedar of Lebanon’, to the stirring music of Mohammed Abdu, and from the Egyptian father figure Sayid Darwish to the best-known works of the ‘Lady of Cairo’, Um Kalthoum.

Stories of the Soul is a wonderful exploration of the Arabic soul.

Music by Wagner, Weber, van Beethoven, Liszt, Chabrier, Debussy. 

An Amstel Quartet tribute to Richard Wagner

2013 will see the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth. The Amstel Quartet honours Richard Wagner by putting together a special chamber music concert with many new adaptations of pieces which either influenced Wagner greatly or are a result of his revolutionary composition style. There are also a few parodies on work by Wagner.

When Adolphe Sax produced a performance of Tannhauser in Paris in 1861, he used saxhorns instead of hunting horns. Wagner was furious when he found out, particularly because he had not noticed. Despite Adolphe Sax’ troubled relationship with Wagner, their encounter was important for the development of both men. Already back in 1853 Wagner had visited Adolphe Sax’ workshop in Paris. Wagner was extremely taken with Sax' saxhorns. Eventually this instrument would inspire Wagner to invent the famous Wagner tuba.

Anton Webern – Langsamer Satz (arr. Mellema)
Ludwig van Beethoven – Adagio molto e cantabile, from Symphony no. 9 (arr. Van Klaveren)
Richard Wagner - The Ring, a Suite from the complete Ring des Nibelungen (arr. Kramers)
Frans Liszt – Ave Maria (arr. Apswoude)
Emmanuel Chabrier - Fantaisie en Forme de Quadrille sur les Thèmes favoris de Tristan und Isolde de Wagner (arr. Van Klaveren)
Claude Debussy - Colliwog's Cakewalk (arr. Van Der Linden)
(programme subject to change and by agreement)

Music of  Beethoven, Wagner, Barber, Franck, Tsjaikovsky, Brahms, Glass

As a newcomer the saxophone may well be the most versatile instrument in the world. It feels right at home in any environment; whispering in chamber music or ripping the notes on the big stage.  What would have happened if the great classical composers had had saxophones at their disposal, the Amstel Quartet wondered. The answer is found in Symphonic Saxophone: Beethoven, Wagner Franck and Tchaikovsky meet the Amstel Quartet. In classical arrangements made specifically for this concert the quartet demonstrates how four saxophones can sound like a virtuoso and sonorous symphony orchestra without being surpassed by the original line-up. The Americans Barber and Glass are the perfect torchbearers of this symphonic tradition.

Music by Sweelinck, Buxtehude, Bach.

Organ music by old masters played on the saxophone, sounds as if it was written specifically for the saxophone.

In the Fantasias by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, the Netherlands’ greatest composer of all time, you can clearly follow the complex polyphonic lines.

Even the undisputedly greatest composer ever, Johann Sebastian Bach, had an example whom he looked up to: Dietrich Buxtehude. The Amstel Quartet plays music by these composers with the utmost respect and an eye for the authentic way of performing.

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (arr. Apswoude)
Chromatic Fantasy
Ricercare
Hexachord Fantasy

Dietrich Buxtehude
Partita “Auf meinen Lieben Gott”, BuxWV 179 (arr. Apswoude)
Passacaglia in d, BuxWV 161 (arr. Mellema)

J.S. Bach
Prelude and Fuga in c, BWV 537
Toccata, Adagio and Fuga , BWV 564
Partita BWV 768 (arr. Apswoude)
(programme subject to change and by agreement)

Music by Sweelinck, Andriessen, Ketting, Breuker.
Hendrik Walther, visuals.

The Dutch Masters are renowned all around the world. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals gave the Dutch seventh century its golden edge, whilst Mondriaan and Van Gogh would bring the art of painting to a whole new level.

Yet, one may also laud the Netherlands for its twentieth century composers: Louis Andriessen, Otto Ketting and Willem Breuker reached the state of world fame as well and left an indisputable mark on the Dutch music scene.

The Amstel Quartet tries to unite the old and new masters by connecting the modern works with the compositions of seventeenth century organist Jan Pietszoon Sweelinck. The Dutch Golden Age comes to life through the music of today.

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) - Ricercare
Otto Ketting (1935-2012) - Close Harmony (2010)

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) - Voicy du gai Printemps                   
Willem Breuker (1944-2010) - Reisefieber
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck - Miserere

Louis Andriessen (1939) - Facing Death (1990)
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) - Mein junges Leben hat ein End

Optional:
multimedia: video projection of Dutch Masters like Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals by the visual artist Hendrik Walther.

Music by Buxtehude, Vasks, Tallis, Pärt, Obrecht, Jacob TV, Vrolijk

Tears of both joy and melancholy, find their voice in music throughout the ages.

Solace and beauty have been intertwined since time immemorial. The still sounds of the old composers such as Jacob Obrecht, Thomas Tallis and Dietrich Buxtehude find a contemporary continuation in the comforting music by Peteris Vasks and Arvo Pärt. At the same time Dutch composers Renske Vrolijk and Jacob TV let the musical tears of their poetic work wistfully pour out of the quartet’s saxophone bells.

Music by Glazunov, Liszt, Ravel, Barber, Franck.

Nestle yourself in the soft velvet armchairs provided for you by the Amstel Quartet with their sultry saxophones.

The Russian romanticism of Alexander Glazunov, the world famous Pavane by Ravel, Samuel Barber’s tear jerking Adagio and more music to dream away with.

Alexander Glazunov – Saxophone quartet in Bes, opus 109
Franz Liszt – Avé Maria (arr. Apswoude)
Maurice Ravel – Pavane pour une infante défunte (arr. Mellema)
Samuel Barber – Adagio, opus 11 (arr. Van der Linden)
Cesar Franck – Prelude, Fugue et Variation opus 18 (arr. Jak)
In agreement the space can be adjusted: Comfortable couches, cushions, standard lamps, etc.

(programme subject to change and by agreement)

Music by Florio, Barber, Creston, Torke, Bernstein, Glass, JacobTV and Riley

The music of the US

The best known saxophone music from the United States: Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Maceo Parker, to name but a few. The saxophone was invented mid nineteenth century, when jazz had not even made its appearance yet and it is to these celebrities that the saxophone owes its fame. The Amstel Quartet introduces you to other American saxophone music:

In Sax, Stars and Stripes you will hear the very first classical American saxophone quartet by Florio from 1901 and the 20th century continuation of that, such as an adaptation of the moving Adagio by Barber, original music by Creston and the Dutchman JacobTV (aka Jacob Ter Veldhuis) - who composed his own vision of the American music and culture - and the new saxophone quartet by Michael Torke, which he wrote especially for the Amstel Quartet. Of course there is Riley and Glass’ minimal music as well. And Coltrane and Parker’s jazz will, naturally, always ring through in the American classical saxophone music.

In short, an overview of American music in the 20th century, with the saxophone quartet as your guide.

Caryl Florio - Quartette (Allegro de Concert)
Samuel Barber – Adagio (arr. Van der Linden)
Paul Creston - Suite for Saxophone Quartet
Michael Torke - May, June and July (written for the Amstel and New Century Quartets)
Leonard Bernstein - Movements from The West Side Story (arr. New Century Quartet)
Philip Glass - Saxophone Quartet of Mishima (arr. Amstel Quartet)
JacobTV - Jesus is Coming (with tape)
Terry Riley - Good Medicine (arrangement Apswoude)
(programme subject to change and by agreement)

Music by Ravel, Sweelinck, Mozart, Lago, Bach, Brahms, Nyman, Barber, Dun and Rivier.

The Amstel Quartet’s successful CD Amstel Tracks is to be followed by Amstel Tracks II in 2012. The concept for both CD’s is straightforward: the repertoire about which the audience always asks, whether we have already recorded it. All the pieces in this programme have been written or arranged for or by the Amstel Quartet.

Maurice Ravel - Pavane (arr. Mellema)
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck – Fantasia Chromatica (arr. Apswoude)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Adagio and Fugue (arr. Jak)
Guillermo Lago - Ciudades
Johann Sebastian Bach - Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (arr. Apswoude)
Johannes Brahms - Andante from third Symphony (arr. Jak)
Michael Nyman - Quartet no. 2 (arrangement Roach)
Samuel Barber – Adagio (arrangement van der Linden)
Tan Dun - Three Sketches in Hunan Accent (arr. Apswoude)
Jean Rivier - Grave et Presto
(programme subject to change and by agreement)

Music by Glazounov, Rivier, Ravel, Bozza and Simons.

Meet the roots of saxophone

Paris has always been an important city for the saxophone and its development. Even though the Belgian Adolphe Sax invented the instrument in the Ardennes (Dinant), he soon moved to Paris, where there was a lively music scene, the ideal podium for the greatest musical invention of the past centuries.

Paris was also the home of pioneer Marcel Mule, a famous saxophone soloist and a member of the saxophone quartet Le Quatuor de Saxophones de la Garde Républicaine. From the late twenties onwards he transformed the relatively young instrument from a novelty into a mature instrument with original repertoire and a host of dedicated players.

This programme comprises work by composers who decided to write for saxophone, influenced by the inspiring Parisian ambiance, which has been of such great importance to the saxophone.

Alexander Glazounov – Saxophone quartet in Bes, opus 109
Jean Rivier – Grave et Presto
Maurice Ravel – Suite
Eugene Bozza – Andante et Scherzo
Marijn Simons – L'Espoir

Music by Cabinilles, Beethoven, Scott, Perotinus, Mozart e.a.

Chinese Hot pot – or Chinese fondue – always sets a true social gathering into motion. Many bowls of meat, fish and vegetables are assembled around a big, iron wok, in which the small bites are cooked and prepared. Inspired by these compelling flavours on their tour in China, the Amstel Quartet now presents its own musical ‘hot pot’: a diverse mix of distinct tastes, styles and composers. In between the medieval melodies of Perotinus and the ‘Looney Tunes’ of Raymond Scott, Spanish baroque music, romantic evergreen and true classics are brought to the stage. There is something in the hot pot for everybody.

Juan Cabanilles  (1644-1712) - Batalla Imperial
Raymond Scott (1908-1994) - Twilight in Turkey, Power House (arr. Bas Apswoude)
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) - Carnaval des Animaux (selectie)
Jürg Frey (1953) - Extended Circular Music #7
Ludwig van Beethoven  (1770-1827) - Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, WoO87 (arr. Remco Jak)

-intermission-

Steve Reich (1936) - My Name Is    (1967)
Perotinus  (ca. 1160-1230) - Viderunt Omnes
Christian Lauba (1951) - Mambo (2018)
Chinese folk song - Jasmine Flower (arr. Remco Jak)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Fuga in g-klein KV 401 (arr. Remco Jak)

Optional:
Requests can be discussed.

Music by Kraftwerk, Martland, Biegai, Torke, Kypski

Amstel Quartet, sax en EWI (electronic wind instruments)
Kypski, electronics
Hendrik Walther, visuals

Man Machine, Pseudo human being, Man Machine, Super human being - KRAFTWERK

Exactly 40 years ago Kraftwerk released Der Mensch-Maschine. The legendary album announced the birth of a new genre of electronic music, the consequences of which are still felt today. Not only are countless artists still inspired by the synth pop the German foursome produced - Kraftwerk, in turn, listened closely to classical electronic pioneers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Henry. In this tribute the Amstel Quartet combines Kraftwerk tracks from The Man-Machine with new compositions by German composer Christina Biegai. Turntablist Kypski improvises on the Krautrock-sounds and Hendrik Walther designed video art for this super human performance. We are the robots.

Steve Martland (1959 - 2013) - Short Story (2009)
Kypski – Spoek (sax arr.: R. Jak)
Kraftwerk - Die Roboter (arr. Christian Biegai)
David Bowie (1947-2016) – Subterraneans (tape: Christian Biegai, sax arr: Christian Biegai)
Christian Biegai (1974) - Mensch Maschine System (2018)
Kraftwerk - Das Model (arr. Christian Biegai)
Michael Torke (1961) - May* (2011)
Kraftwerk - Neonlicht (arr. Christian Biegai)
Kypski - Headcrack

(*composed for the Amstel Quartet and the
New Century Saxophone Quartet)

Music by Glass, Fiumara, Kypski. With video projections by Hendrik Walther.

Philip Glass is one of the most influential and major composers of our time. During this concert the Amstel Quartet will play Glass’ best work, combined with the work of composer and Glass enthusiast Anthony Fiumara. Electronic composer Kypski brings the various pieces together, creating an evening-long remix. A semi-staged concert in the style of Philip Glass’ former loft-happenings, in which genres and art mediums seamlessly flowed into one another. The Amstel Quartet will play their choice from his rich oeuvre, from young minimalism through to the more recent cinematic pieces. Hendrik Walther created the minimalist video images in a Glassian vein.

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Music by Cage, Manneke, Sweelinck, Marturet, Wilson.

As the audience enters, saxophone sounds fill the hall and the members of the Amstel Quartet are spread out around the space. The seats are set up in a non-traditional way, the audience needs to let go a traditional idea of attending a concert. Who is playing? Where are the musicians? Which seat should I choose? Ghosts is not just about music. Music, space, time and reorientation are all ingredients which make Ghosts into an experience.

All composers played in Ghosts, in one way or another, tried to break with a tradition in classical music. Pioneer John Cage did this by integrating chance into his compositions, Eduardo Marturet combines a traditional sound with modern composing techniques, Ian Wilson composed from a theatrical point of view and Sweelinck was a pioneer in his own time.

The Amstel Quartet composed a programme around Ghosts, by the Amstel Quartet’s house composer, Ian Wilson, with the same themes. Moreover, the works in this program are all, in many ways, innovative and revolutionary.

John Cage (1912) - Four5 (1991)
Daan Manneke (1939) - Soyons plus vite (1991)
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562) – Fantasia Chromatica (arr. Apswoude)
-Intermission-

Eduardo Marturet (1953) - Canto Llano (1976)
Ian Wilson (1964) - Ghosts (for the Amstel Quartet) (2006)
(programme subject to change and in agreement)

Music by Giovanni Gabrieli, Cesar Franck, Max Reger, Gerard Beljon, Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck, Joep Franssens, Tõnu Kõrvits, Andries van Rossem.

with Pieter van Dijk, organ

The four pipes of the saxophone quartet serve as an extra register to the organ, or the organ is the colourful accompaniment to the quartet; each work offering a new perspective and a new listening experience. The tones of the wind instruments, which both the organ and the saxophone are, turn out to be a perfect match for a varied programme.

The internationally renowned organist Pieter van Dijk and the Amstel Quartet became friends through their love of Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck’s music.

By commissioning compositions together they have built up a varied repertoire for this unusual combination, in which the saxophones merge into the sound of the organ one moment and then do battle with the sheer bombastic force of the organ the next moment.

Forcing wind through the pipes, that is what it is all about.

Music by Sweelinck, Segall, Ketting, Keuris, Dijkstra, Van Onna.

Music from the Low Countries

Is there such a thing as a typical Dutch music style? If there is, it could be described, according to certain musicologists, as radically to the point, direct, with a no-nonsense quality. Characteristics that can also be found in the mentality of its people, which again is deeply rooted in the country’s history and culture.

The Amstel Quartet is definitely a prime ambassador of Dutch music. In this entirely Dutch program you will hear hauntingly beautiful compositions by the Old Master Sweelinck, along with dramatic music by Tristan Keuris and brand new commissions dedicated to the quartet.

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) – Ricercare (arr. Apswoude)
Allan Segall (1959) - Psalm 23 (2006)*
Otto Ketting (1935) - Close Harmony (2010)*
-intermission-

Tristan Keuris (1946-1996) - Kwartet (1971)
Jorrit Dijkstra (1966) – Bounce (2010)*
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) – Fantasia Chromatica (arr. Apswoude)
Peter van Onna – Geographies: Shanghai by Night (2011)*
(*written for the Amstel Quartet)

Wonder at the freshest notes written for the Amstel Quartet’s four saxophonists, complemented with milestones from the rich, contemporary music history.

For anyone who is interested in modern day composers: what do the new compositions by, for instance, Peter van Onna, Jorrit Dijkstra, Sander Germanus, Jane O'Leary or Albert van Veenendaal sound like?

And, by popular request, for the connaisseur, we have a selection of astutely written classics by Dutch masters:

Otto Ketting – Close Harmony (2010)*
Tristan Keuris – Music for Saxophones (1986)
Louis Andriessen – Facing Death (1990)
(*written for the Amstel Quartet)

Music by Torke, Aphex Twin, Fransens, Kraftwerk, Nyman, Eno, Bowie

In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes - ANDY WARHOL

Highbrow, lowbrow, art with a capital or a lowercase A; as in the visual arts the differences between the genres are increasingly fading in music too. Aphex Twin’s intelligent dance music and Kraftwerk’s proto-elektro achieved classical status, for example, while composers such as Joep Franssens and Michael Torke appear to be taking their work onto the dance floor. And icons Brian Eno and David Bowie always did move about in that no-man’s land between the lower and the elevated art. The saxophone is the perfect guide between these two worlds – in the Pop Art programme the Amstel Quartet brings Andy Warhol’s pop dream just that little bit closer: everyone will get their fifteen minutes of fame!

Music by Franssens, Frey & Pelecis.

Amstel Quartet saxophones, Pascal Meyer piano.

Still music. The genre contends with a centuries-old paradox in which many a composer has tried to find the most intimate beauty.

With the weightless and crystal clear music of Jürg Frey, Georgs Pelecis and Joep Franssens, the Amstel Quartet attempts to unite these two elements. They enter the sparse and slow-moving world of still music, leaving the listener with aninfinite sense of time and space.

Silence captured in music

Music by Arvo Pärt, Jürg Frey & Georgs Pelecis

Amstel Quartet saxophones, Laura Sandee piano

Tranquil music.

A genre that embodies an ancient paradox in which many a composer has tried to find the most intimate purity, and which is often credited by listeners with possessing soothing and therapeutic qualities.

Behind its apparent simplicity there is often a massive, lazily shifting landscape which can leave the listener with an infinite sense of space and time.

Glass' Minimalist masterpiece

Music by Philip Glass

Amstel Quartet & guests

With Music with Changing Parts (1970), a monumental work from Philip Glass’s early period, Amstel Quartet returns to the meditative and grooving world of hard-core minimalism.

This work, consisting of repeated melodic figures which gradually expand and contract, shares some of the rhythmic, trance-inducing aspects of the earlier Music in Similar Motion.

However, through the addition of subtle vocal parts and long tones improvised at different moments in the piece by the musicians, the music acquires a different dimension and anticipates Glass's opera work of the later 1970s, such as Einstein on the Beach.

Music by Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf and others

Philippe Elan and the Amstel Quartet

Drift away with moving French chansons and compelling stories, in the unique combination of chansonnier Philippe Elan and the Amstel Quartet. Elan is a household name to anyone with a passion for the French chanson. He once began his musical career playing the saxophone in the local brass band, but it soon became apparent that his true passion was to sing. The saxophone continued to play a part in his life though and so it was no coincidence that he said yes to a collaboration with the Amstel Quartet: they understand like no other what singing is. And the chansons by Brel, Aznavour and Piaf are perfectly suited to him. The press quite rightly wrote: “Philippe Elan sings these songs with such charm and passion that he effortlessly illustrates why these chansons have become classics.”

Music by Bach,  Berio,  Wilson, Von Weber.

De virtuoso clarinet player Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer and the Amstel Quartet demonstrate that the clarinet and a saxophone quartet together produce an unexpectedly beautiful combination of tone and repertoire.

They have joined musical forces and have composed a programme specifically for this collaboration, in which the kindred reed instruments enhance each other, both in colour and in intensity.

In Bach the reed players pull out all the stops: a partita in which a simple chorale melody works its heavenly way through the instruments in several variations.

In this programme Lars also plays the Sequenza 9a for clarinet solo by great master Luciano Berio.

During the spectacular clarinet quintet by Carl Maria von Weber, which has been given a face-lift, Lars cheerfully lets the frivolity of his clarinet be heard above the four saxophones.

For this unique collaboration house composer to the Amstel Quartet, Ian Wilson, rewrote his intimate “her charms revisited” which is inspired upon an Irish song.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) -    Partita “Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig ” BWV768 (arrangement Bas Apswoude) 1736
Luciano Berio (1925-2003) - Sequenza 9a (for clarinet solo) 1980
Ian Wilson (1964) -    “her charms revisited” 2010
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) - Clarinet quintet in Bes opus 34 (arrangement Amstel Quartet and Lars) 1815

Music by Byrd, Purcell, Nyman.

 Unparalleled melancholy and humor are combined in this program bursting with English musical gems. Soprano Klaartje van Veldhoven, accompanied by the Amstel Quartet, guides you through the beautiful repertoire of songs and instrumental Fantazias by Henry Purcell and consort songs by William Byrd. The spirited sounds of composer Michael Nyman bring this beautiful English program together.

Klaartje van Veldhoven – Soprano
On the concert stages Klaartje is actively involved in original, transboundary projects. Classical music always lies at the heart, but the young vocalist is not afraid of collaborating with jazz and improvising musicians and does this with great enthusiasm and success.

William Byrd (c. 1543 – 1623) - Come to me grief forever, O that rare breast, Content is rich
Michael Nyman (1944) - Second String Quartet (1988 / 2008) (arr. D. Roach)
William Byrd (c. 1543 – 1623) - O that you hear this voice, In Angel's weed, O Lord, how vain

- intermission -

Henry Purcell (c. 1659 - 1695) - Fantazia I, Z732 in d mineur, Fantazia VI, Z737 in F Majeur, Fantazia IV, Z735 in g mineur
Michael Nyman (1944) - selection from Ariel Songs
Henry Purcell (c. 1659 - 1695) - Fantazia III, Z734 in g mineur, Fantazia V, Z736 in B flat Majeur
Michael Nyman (1944) - The Piano Sings (1994) (arr. Remco Jak)

Programme with famous Dutch spiritual leader "Dominee Gremdaat". (theatre)

A musical preach

or

a concert with a lot of preaching.

Penetrating and progressive Minimalism

Music by Cage, Dufourt, Franssens & Glass

With Classical Zen Amstel Quartet presents a full evening’s concert of iconic minimalistic music.  It is compiled with a touch of mindfulness, and offers a momentary escape from the hullabaloo of daily life.

The legendary soundtrack Mishima by Philip Glass is combined with the heavenly Harmony of the Spheres by Joep Franssens and the saxophone quartet Four5 by born innovator John Cage, and special attention is given to the spectralist Hugues Dufourt.

In 2019 Amstel Quartet premiered Dufourt’s saxophone work, composed specially for them, Les courants polyphoniques d’après Klee – twenty-five years after the composition of his first saxophone quartet. The Église Wallon in Amsterdam was a splendid venue for the concert, which was attended by the composer himself. You can re-experience a few moments here on YouTube.

Music by Brel, Trenet, Ferré, Aznavour, Piaf, Shaff, Gall and many others

Philippe Elan singing, Amstel Quartet saxophones, with special guest Thérèse Steinmetz

In March 2019 Amstel Quartet and Philippe Elan presented their new EP Manège à Trois, the sequel to their favourably received Sax Avec Elan! of 2015.

Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf, Ramses Shaff and France Gall: all the golden oldies make an appearance. Thérèse Steinmetz, grande dame of the music scene in the Netherlands, sporadically contributes to these concerts.

“Balm for the soul!” (Volkskrant, 2016)

Film scores by Morricone, Bernstein, Glass, Wagner, Barber, Nyman

Music makes everything better. Parties come alive with music and supermarkets would be far more boring places to visit without a musical background. Storytellers have been utilising the power of music to enhance their stories from the very beginning. Music plays an essential role in films too. It intensifies key scenes and makes the drama even more dramatic. But every now and again the music breaks out from its supporting role and earns itself a place in the concert hall. In A Night at the Cinema you will hear stories without words and see films without images.

Music by Sweelinck, Vrolijk, Fiumara

Exactly four hundred years after his death, the spirit of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck is still very much alive in the Netherlands. In this memorable year, Amstel Quartet brings an ode to the ‘Prince of Musicke’.

They play his famous fantasias and vocal compositions, complemented with work by present-day Dutch composers such as Anthony Fiumara and Renske Vrolijk.

American music in all its diversity

Music by Cage, Creston, Mellits, Lauba, Torke, Barber

What exactly is American music?

The answers to such questions often lead to heated debates and are fraught with contradictions and vagueness. And in the same way that the US and its New World neighbours are unique melting pots of cultures, peoples, ideas and art forms, all music with the label ‘American’ is inevitably a post-modern mixture of different styles, approaches and influences.

American Dream provides several answers to our question by means of a programme with compositions for saxophone quartet by Michael Torke, Paul Creston, Marc Mellits and Christian Lauba. And although the approaches and the music of these composers are tremendously varied, if we compare them, we see definite similarities: the influence of jazz, new approaches to musical form, a postmodern approach to combining and adapting form and genre, and especially the focus on rhythm as a primary musical aspect of the compositions.

John Cage (1912-1992) - Four5 (1991)

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) - Three Excerpts from "Our Town" and "Simple Gifts” (1940/1944) (arr. Paul Cohen)

Paul Creston (1906-1985) - Suite (1979)

Terry Riley (1935)  - Good Medicine (1986/2009) (arr. Bas Apswoude)

-Pauze-

Steve Reich (1936) - New York Counterpoint (1985)

Michael Torke (1961) - May* (2010), June* (2010), July (1995)

Samuel Barber (1910-1981) - Adagio op. 11 (arr. Johan van der Linden)

An evening with the audience in control

Music by Martland, Creston, Sweelinck, Lauba, Mozart, Mellits, Torke, Scott, Franssens, Riley, Zimmerman

“Flipping the channels” has become an inherent part of contemporary pop culture. And although it might stand for the short attention span and the apparent superficiality of our era, it can also be a route towards new artistic discoveries.

Just as we zap across TV channels, or scroll through Spotify, this eclectic tour de force takes us from the meditative music of Joep Franssens to the dazzling tropical displays by Christian Lauba, and we meet all kinds of variants on the way. Discover the versatility of the most flexible wind instruments in a programme with composers who listeners either know well or wish to get to know. An evening of music varying from Renaissance pieces to present-day sounds, from world music vibes to jazzy chords and minimalist grooves.

The audience will be partly in charge of the programme by sharing with the musicians their choice for the works to be played in the concert. In this way the public will be actively involved in directing the musical exploration of the evening.