Some time ago, I discussed with broadcaster MAX the idea of phoning random residents in music districts to ask what they thought of 'their' composer. Would they spontaneously burst into an ode to, say, Carolus Hacquart, Cornelis Schuyt or Henriëtte Bosmans? Unfortunately, this playful plan was never realised, but lo and behold, a number of musicians joined forces for a similar project, the two-day festival The Muse of South on 21 and 22 May in Amsterdam-Zuid.
At the beginning of the 20th century, an upmarket neighbourhood sprang up in the meadows around the newly built Concertgebouw, with many streets named after composers. But, truth be told: have you ever heard music by Johannes Wanning, Johannes Verhulst or Willem Pijper? Yet these gentlemen were not only honoured with their own streets, but also with a nameplate in the illustrious Great Hall. The Muse of South polishes up their lost luster again: ensembles such as Recorder Quartet Brisk, Gesualdo Consort and Camerata Trajectina present work by over thirty, largely forgotten Dutchmen in seventeen concerts.
In addition to concerts, the festival also organises a listening walk, with stories and anecdotes about the rich music history of this neighbourhood; participants hear matching compositions on headphones. After this, you walk down Rosy Wertheimstraat, Banstraat or Daniël de Langestraat with a different feeling. I myself cycled many times for conversations with Reinbert de Leeuw to Brachthuijzerstraat, unaware of the existence of the musical family of the same name. - Which, unfortunately, is not on the programme.
The street map of Amsterdam-Zuid gives a nice insight into which composers were considered important in the early 20th century. Of the 65 names, 45 refer to Dutch composers, a sign that music from their own country was considerably more highly regarded at the time than today. Emancipation also made little headway a century later: of the 45 street names, three are attributed to female composers: Dina Appeldoorn, Henriëtte Bosmans and Rosy Wertheim. Pick up any seasonal brochure and you will see that the percentage of women is now lower rather than higher.
Of the ladies, Bosmans is best known. She broke away from her teacher Willem Pijper's dry-clothed composition method and wrote dashing pieces that deserve to be heard more often. Three of her compositions will be heard. The young Brackman Trio plays her Piano trio, which she composed in 1921 for her lover, the cellist Frieda Belinfante. It Aurelia Quartet interprets her exciting String quartet in an arrangement for four saxophones and the Lumaka Ensemble plays the to me unknown Nocturne for cello and harp.
Perhaps the performance of that Nocturne concerns a world premiere, as it did not appear in print, nor is it listed in her publisher Donemus' catalogue. Harpist Miriam Overlach found the manuscript in the cellars of the Netherlands Music Institute (NMI) and even her teacher Erika Waardenburg appeared not to know it. Overlach: 'I only recently received a copy and have yet to decipher the manuscript. Quite a job, because it contains very few clues for pedal use, for instance. At first glance, it looks late romantic, spiced with some modern, French-tinged harmonies.'
From Bosmans' contemporary Rosy Wertheim come the wonderful Trois chansons for soprano, flute and piano to sound in a concert by the Leo Smit Ensemble. Flutist and artistic director Eleonore Pameijer also unearthed these songs from the archives of the NMI (then called Bibliotheek Musica Neerlandica) in 1995.
For two decades, Pameijer and her ensemble have dedicated themselves to unlocking the music of Jewish composers from the interwar period. As early as 1995, Wertheim's chansons featured on the CD 'Modern Times', alongside works by namesake Leo Smit and Ingnace Lilien. Smit is also on the programme, although there is no street named after him. - At least not in Amsterdam-Zuid, but in Buitenveldert.
If only one composition by Wertheim is performed, Dina Appeldoorn's music is conspicuous by its absence during the seventeen concerts. A little sleuthing reveals that Donemus mentions her name but no compositions, although the NMI has a large number of manuscripts appears to possess. These are mostly orchestral and choral works, but also quite a bit of chamber music. I would have loved to hear her 'Piglets', 'Spring Song' or 'Minute' for voice and piano... or harpsichord, certainly not an obvious instrument in the early twentieth century. Too bad the festival didn't take the opportunity to blow the dust off her compositions.
I'm going to ring the doorbell of someone in Dina Appeldoornstraat anyway. Who knows, I might find a resident who flawlessly recites her Rondo for solo oboe. - If so, I will immediately call broadcaster MAX.
All information about the festival can be found at here
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