Criss-crossing America with Richard Rijnvos MUSIC

Richard Rijnvos (1964) has been house composer of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra since 2011. This has so far resulted in two new pieces: Antarctique, the final part of his cycle Grand Atlas (2011) and fuoco e fumo from the series la Serenissima (2013). On Thursday 2 and Friday 3 February, conductor Gustavo Gimeno leads the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in its third commissioned work, Amérique du Nord. The concert honours legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), who would have turned 100 next year.

Riveting world atlas

The seedling for the seven-part cycle Grand Atlas was laid in 2004. Rijnvos then dedicated his semi-theatrical mappamondo to the 15th-century Venetian monk Fra Mauro. 'He was considered the most important cartographer of his time and spent most of his life working on an impressive map of the world. That's how I came up with the idea of creating my own musical map of the world. A kind of sounding atlas, in which each of the seven continents is represented in an orchestral composition. In this way, I crawl into Fra Mauro's mind, as it were.'

Antarctique, the final part of the cycle, was inspired by the unrelenting cold at the South Pole, which makes plant growth impossible. Rijnvos composed it especially for the round shape of Amsterdam's Gashouder. Twelve percussionists are arranged around the audience. They represent the South Pole circle and act as a 'living clock'. They take turns to strike a semitone higher on a tubular bell, until all twelve chromatic tones in surround sound have sounded. The recording of the premiere appeared on the CD Horizon 5, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's own label.

Film without picture

In the brand new Amérique du Nord, the second part of Grand Atlas, lacks a similar benchmark. Rijnvos: 'However, an extremely special role is reserved for the fourth percussionist in the orchestra. He does not play percussion instruments, but sound effects as we know them from radio plays or film. The function of this Geräuschmacher is to create the illusion that we are watching a film without images: we only hear sound and music.'

Previously, Rijnvos dedicated his six-part cycle Uptown|Downtown to the city of New York, where Leonard Bernstein was chief of the renowned New York Philharmonic for many years. He calls the opera West Side Story as his main achievement: 'Of most operas we remember one, at most two or three arias, but of West Side Story every song is a true classic. Similar to what Georges Bizet accomplished in his opera Carmen.'

At Amérique du Nord Rijnvos inserted two references to Bernstein, but which ones he prefers to keep to himself. 'Not to be secretive, but because the joke of the orchestral piece is that all references should work as a surprise.'

Imaginary road movie

He calls his composition a 'symphonic scherzo'. It takes the form of 'an imaginary road movie which crosses the United States, including a small diversions through Mexico. In Colorado we brave a snowstorm, in Arizona we spend the night in a dreary hotel. Along the way, we see world cities but also an abundance of natural beauty, including Georgia's cotton plantations.'

The piece includes some 25 references to film music: 'It involves 25 iconic films from 25 different US states. These include musical allusions, puns, quasi-quotes, flashbacks and mangle motifs. For example, there is a reference to The New World and a work by Edgard Varèse, the title of which is easy to guess.' Jokingly: 'My orchestral work is a kind of pub quiz: whoever manages to bring home all the references will receive the prize pool.'