Compositions

‘Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man’.  This is the beginning of the first stasimon from the Ancient Greek Tragedy ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles (5th century B.C.).  A famous and beautiful sentence which makes one reflect.  What exactly separates human beings from all other life on our planet; How has man reached the high standard of life as we know it today?  I searched for an answer trough seven different excerpts from world literature, each of them dealing with another aspect of mankind.  I provided these texts with a musical impression of the underlying content.  The result is a composition in seven parts, starting and ending with a praeludium and postludium, and in between five larger movements.  ‘Secreta’ is meant to be a philosophical as well as a musical search for the secrets behind human society.

Secreta (excerpt 2)

A work for two piccolo's and piano, and a hommage to the Belgian artist Stromae. The title is 'verlan' (a French dialect) for the word 'Hommage'. Performed by Peter Verhoyen, Anke Lauwers and Stefan De Schepper.

Magehom (excerpt)

The show must go on

My concerto for piccolo and large orchestra is constructed as one big musical form, based upon the principles of a Western sonata form. The basic rhythmic material is an Indian tala-pattern, presented by the claves during the opening of the work. This eight-part structure is the foundation for all the motives and metric modulation in the piece. The soloist has a vivid dialogue with the different orchestral colors, mainly motivic in construction. The concerto has a mix of virtuoso and lyrical moments, and the never-absent tala drives the work to its huge climax. Performed by Peter Verhoyen and Ataneres Ensemble (cond. Erik Desimpelaere)

Concerto for piccolo and orchestra (finale)

This suite for string orchestra is based on three different Norwegian folk melodies.  The first, most prominently present in the composition, is called ‘Dan fagraste viso pao Joræ’, which means basically ‘the most beautiful song on earth’.  It is an irregularly constructed phrase, with very expressive intervals and a double modality.  These two parameters became the basic inspiration for the musical structure of the piece.  The other two melodies used are ‘Sæterjentens Søndag’ (A sunday at the mountain pastures) and ‘Aa lensmand’ (The farmer). Performed by Arco Baleno

Suite on Norwegian Folk Melodies (excerpt)

The Rhapsody for oboe, clarinet and strings has three movements, played attacca. In the first movement the oboe takes the lead, after a orchestral introduction. The clarinet is soloist in a slow middle movement. Both soloists join in a sparkling cadenza and finale to conclude the piece. Performed by Eddy Vanoosthuyze, Maarten Wijnen and Ataneres Ensemble (cond. Erik Desimpelaere)

Rhapsody (excerpt)

This piece is attempting to use the principles of stereoscopy in music.  Stereoscopy is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision.  Today this technique is used to create 3D cinema, but in this piece I refer to a much older commercial stereoscopic product: the View-Master. The structure of my composition is based on the so-called View-Master reel, which contains 7 stereo-photographs (14 images).  The 14 parts of this composition are not linked in pairs (as with the View-Master reel).  They are connected by a more layered exchange of musical motives and metric modulations.  The composition of each of the 14 parts is also based on the principles of stereoscopy.  The constant interaction of the three instruments is trying to create a musical 3D illusion. Performed by Triotique

Album onbekend (6/08/2020 20:36:20)

View-Master (excerpt)

‘A Requiem for Narcissus’ is based on the antique myth of Narcissus and Echo.  Cursed by Hera, Echo is only able to repeat the last words of the person talking to her.  Narcissus is annoyed by her ghastly appearance and rejects her, after which he himself is cursed by the Gods.  He notices his own beauty by looking in a pool of water and falls hopelessly in love with himself.  Unable to reach his beloved, he weeps bitterly and transforms slowly into a beautiful flower. Musical echo’s and mirrors play an important role in this composition, both in the interaction between the soloists and the band, and in the microstructural elements of the motives and harmonies.  The solo-horns are positioned at different places in the hall, creating a spatial element. All musical material is derived from the chorale ‘O Welt, Ich muss dich lassen’ by J.S. Bach.  This chorale symbolizes the tears of Narcissus during his tragic transformation.  The composition is devided into four mouvements, each entitled with a fragment from the Latin Requiem Mass.  Additionaly, each movement is based on one particular motive or melody.

A Requiem For Narcissus (Excerpt 2)

A Requiem for Narcissus (Excerpt 1)

A cover of the song 'Once You' by Jacob Collier. I made an arrangement for double bass and piano in the style of Rachmaninov or Chopin chamber music. Performed by Erik & David Desimpelaere

Once You (cover)

This piece was commissioned by David Heyes. Sirba is inspired by East-European folk music and is a kind of mirror of Tzigane by Ravel, but than in a version for double bass and piano. Thus the piece opens with a long solo cadenza for the double bass. Performed by David & Erik Desimpelaere

Sirba

Erik Desimpelaere is a Belgian composer, pianist and conductor.

Secreta (excerpt 2)

Erik Desimpelaere

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