Jeroen van Veen
Simeon ten Holt: Canto ostinato
Album · Classical · 2008
During the 1970s, the Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt—a pupil of Jakob van Domselaer, Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud—began to fall under the spell of minimalism and created a series of works for multiple pianos, the earliest and best-known of which is his Canto ostinato. Composed in 1976, the work comprises 106 little cells of a few bars each, which the performers are invited to play as many (or as few) times as they wish. Ten Holt does not stipulate the number of instruments or duration; instead, it is left to the performers to decide for themselves on matters of scale, repetition, harmony, texture, dynamics and phrasing. This 2008 recording by the husband-and-wife partnership of Jeroen and Sandra van Veen captivates the listener with its hypnotic concentration.
Simeon ten Holt: Canto ostinato
Jeroen van Veen
During the 1970s, the Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt—a pupil of Jakob van Domselaer, Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud—began to fall under the spell of minimalism and created a series of works for multiple pianos, the earliest and best-known of which is his Canto ostinato. Composed in 1976, the work comprises 106 little cells of a few bars each, which the performers are invited to play as many (or as few) times as they wish. Ten Holt does not stipulate the number of instruments or duration; instead, it is left to the performers to decide for themselves on matters of scale, repetition, harmony, texture, dynamics and phrasing. This 2008 recording by the husband-and-wife partnership of Jeroen and Sandra van Veen captivates the listener with its hypnotic concentration.
