Pictured Air We are pleased that a certain amount of pioneering work since playing the first chords together has eventually resulted in this release. Raised in the tradition of early music interpretation where Renaissance composers were trained in handling the characteristic possibilities of a recorder ensemble, the contemporary compositions often confronted us with concepts, techniques and ideas that were not always on good terms with a balanced musical performance. The composer who could not lean on tradition sometimes encountered the limitations of the instrument rather than its specific possibilities even with the refreshing experiments with sound and playing techniques from the sixties in mind. Therefore we feel fortunate to have worked with many of them and after having exchanged ideas were able to develop a sophisticated soundscape. Another fortunate element proving to be of invaluable importance was the opportunity to playing the recorded works for audiences all over the world, getting as close as possible to the basic nature of a composition. Where compositions after 1990 seem to be less experimental the inquisitive listener will realise that only the field of renewal has changed. Using a more traditional background and notation, composers show more interest in the inside musical elements. Integrating and refining the discoveries of the sixties, composers open up new ways in formal structure, musical gesture and inner balance of the composition.
Peter-Jan Wagemans studied organ and composition at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. His love for the sound of the Residence Orchestra inspired him to write many orchestral works. With one of these compositions Rosebud he won the Matthijs-Vermeulen prize. Working with his pupil Bart de Kemp, who was composing Lieto for the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet he was stimulated to also write music for recorder ensemble. The opening of Wagemans Kwartet is a chord played in an ostinato motorical movement by a toy piano. The other voices play fast, ornamentlike rags of melody around this musical heartbeat that even keeps ticking after the piano sound has stopped. Kwartet is a one movement piece, exploring one idea in an ingenious, straight structure. The Jogger by Dick Koomans is written within minimal music principles, but cannot be seen as a strict example of this style. In The Jogger the musicians run along energetic, rhythmical lines. With great flair Koomans adds a flavour of Jazz to his music.
Bart de Kemp and Karel van Steenhoven belong to the youngest generation of composers. De Kemp, in his highly decorative and playful style of writing is a bit of an exception in Dutch contemporary music. Lieto , meaning cheerful, is like Andante or Vivace a character description of the composition, but to speak with the words of the composer, it also refers to a deeper positive way of looking at things.