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In the spotlight: Richard Rijnvos
Sensual abstraction
Sound richness and conceptual strictness in Richard Rijnvos
By Michel Khalifa | 31 August 2010 | 12:15
Translation: Hilary Staples
Even though Richard Rijnvos moved to the UK recently, he gets a lot of attention in the Netherlands. This is greatly due to the fact that he has been appointed composer-in-residence by the ZaterdagMatinee for the coming season. This autumn Rijnvos, who is now Head of Composition at the Music Department of Durham University, will feature in two concerts at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and one in the Noorderkerk.
On 11 September the ZaterdagMatinee will open its symphonic season with Riflesso sull’acqua, a work for English horn and orchestra in which Richard Rijnvos comments on a piece by his favourite composer Sibelius. Two weeks later the Ives Ensemble, of which Rijnvos was manager for ten years, will play the first part of Block Beuys in the Amsterdam Noorderkerk. This applauded quartych was inspired by the eponymous installation created by artist Joseph Beuys in the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt. Finally, in the Matinee on 30 October the Ives Ensemble will perform mappamondo, a semi-theatrical composition in which Rijnvos voices his fascination for the dark sides of Venice.
A summary like this could give the impression that Rijnvos’ compositions are programmatic or at least descriptive. But actually his often extra-musical sources of inspiration only constitute a small part of the composition process. His music is created through abstract processes, whereby the composer always imposes severe restrictions on himself. Numeric constructions such as magical squares determine the pitch and duration in advance. Such objective points of departure must ensure that Rijnvos – in imitation of his great example John Cage – liberates his thinking from preconceived ideas, thus creating space for unexpected elements.
Sensual sounds
So it may come as a surprise that this conceptual, form-based approach at times results in lavish musical content. The tension between the well thought-out systems and the sensual sounds that spring from them, can only be explained by the fact that Rijnvos does allow himself artistic freedom when it comes to orchestration and timbre. The brain provides the compositional template, the ear decides.
Union Square Dance
This freedom comes in various guises. Richard Rijnvos cannot be pinned down to a specific style: for every new project he immerses his listeners in a different sound world. Uptown|Downtown rocks, partly because this ‘urban panorama’ is based on the excitement of Manhattan. This six-part cycle comprises three Square Dances for stereophonic double orchestra and three works with piano in which music by American icons such as George Gershwin, Charles Ives and Thelonious Monk flashes by. Audio excerpt 1 offers a section from the sixtych’s euphoric final movement Union Square Dance (2008). Its rousing rhythms and big band-like sound emphasise the connection with New York city life.
Block Beuys
The mood of the cycle for ensemble Block Beuys is more quiet, as enigmatic timbres and bare landscapes dominate. Audio excerpt 2 is taken from the first movement (1995), for tape and 11 instruments. This movement is based on the extremely plain arrangement of the first exhibition room in Darmstadt. The continuity of sound depicts the room, while the individual events refer to the pieces that are exhibited.
Riflesso sull'acqua
Even more mysterious are the thin flageolet tones that play a prominent role in Riflesso sull’acqua (2007). This work for English horn and orchestra is a reflection on Sibelius’ symphonic poem The Swan of Tuonela and it has exactly the same orchestration. In Audio excerpt 3 the soloist works his way up accompanied by repeated flageolets in the violins.
As a child Rijnvos wanted to become an architect. He still loves numbers, proportions and geometry. He also liked the idea of becoming a dancer, an actor or a poet. When he was older he took an interest in graphic design; this became a hobby. For example, he has regularly made flyers for the Ives Ensemble. And if he had not been working in music, he would like have liked to be the owner of a cat hotel.
This and other pieces of information can be found in the nice booklet that Anthony Fiumara wrote on Rijnvos for the festival November Music 2008. He comes across as a strong-minded composer who feels strongly about structure and who continually tests his own approach against that of great names such as the writer Italo Calvino and the sculptor Richard Serra. Rijnvos distrusts everything that reeks of sentimentality. He never wants to confront the listener directly with his own thoughts, but likes to convey them through subjects that lie close to his heart, from squares in New York to the ‘acqua alta’ in Venice. Should you miss the threeconcerts in September and October, there will be another opportunity next spring. On 5 March 2011 a brand-new work for violin and orchestra by Rijnvos will be premiered in the ZaterdagMatinee.
More music?
On Richard Rijnvos’s website www.richardrijnvos.com you can hear excerpts of nearly all his compositions: click on ‘works’ and then on ‘audio samples’.
Michel Khalifa was born and bred in Paris and studied Musicology at the University of Utrecht. He writes about classical music, gives introductions to concerts and teaches Music History at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.
In the spotlight
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