2016 | 10' | ensemble

de formation consists of the material of three old - somewhat naive - pieces i wrote 9-6 years ago, when aged 12 to 15. for some reason i had always grouped these pieces together, and even once rearranged them, also calling them de formation. at this point in my life, though, i couldn't just make them into a performing version of nostalgic parafernalia: i had to find the connection between those pieces and recognize their weaknesses.

In the resulting piece, the various pieces get intruded by another in every 'weak spot'. de formation refers to the 'roman de formation', the 'Bildungsroman', in that it describes a youth, but also, when read in English, with no space, it takes on a much darker meaning. it's not a collage piece, but rather a photo album which has become faded and bleary.

The 'photos' in this case are the three pieces. the 'raggo pour les mains perdues' (2009, age 15) is a piece from my fortunately short-lived faux-jazz-influenced period, which found me experimenting with free atonality. the oldest, the 'nuchtere wals die het best klinkt als je te veel gedronken hebt' (2006, age 12) is a dark, almost lethargic slow waltz, evoking a 19th century London pup, inspired by a gay-themed yout novel I was reading at the time. and finally, the 'valse pour un partenaire mort' (2008, age 14), which is a tad lugubruous and more than a tad postimpressionistic.

This piece was written for the Nieuw Ensemble's 'evening of today' 2016, at which it was performed conducted by Gregory Charette.
Nieuw Ensemble: Harrie Starreveld, flute; Ernst Rombout, oboe; Anna Voordewind, clarinet and bass clarinet; Hans Wesseling, mandolin; Helenus de Rijke, guitar; Ernestine Stoop, harp; Herman Halewijn, percussion; Emi Ohi Resnick, violin; Frank Brakkee, viola; Jeroen den Herder, cello and Dario Calderone, contrabass.