The Treasure Hunt with Bas Wiegers

In this second of two episodes about De Materie (Matter) by Louis Andriessen, fellow composer David Dramm reflects on his close relationship with Andriessen and the creation of De Materie. He describes witnessing the piece’s early development, studying with Andriessen, and experiencing the premiere of De Materie in 1989 up close. Together with host Bas Wiegers, he explores the work’s signature elements - its hammer-like opening chords, mystical second movement, playful boogie-woogie references, and slowly unfolding climaxes - showing how Andriessen combined rigorous structure with raw energy, beauty, and humor. Music:  Louis Andriessen - De Materie played by Asko|Schönberg and Reinbert de Leeuw  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nNB6P-Q3PRGxAlesE6MVMuv0s-JJmc6D8

In the first of two episodes on De Materie, we explore Louis Andriessen’s groundbreaking masterpiece with biographer Jacqueline Oskamp. We trace the influences behind this pivotal work - from the pressure of Andriessen’s earlier successes to the political and musical ideals that shaped his 1980s style. The episode highlights the piece’s structure, its bold musical logic, and the key collaborations with Jan van Vlijmen and Robert Wilson that helped form its distinctive character. We end with a preview of Episode Two, featuring a former student offering his own view on Andriessen and his legacy. Music:  Louis Andriessen - De Materie played by Asko|Schönberg and Reinbert de Leeuw  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nNB6P-Q3PRGxAlesE6MVMuv0s-JJmc6D8    

Conductor Bas Wiegers interviews composer Márton Illés after two intense days recording Illes' new cello concerto with Nicolas Altstaedt and the Münchener Kammerorchester at the Bayerische Rundfunk.  They discuss finding a personal compositional language, balancing freedom and structure, the physical and acoustic reality of sound, use of electronics, and how collaboration and selflessness shape complex contemporary music in rehearsal and recording. The music played in the episode can be found here:  Márton Illés - Violinkonzert (2019)  Patricia Kopatchinskaja, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Michael Wendeberg  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzsGf8NebOg Márton Illés - Ljubljana24 (2018–20/24)  Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin Enno Poppe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1GbmfvlzKI&list=RDN1GbmfvlzKI&start_radio=1 

I speak about Charles Ives with the great Ives connoisseur Thomas Brodhead, whom I got to know when we worked on Ives’ Fourth Symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra back in 2012. Ives is such a fascinating composer and has been a constant inspiration in my life as a musician. At the moment, I’m preparing his piece Three Places in New England, which I get to conduct for the first time.    Links to the pieces:    Charles Ives: Country Band March  President's Own United States Marine Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avowzDI8uR0   Charles Ives (orch. T. Grahl, 2021): Walt Whitman - (1921) from 114 Songs Klangforum Wien, Thomas Hampson, Bas Wiegers  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqnO8dJJPYs   Charles Ives: Fourth Symphony  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Peter Eötvös, Bas Wiegers, Ralph van Raat Private recording    Charles Ives: March No. 6 for Piano, with Here's to Good Old Yale Charles Ives, piano  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMW0r_ZxFm8&list=OLAK5uy_lE6Eb6U39_HOe_juxz9dJukRFRewUz3xs&index=41   Charles Ives: Three Places In New England - 1. The "St. Gaudens" In Boston Common Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhbutHpwEh8   Charles Ives: They Are There!, second take Charles Ives, piano  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az0iNeRvNts&list=OLAK5uy_lE6Eb6U39_HOe_juxz9dJukRFRewUz3xs&index=39   Charles Ives: Four Transcriptions from Emerson: No. 1 (beg.) Charles Ives, piano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c8lNFR5xWw&list=OLAK5uy_lE6Eb6U39_HOe_juxz9dJukRFRewUz3xs&index=1   Charles Ives: Three Places In New England - 2. Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Ytm0l0FTU   Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question  Ricciotti Ensemble, Leonard van Goudoever Private Recording    

Today I'm spending some time with the 93 year old Theo Loevendie, one of the first living composers I worked with as a student. I'm coming back to his music after 25 years, to prepare two concerts with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. We speak about his youth, his influences, and about the two works I'm preparing: Flexio for orchestra and Six Turkish Folk Poems for singer and orchestra.   Here's info about the music you hear:    Draaiorgel Sarie Marais - Appeltjes van Oranje   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgOlWzqXXnY   Glenn Miller - American Patrol  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAVejLjXVdw   Umm Kulthum - 1967, Live at the Olympia, Paris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPGHpBOt5sE   Theo Loevendie - Six Turkish Folk Poems   Dorothy Dorow, soprano  Residentie Orkest  Ernest Bour, conductor  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU4090D14hs   Theo Loevendie - Flexio  Residentie Orkest  Peter Eötvös, conductor  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYxMTfeEbFQ&t=412s   Theo Loevendie - Venus and Adonis  Insomnio:   Carlos Galvez, bass clarinet  Bas Wiegers, violin  Martine Sikkenk, mandolin  Reinhold Westerheide, guitar  Ulrich Pöhl, percussion  (private recording)    Photo Loevendie: Teo Krijgsman