Louis Andriessen - De Staat (1991)

Probably the most famous and most recorded work by Louis Andriessen (b. 1939, Utrecht), this is De Staat in its 1990 recording for Nonesuch.  It was written (between 1972 and 1976) as a sort of commentary on politics in music - what if Plato had been correct that certain musical modes were 'damaging to the character'?  What if music could bring down governments?  The sung text is taken from the relevant sections of The Republic, ending with the line "Any alteration in the modes of music is always followed by alteration in the most fundamental laws of the state".

If not insurrectionist, De Staat is certainly interesting, and an absolute blast to listen to.  35 minutes of continuous music that might bring surface comparisons to Steve Reich, it's wilder, jerkier and, well, jazzier.  Andriessen had Count Basie, Stan Kenton and Charlie Parker in mind as much as anything in the classical sphere, and also favoured instrumentation beyond the regular orchestral palette - there's parts for electric guitars and bass.  Enjoy the revolution.

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extra Andriessen (and Adams)

Andriessen's De Snelheid (Velocity - written 1982-84) was based on his observations about how listeners perceive speed and acceleration in musical works.  Even more lively than De Staat, it's a wilfully gleeful 17 minutes investigating what it would sound like if you had a metronomic rhythm constantly getting faster, whilst the harmonic changes in the music kept slowing down.  In short, it sounds great.  It's accompanied on this 2002 disc from the BBC Music Magazine by some John Adams classics - Short Ride, Chairman Dances, and a really nice choral work that takes its texts from John Donne and Emily Dickinson.

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