Ten Holt: Canto Ostinato (2 Piano Version) / Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
Brilliant Classics

Ten Holt: Canto Ostinato (2 Piano Version) / Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen

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Details

Composer
Simeon ten Holt
Artist
Jeroen Van Veen, Sandra Van Veen
Format
CD
Discs
3
Label
Brilliant Classics
Released
Jan 07, 2022
Catalog #
BRI96432
UPC
5028421964324

About

Canto Ostinato is the work that defines the legacy of the composer Simeon ten Holt, who died in 2012 at the age of 89. There are 106 sections of repeating five-beat patterns whose patterned, repetitive but gradually evolving repetition produce a mesmerizing effect on the listener – a dance-like sense of even unevenness – akin to masterpieces from the US minimalist school such as Steve Reich’s Music for 16 Musicians and Philip Glass’s Music in 12 Parts. However, the sections need not be repeated literally, and the performers can vary the dynamics, the manner of playing (legato vs. staccato, for example), and the octave in which the material is played.

Ten Holt completed Canto Ostinato in 1979 for an instrumentation of three pianos and electronic organ, but the cycle has proved itself adaptable to several different combinations of keyboard instruments, and these versions were brought together by Jeroen van Veen on a compendium produced by Brilliant Classics in 2014. ‘Canto Ostinato XL’ (9453) included this two-piano scoring as well as versions for prepared pianos, organ and marimbas, but Jeroen and Sandra van Veen have re-recorded it in 2021; the fourth version they have produced, which brings together all the varieties of arrangement and articulation developed through the course of concert performances given across the world. ‘Tonality after the death of tonality’, Ten Holt described the language of Canto Ostinato, and Jeroen van Veen compares its style to the music of Chopin: tranquil, immersive, melancholic and romantic. He worked closely with the composer over many years and can justly be regarded as the most authoritative living performer of his music.

REVIEW:

For listeners coming to this music for the first time, you don’t know what you have been missing. I think a two-piano performance that lasts a little more or less than 120 minutes is a good place to start. (In his introduction to the score, ten Holt actually expressed a preference for four pianos, although the premiere was played by three pianos and an electronic organ.) The two van Veens recorded it together for the first time in 1996, and have recorded it on two pianos at least one other time (in 2008) before this new version from 2021. I think some of their earlier versions (alone or with other musicians) have been more dramatic (with an imaginative performer or performers, ten Holt’s works can be hair-raising, at times), but no one, least of all the composer, said that Canto Ostinato needs to be dramatic. With this new version, one is newly impressed by the music’s ability to maintain its core identity no matter how much the details change, and the details this time make the music sound a little more contemporary and a little less Romantic. Your mileage may vary. As for me, I am glad to add this version to my already not minimal ten Holt collection. 

-- Fanfare

Tracklist 29 tracks

  1. 1 Section 1 05:46
    Track
    1
    Title
    Section 1
    Duration
    05:46
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  2. 2 Section 10 12:22
    Track
    2
    Title
    Section 10
    Duration
    12:22
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  3. 3 Section 17 03:51
    Track
    3
    Title
    Section 17
    Duration
    03:51
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  4. 4 Section 20 09:51
    Track
    4
    Title
    Section 20
    Duration
    09:51
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  5. 5 Section 34 06:13
    Track
    5
    Title
    Section 34
    Duration
    06:13
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  6. 6 Section 41 09:11
    Track
    6
    Title
    Section 41
    Duration
    09:11
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  7. 7 Section 56 02:41
    Track
    7
    Title
    Section 56
    Duration
    02:41
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  8. 8 Section 60 01:51
    Track
    8
    Title
    Section 60
    Duration
    01:51
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  9. 9 Section 69 03:51
    Track
    9
    Title
    Section 69
    Duration
    03:51
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  10. 10 Section 74, Cumulation I 08:23
    Track
    10
    Title
    Section 74, Cumulation I
    Duration
    08:23
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  11. 11 Section 83 03:14
    Track
    11
    Title
    Section 83
    Duration
    03:14
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  12. 12 Section 84 03:33
    Track
    12
    Title
    Section 84
    Duration
    03:33
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  13. 13 Section 88: A page 33 11:54
    Track
    13
    Title
    Section 88: A page 33
    Duration
    11:54
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  14. 14 Section 88: E page 39 21:28
    Track
    14
    Title
    Section 88: E page 39
    Duration
    21:28
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  15. 15 Section 89 02:16
    Track
    15
    Title
    Section 89
    Duration
    02:16
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  16. 16 Section 91: A page 55 08:22
    Track
    16
    Title
    Section 91: A page 55
    Duration
    08:22
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  17. 17 Section 91: F page 57 08:53
    Track
    17
    Title
    Section 91: F page 57
    Duration
    08:53
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  18. 18 Section 95, Cumulation II 09:15
    Track
    18
    Title
    Section 95, Cumulation II
    Duration
    09:15
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  19. 19 Section 105 04:11
    Track
    19
    Title
    Section 105
    Duration
    04:11
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  20. 20 Section 84 03:38
    Track
    20
    Title
    Section 84
    Duration
    03:38
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  21. 21 Section 89 02:10
    Track
    21
    Title
    Section 89
    Duration
    02:10
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  22. 22 Incanto No. 6 03:27
    Track
    22
    Title
    Incanto No. 6
    Duration
    03:27
    Composer
    Jeroen van Veen
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  23. 23 Chords 18:39
    Track
    23
    Title
    Chords
    Duration
    18:39
    Composer
    Jeroen van Veen
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  24. 24 Conclusion 07:20
    Track
    24
    Title
    Conclusion
    Duration
    07:20
    Composer
    Jeroen van Veen
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  25. 25 Section 91: A 08:31
    Track
    25
    Title
    Section 91: A
    Duration
    08:31
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  26. 26 Section 91: F 09:02
    Track
    26
    Title
    Section 91: F
    Duration
    09:02
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  27. 27 Section 95, Cumulation II 09:23
    Track
    27
    Title
    Section 95, Cumulation II
    Duration
    09:23
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  28. 28 Section 105 01:49
    Track
    28
    Title
    Section 105
    Duration
    01:49
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen
  29. 29 Section 106 02:10
    Track
    29
    Title
    Section 106
    Duration
    02:10
    Composer
    Simeon ten Holt
    Performer
    Jeroen van Veen, Sandra van Veen