Hallelujah

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HALLELUJAH I (1986-97), a symphony of the North in four movements for bass clarinet and large symphony orchestra, has a long history. The title refers to a work for chorus and orchestra that I composed back in the 60s called Transformation I, on the way to hallelujah. It makes good on a promise I made back then in the form of a vision, in which one day I would be in control of my skills and in doing so, attain the freedom to play, freely, with musical ideas. Hallelujah I (and II) is the result of an enduring desire to wring the maximum effect from an orchestra, in the same way as Jets d'Orgue celebrated the organ. That also meant engaging with the question of individual vs. orchestra. Evidence of my preoccupation with this problem is illustrated by, for example, seven other soloists emerging from the orchestra who challenge the soloist and join up to form a separate group in front of the stage.

The work plan for the composition was the realization of a set of objectives that had grown and ripened within me over the years: the fruit of a dream, so to speak. Evolution is the work's central theme. Acting as a metaphor, it develops from an imaginary, primitive beginning - the musical Big Bang, as it were - to higher and ever more advanced forms of musical behavior and musical language. The score is of considerable metric proportions, as I subdivided the strings often up to their individual parts. The orchestra also employs 6 percussion with a sizable kit, and a full sized wind ensemble.

As with Jets d'Orgue, the composition grew in stages and a performance of movements 1 and 3 (completed in 1990) was long in coming. At last in 1992 the two movements were performed in Amsterdam, by the Radio Symphony Orchestra under Lucas Vis, with Harry Sparnaay on bass clarinet. My belief in the work's potential was reinvigorated after that and I completed movements 2 and 4 soon afterwards, but not until I had carried out a few crucial changes and touch-ups to the first and third movements. A performance of all four movements is still awaiting the green light from a courageous orchestra or music organization...

HALLELUJAH II (1987/88), for an ensemble of 26, was a commission from the ASKO Ensemble, for which I was forced to temporarily set aside my work on Hallelujah I. The ten-minute work was, however, executed in the same spirit as its namesake but with complete freedom in my choice of form and content. 'Self-indulgence within a well-delineated freedom', would perhaps be an appropriate phrase. Both Hallelujahs are strenuous exercises in optimism, or, as the foreword to Hallelujah II says, 'desperate attempts to sing hallelujah! whilst trying to swim up against Niagara Falls': the sort of heroism that seems to sum up my career as a composer rather well. A beautiful recording is available on Music + Practice, Composer's Voice CV 57.

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