Nietzsche, Piano Music
Composer: Friedrich Nietzsche
Title: Piano Music
Performer: Jeroen van Veen
Tracklist
Works on This Recording
1.
Heldenklage by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
2.
Ungarischer Marsch by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
3.
Edes Titok by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
4.
So lach doch mal by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
5.
Da geht ein Bach by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
6.
Im Mondschein auf der Puszta by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
7.
Ermanarich by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
8.
Polish Dances (2) for Piano: no 1, Mazurka by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
9.
Polish Dances (2) for Piano: no 2, Aus der Czarda by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
10.
Das zerbrochene Ringlein by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
11.
Albumblatt by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
12.
Das "Fragment an sich" by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
13.
Hymnus an die Freundschaft by Friedrich Nietzsche
Performer: Jeroen van Veen (Piano)
Like countless other well-educated German lads, Friedrich Nietzsche took up the piano as a child, and immersed himself in the world of Beethoven and Schumann. But unlike most of them, he pursued music with a single-minded devotion which would later distinguish his philosophical writings. During his teenage years he composed fugues, sonatas and fantasies, as well as more ambitious works such as a Mass, a Miserere, even a Christmas Oratorio: a sublime irony coming from one whose most infamous pronouncement would be that ‘God is dead. We have killed him.’ University studies in Basel put paid both to his Christianity, but when he returned to composition he wrote songs which are now the best-known part of his own music, and have received several recordings. Having composed the Hymn to Friendship in 1874, at the ripe age of 24, he gave up writing music for several years but returned to itlater in life, and he could still play Beethoven sonatas by heart once afflicted by the ravages of syphilis. Even the editor of his music considered that as a composer, Nietzsche was amateurish and lacked originality, in thrall as he was to the German masters of the first half of the 19th century. However, the piano miniatures recorded here present a fascinating window into the creative mind of a still-lofty figure in Western thought. For Nietzsche, music first and foremost was a way to express thoughts and feelings that could not be conveyed in words. Composing was also a means of experimentation, as showed by Das Fragment ‘An sich’, a miniature in music, to be repeated a non-stipulated amount of times. But even in this pre-Minimal piece, Nietzsche seems to focus mostly on the emotions, suggesting the repetitions shouldbe performed con maliconia, with melancholy. With his vast experience performing and recording (for Brilliant Classics) the Minimalist compositions of our time, Jeroen van Veen is the ideal pianist to undertake such music.
Jeroen van Veen
Jeroen Van Veen (1969) started playing the piano at the age of 7. He studied at the Utrecht Conservatory with Alwin Bär and Håkon Austbö. In 1993 he passed the Performing Artists' Exam. Van Veen has played with orchestras conducted by Howard Williams (Adams), Peter Eötvös (Zimmermann), Neal Stulberg (Mozart & Bartok) and Robert Craft (Stravinsky). He has played recitals in Europe, Russia, Canada & the USA. Van Veen attended master classes with Claude Helffer, Roberto Szidon, Ivan Klánsky and Leonid Hambro. He was invited to several festivals; Reder Piano Festival (1988), Festival der Kunsten in Bad Gleichenberg (1992), Wien Modern (1993), Holland Dance Festival (1998, 2010) Lek Art Festival (1996-2007). Van Veen recorded for major Dutch Radio- and Television companies like AVRO, NOS, IKON, NCRV, TROS/Internet, WTBC-TV & Radio (Florida, U.S.A.) and Moscow Television. In 1992, Van Veen recorded his first CD as Piano duo Van Veen. In 1995 Piano duo Van Veen made their debut in the United States. They were prizewinners in the prestigious 4th International Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition in Miami, Florida. After this achievement they toured the United States and Canada many times. The documentary "Two Pianos One Passion" (nominated with an Emmy Award 1996) portrays them as a duo.
The various compositions by Van Veen may be described as Minimal Music with different faces, Crossovers to Jazz, Blues, Soundscape, Avant-Garde, Techno, Trance and Pop Music. His Minimal Preludes for piano, and his NLXL are some of his most played pieces worldwide. His latest Minimal Piano Concerto Continuum was a great success. In 2015 he premiered his Incanto nr 2 in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with Sandra van Veen.
Currently Mr. Van Veen is director of Van Veen Productions, Chairman of the Simeon ten Holt Foundation, Pianomania Foundation and artistic director of several music festivals. He is also active as Overseas Artistic Director in the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition based in Miami. Over the last 25 years Van Veen recorded more than 150 CD’s and 5 DVD’s, mostly for Brilliant Classics. His discography includes: Adams, Einaudi, Glass, JacobTV, Minimal Piano Collections, Nyman, Pärt, Reich, Riley, Stravinsky, Tiersen, Ten Holt, Van Veen, Yiruma and many others. Van Veen is also praised for his productivity some say; ‘the man who records faster than his shadow’.
“Dutch pianist and composer, Jeroen van Veen, the leading exponent of minimalism today”, Alan Swanson (Fanfare)
"Jeroen van Veen has for many years been a powerhouse in the piano world of the Netherlands and beyond", Dominy Clements ( Musicweb-International)
"The Maximal Minimalist Missionary", Raymond Tuttle (Fanfare)
www.jeroenvanveen.com
