Louis Andriessen - De Staat (1976)

Composer: Louis Joseph Andriessen (June 6, 1939 - July 1, 2021)
Ensemble: Nederlands Blazers Ensemble conducted by Lucas Vis
00:00 Oboes in hypnotic polyphony (01:59) Brash trombones and horns
02:53 Chorus Entry 1 over a cool mixolydian drive
04:31 A harder drive as the oboes and violas take the melody in a distant calling manner
05:52 The ostinato takes on a more menacing sound below biting clusters growing in intensity
07:52 ...climaxing into a tight funky unison
09:51 An extremely violent and thick texture (10:52)
12:28 ...resolves into warm waves of sound
15:05 The intensity and violence returns
18:57 Choir Entry 2, strict and authoritarian (21:20 great explosive power) (23:19)
26:14 Amazingly sinister texture of different mute sounds coming in and out building to 27:03
29:44 Choir Entry 3, cutting tutti chords
31:05 ...break down into a manic quasi-hocket
Score available from Boosey and Hawkes: www.boosey.com/cr/music/Louis...
Composer's Note:
I wrote De Staat (The Republic) as a contribution to the debate about the relation of music to politics. Many composers view the act of composing as, somehow, above social conditioning. I contest that. How you arrange your musical material, the techniques you use, and the instruments you score for, are largely determined by your own social circumstances and listening experience, and the availability of financial support.
I do agree, though, that abstract musical material - pitch, duration, and rhythm - are beyond social conditioning: it is found in nature. However, the moment the musical material is ordered it becomes culture and hence a social entity.
I have used passages from Plato to illustrate these points. His text is politically controversial, if not downright negative: Everyone can see the absurdity of Plato's statement that the Mixolydian mode should be banned as it would have a damaging influence on the development of character.
My second reason for writing De Staat is a direct contradiction of the first: I deplore the fact that Plato was wrong. If only it were true that musical innovation could change the laws of the State!
I could write beautiful symphonic music, but then I'm not doing what I want to do, which is to develop a musical language which has other roots. In De Staat, you will recognize scales and pitches from Indonesian music, for example. Early bop and cool jazz have also influenced me very strongly, much more than Mozart, Bach, and Brahms. De Staat has nothing to do with Greek music, except perhaps for the use of oboes and harps and for the fact that the entire work is based on tetrachords, groups of four notes, which also explains the scoring for groups of four.
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[@S.Lijmerd]

Fun fact: Louis Andriessen was an anarchist, or at least held anarchist sympathies. Title of this piece literally translates to "The State", the Dutch name for Plato's republic. He was in the 20th century pretty politically active. His opera *Reconstructie*, dedicated to and about Che Guevara, almost got censored by the Dutch government due to its anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist themes, and it even caused Nixon to cancel a visit to the Netherlands.

[@Cmaj7]

I remember an interview with him about his beliefs on politics and music and it was pretty scuffed, because the interviewer seemed to think Andriessen was still the super-anti-authoritarian and Andriessen seemed to have tempered his beliefs a lot haha

[@lepistanuda]

baaaaaaaased

[@dylanbarnes4102]

That IS a fun fact!

[@rayancharafeddine4982]

An anarchist who likes Che Guevara?

[@dimm__]

well, ya know..

[@Symphorch]

I love the fact that the Mixolydian section contains text from Plato denouncing the Mixolydian mode.

[@Cmaj7]

Louis Andriessen's breakout piece, it is intense and unforgivingly brash, yet in many places warm, sweet and sublimely beautiful (esp. 14:39). This is easily one of my absolute favorite pieces.

[@ryanstroud22]

EFBC...imagine creating something so profound with such little material. Louis was a genius. Thankfully we'll have his music forever.

[@firzaakbarpanjaitan]

As the composer's note, he was influenced by Indonesian music, Gamelan music to be exact. And that makes me very happy, we need more gamelan influenced music in our life 😊

[@Ocidad]

pantes kayak suara Tn pelog/slendro yak

[@KLBoringBand]

I studied gamelan influenced pieces very briefly, and yeah! That section at 3:00 is a dead ringer for gamelan!

[@ConvincingPeople]

Agreed! Immediately noticed the pelog influences.

[@samuelconnolly347]

You can absolutely hear the influence of gamelan in this, particularly during 'an extremely violent and thick texture'. Forget cowbell. Need more gamelan!

[@Shiver197]

I love to see multiple composers being inspired by the gamelan

[@jessebruul2185]

Massive work, thanks for uploading!!

[@Tr-zn9ob]

10:29 That part transcendet me. Literally felt hunted. This is a masterpiece

[@marekvodicka]

In one word: WOW

[@hihihihahaha4281]

Wow...This must be the best I have ever found.

[@bassvibasics479]

2:53 the bass entry with the chorus gets me every time. Love it!

[@meroserros]

Never have heard about it. It's astonishing. Thanks for promoting it. Abraços do Brasil.

[@anuntitledstory1]

Thank you for uploading, I absolutely love this piece!!

[@dion1949]

Thanks for highlighting the score so that it can be followed.

[@kentbergin18]

Great piece!

[@christianryan_]

This is really great! Thank you for making this wonderful time-map of the piece in the description. Extremely useful!

[@tomas.cabado]

love the thick support of the bass guitar sound in all these bold and sharp textures

[@civildesobidience]

Great! Thanks and congratulations!

[@cesarronaldoortizvalencia2723]

Outstanding music! Ambitious work! Great performance! Thanks for uploading the score 👍

[@steffen5121]

Wow. Now I see where the Matrix OST composer (among other movie composers) could have gotten his inspiration from...

[@TheSlowPianist]

Yeah, Andriessen and John Adams I reckon.

[@NickBatinaComposer]

lol I always used The Matrix as a great example of Adams’ orchestration approach for comp students, that soundtrack kicks butt 😂

[@vincent5973]

Thank you so much !!! Absolutely increadible and beautiful

[@franzkrauspenhaar3794]

Extremely powerful.

[@_Reika46]

日本には、この曲と同様のスケールを使った民族音楽があります。日本人の私にはとても聞き心地がよいです。

[@Cmaj7]

ご視聴ありがとうございます！アンドリーセンの『De Tijd』が雅楽の影響を受けました。最初はつまらない作品だと思いましたが、だんだん好きになりました。 Thanks for watching. Andriessen's De Tijd was influenced by gagaku. I thought it was a boring piece at first, but it's grown on me.

[@jelenaforfree]

This is awesome!

[@luisa.martinez2300]

Thank you ❤❤❤❤

[@SamTahbou]

I never listened to Andriessen before, this is so good!

[@marinaorgan589]

Same. Mind blown.

[@TonyMatthewsComposer]

Interesting, and held my attention.

[@WillemVanTwillertOrganist]

Great performance. Interesting music too

[@f52_yeevy]

I've immediately been extremely fascinated by this piece. Does anyone have the text the choir is singing?

[@coosoorlog]

It's like John Adams but there's more violence.

[@NFStopsnuf]

I didn’t know a different tonal language could equate violence!

[@severusbandaya]

It's like John Adams but without talent

[@stacia6678]

@@severusbandaya ok

[@pellevanesch6606]

@@severusbandaya ok

[@ShutUpZewenThisIsNotBased]

@@severusbandaya ok

[@reubennb2859]

Really like this, reminds me of Reich's The Desert Music, but with a very different arranging style

[@charleswang8052]

Love the gamelan influence!!

[@gthobaben]

Who is the sick bass player that can shred all those 16ths man? Got Jaco in the orchestra.

[@Cmaj7]

It is Erik Olsman

[@MegaCirse]

When the world crumbles, when the structures of a civilization falter, it is good to return to that which in history does not flex, but on the contrary recovers courage, gathers the separated, pacifies without bruising. It’s worth recalling that the genius of creation is also moving in an history devoted to the destruction💥

[@optimisticbeard1485]

Hey, De Staat, love that band lol

[@nkeuphonium]

This is one of those pieces that I don't understand at all! :P But wow, is it fun to listen to.

[@pwrcmdr]

I'm exhausted! The intensity starts at 11 and stays there till the end. How have I not heard this piece before! Has to be impossible to play

[@daleandelainearts]

Conducting this must look like having an epileptic seizure.

[@cjjones999]

Wow

[@lwskiner]

I wonder what Alban Berg would have thought about this piece....

[@erictao8396]

Only five minutes in so far, but this is amazing! Quick note, isn't it D lydian rather than mixolydian at 2:53? (Edit: unless you're analyzing it as E mixolydian?)

[@Cmaj7]

I'm glad you're liking it! I take it as E mixolydian because of the beginning E pedal, and because mixolydian reflects more of the funk influence (De Stijl is mostly mixolydian). It's a bit ambiguous, though, since it's just a tetrachord.

[@erictao8396]

@@oio_8100 Me!

[@wormswithteeth]

This slaps hard.

[@regpharvey]

Mmhmm!

[@rahulgohilcomposer]

Am I the only one hearing faint whispers of Adams here and there?

[@OrbiliusMagister]

Repetition legitimises.😎

[@MicoAquinoComposer]

4:39 Sounds like Piano Phase by Reich

[@AndromedaCripps]

It’s crazy how much like Gamelan this sounds without being remotely at all gamelan. But even someone like me who only knows about one-month-of-a-high-school-music-history-class-worth of knowledge about Gamelan can instinctively hear those scales and cyclic, minimalistic, rhythmically dense but consistent melodies in much of this work. Wait. Is influence from Indonesian music part of what formed the minimalist movement in the Western classical scene???????? Because those repeating cycles changing lightly over time are key to both genres 😱😱😱😱😱😱

[@ShivaShankara251]

It's the scale too especially Do-Mi-Fa-So-Ti-(Do)

[@mauricioluizzaninett987]

Obrigado por publicar, essa música está é incrível!

[@allcats2473]

Neat

[@_rstcm]

InTeReStInG combination of instruments.

[@Scriabinfan593]

I really don't know how to feel about this piece. I both hate and love it at the same time.

[@somebody9033]

21:20 why do some of the trombones play a pedal F not the written low F? I think it sounds cooler with the loud pedal F but why is it there....?

[@jpdegraaff]

It is because Brandt Attema plays bass trombone in this recording...

[@OntoDistro]

Reich meets Stravinsky :-D

[@jasonenosart]

At 13:40 , do I detect a parody of In C?

[@GryphonWahle]

This piece must have inspired Don Davis in composing the score for The Matrix.

[@Steinwaytoday]

I agree! This and Ligeti's "Atmospheres" have that very peculiar use of the brasses

[@musomaster9027]

It’s basically just Tubular Bells for classical music snobs.

[@sizosazinusstigmapsipsi]

Like a Xenakis XAS ?

[@bourgeoisie6076]

Reminds me of steve reich mid-beginning.

[@BatmanAoD]

I don't think it impacts Andriessen's point much, but I have been told that what the Greeks called "mixolydian" does not actually correspond to what we call the mixolydian mode.

[@Cmaj7]

Yes, mixolydian for the ancient Greeks is basically independent from modern mixolydian. The text at choir entry 2 actually talks the modes and how mixolydian is a wailful mode inducing weepings and lamentations, and should be banned

[@somebody9033]

​​@@Cmaj7ah but what was ancient greek mixolydian then?

[@samuelg.feinbergcomposer5452]

.... jeez

[@alexanderkrampe6540]

Impressive and depressive.

[@machida5114]

minimalism

[@colin1127]

this inspired hundreds of years by thinking fellers union

[@sondheimisGAWD]

22:10 - 23:30

[@Alik_msk]

Интересный композитор, раньше я его не слышал. Он чем то напоминает Прокофьева.

[@MrRbjunior83]

What is this?

[@braveheartsbeardstudios]

This is why God made synths... play that s! on a Moog, those oboes are too disonant!!!! Lol! Oh cool the tubas coming in, and a choir! Whew blessed relief from the oboes!

[@nooblivecam]

28:45

[@shawndounvan1398]

really good work made my day! is it bach/mozart?

[@_rstcm]

What language is the chorus singing in????

[@Cmaj7]

It's Greek, from Plato's The Republic (De Staat). Andriessen picked sections about the relationship between music and society. You can find a translation in the score linked in the description.

[@_rstcm]

@@Cmaj7 Ok. Thanx.

[@dinocoder1281]

23:23 amogus

[@TwistedThunderKittie]

performing objectivist theater on the world stage

[@kronkepus3671]

Ah yes loud = funny

[@Jstrong774]

If you hate brass players and want to injure them, program this piece!

[@Wellcraines]

Not quite as funny as his stand up, but still pretty good. Thanks for the upload!

[@brianasilvey]

You won't care about my particular comment, but yours is one of the best and funniest comments I have ever read on KZbin. Thank you!

[@hernanescudero6620]

I love how all the metric changes are irrelevant in the first half

[@robertodellepiane9095]

Terribile! Rumore molesto!

[@GUILLOM]

Kid

[@vine2197]

Kid

[@elijahstewart3231]

Kid

[@ShutUpZewenThisIsNotBased]

Kid

[@lightspeed174]

What the heck is this.. To me this isn't even pleasant to listent to. Just don't get it. Sorry but, not my cup of tea.

[@stacia6678]

I think 2:53 is quite a beautiful moment. give it another listen, the piece is quite dissonant but has some amazing moments

[@connorcmusician]

its entrancing once you get into it :)

[@dirkhoekstra727]

Oh god...I need to listen now to Dvorak 9th Symphony now to heal the ear cancer I got from this chaotic cacophonic non-harmonious noise. It actually made me irritated instead of feeling relaxed.

[@ShutUpZewenThisIsNotBased]

Cry more

[@derkvanderveen8938]

Looks like 33 minutes of agression in the form of patterns without any musicality or imagination in it. Highly overestimated composer, although a nice person was my impression.

[@WEEBLLOM]

No

[@abvwtube]

Well, it is meant by the composer to depict anger.

[@bazingacurta2567]

You're a philistine.

[@Aaron-hq4bu]

Garbage politics, garbage music. L'etat....est BAD!

[@GUILLOM]

Kid

[@vine2197]

Kid

[@henryvaughan757]

Booo this guy boooo

[@commentingchannel9776]

Kid

[@nusquam-e.q.u.e.]

Despite understanding your will to have a sharp opinion to deliver, not liking a piece doesn't mean it is bad. No matter how technical and objective you can try being, you can never reach a neutrality when it comes to your opinion, therefore, your disliking is subjective. Many people enjoy this piece, including myself, and I could picture people having their confidence weaken by such a blunt comment, not even constructive whatsoever, causing these people to question the legitimacy of their musical taste. Wouldn't be too much to ask you to be more respectful with your comments as it's not the first one I see. For example, saying you dislike it instead of qualifying it as "garbage, bad" and explaining why, would be much more enjoyable and interesting to read.

[@Alix777.]

Neat