On April 20 and 21, the chamber choir Ad Parnassum will perform a programme with choral works by the Dutch composer Henk Badings.

Ad Parnassum presents a cross-section of his works for mixed choir a cappella, composed between 1940 and 1987. The result is a selection from two cycles that are integrated into his Indonesian birthplace. In addition, some spiritual compositions with Latin text, a cycle for choir and electronics, a meditative work for alto solo and mixed choir and a dazzling vaudeville with English text. About the cycle Java and poems, Badings notes in 1940: ‘All the poems were about Java, a dear subject to me, because even though I was 33 at the time, I still did not feel at home in the Netherlands and I still had nostalgia for the wonderful atmosphere of my early childhood’. And the Evocations (1962) also expresses his connection with the mystical world of his birthplace with gamelan music and his own melodic patterns.

According to musicologist Leo Samama, Henk Badings is one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. He praises him as “a versatile artist who switches seemingly effortlessly from serious concert music to the style of the great American ‘wind bands’, from electronic music to educational collections, from extensive and dramatic choral works to works for amateur orchestra. His musical style, lyrical and somber, heroic and exuberant, dramatic and effective, remains omnipresent and leaves its mark on every score. What Badings wrote between 1930 and 1960 is of international allure. But his later works are also very popular, especially in the United States, and demonstrate boundless energy and spirit.”

Program:

‘Nooit helemaal thuis’ (Never quite a home) – Henk Badings 

Java en poèmes –  W 282 (1940)

Tristis est anima mea – W 301 (1987)

Ave Maris Stella – W 265 (1987)

Drei Schwärmereien – W 256 (1964) 

Missa Brevis – W 288 (april-mei 1946)

An den Mond – W 263 (16 mei 1987)

Evocaties – W 273 (1962)