You are cordially invited to attend the third edition of the Forbidden Music Regained Festival on Saturday, December 9th, 2023. This event is organised with the Conservatory of Amsterdam, the Leo Smit Stichting and the Netherlands Music Institute / Haags Gemeente Archief.
Donemus, in collaboration with the Leo Smit Foundation, the Netherlands Music Institute, and the Conservatory of Amsterdam, is proud to present a new volume in its series “Forbidden Music Regained.” This series now comprises 100 scores by composers persecuted during World War II. We will mark the occasion by presenting the 100th score in the series of published scores, Lex van Delden’s oratorium De Vogel Vrijheid (1955), praising freedom and the abolition of slavery.
During the war, performances of many works were prohibited, and their composers were imprisoned or went into hiding, while fourteen did not survive. After the war, a new generation took over, and the pre-war composers were soon forgotten. Their compositions were hidden in closets and archives or were lost. However, the Leo Smit Foundation has rediscovered numerous works in recent decades. Some scores were found in attics, others in garden sheds, and some were discovered by young children next to a garbage can. These compositions are of high quality and deserve to be performed again. They represent a variety of styles, covering the whole spectrum of the first half of the twentieth century, including romanticism, impressionism, modernism, neoclassicism, jazz, etc.
The project aims to encourage musicians, young and old, from all over the world to perform these compositions and reintroduce concert audiences to this unheard music.
In response to the Corona crisis during the fall of 2020, Buma/Stemra and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (OC&W) joined hands to announce the Music Investment Fund. The fund’s primary objective was to strengthen the music sector by providing work grants to composers, lyricists, and music publishers. Donemus, being the rights holder with Buma/Stemra, utilised this investment to collaborate with the Leo Smit Foundation in publishing valuable compositions in either a first edition or a renewed one.
With the help of this grant, Donemus was able to prepare the first 25 editions, which involved a team of seven engravers, two proofreaders, and an editor. Eleonore Pameijer, the artistic director of the Leo Smit Foundation, carefully selected the compositions and provided information about the composers. Lourens Stuifbergen scrutinised all the scores and wrote all the forewords. Thanks to the generous donations to the Leo Smit Foundation, the project continued, resulting in 75 more editions during the last two years. Moreover, the Rudi Martinus van Dijk Foundation invested in three major works of Henriëtte Bosmans. At the same time, the Stichting Nederlands Muziek Instituut supported publishing several works composed by Hans Lachman, Theo Smit Sibinga, Jan van Gilse and Lex van Delden. In addition, a grant from the David G. Pollart Center for Arts and Humanities at Washington State University made it possible to add several valuable works by Julius Hijman to the collection.
13:30 – Walk-in
14:00 – First concert
15:15 – Pause
15:30 – Presentation of the 100th score, followed by the Second concert
17:00 – Reception
Free entrance, but registration is needed. To sign up, please email secretariaat@leosmit.nl
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention