Louis Andriessen (1939 - Present)

Introduction
Louis Andriessen is a minimalist  composer born on June 6th, 1939, in Utrecht, Netherlands. Louis would be influenced by father Hendrik, whom was recognized as a pioneer of modern dutch music, and study music with him privately from 1953 to 1957. From 1962 to 1963, Andriessen would study composition privately with Luciano Berio in Milan then in Berlin where he helped him score Passaggio. In 1970, Andriessen would go through a whole mind changing moment where he decided to stop writing music for standard symphonic ensembles.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2012/oct/15/louis-andriessen-classical-music-guide

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Work Analysis
6 years after swaying away from scoring music for standard ensembles, Andriessen would have a creative breakthrough and write De Saat. This piece involves a large choral section that's based around Plato’s The Republic and is sung in the original greek text. The reasoning behind this piece was to contribute to connection between music and politics; as Andriessen puts it “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”. Andriessen uses the text from Plato because of how new musical ideas were treated in Greece. Andriessen has said talking about Plato that “everyone can see the absurdity of [his] statement that the mixolydian mode should be banned as it would have a damaging influence on the development of character”. He has also been quoted saying that he wrote this piece almost ironically, wishing that plato was right and that music could actually change state laws. The piece starts with a methodical oboe motif repeating, showing Andriessen’s minimalist techniques. He then starts to layer this motif by have another set of oboes come in at a different time and play it as well creating an echo. This repeated phrase is then interrupted by the loud entry from the horns and trombones that play something very similar. The double of these parts is called an hocket effect which is done by splitting an ensemble down the middle to enable energetic stereo duelling. After these parts come together, an electric guitar, piano, and the vocals are introduced. The vocals are in complete unison as they all sing a traditional greek scale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucOZRRUHTh0

Comparisons
Comparisons could be made to Stravinsky with some of the rhythmic patterns throughout this work. I personally connect this music with how the video game industry scores their music. Several companies have used the combination of old text with new instrumentation if their during a game based in a certain time period. The use of a more modern instrumentation makes listening more familiar to players and makes the experience easier to enjoy.

Observations
I found this piece to be really enjoyable to listen to by how it brought together new ideas like minimalism and unconventional instruments like electric guitar and combined them with traditional greek scales. With knowing Andriessen’s motive for the making of this piece it makes it worth more because of how it uses this once banned ideas to create a masterful work of art.