The One Minute Symphony is a collaboration between the Composition department and the Residentie Orkest (RO), which is already going for years. Many composition students took this opportunity to experience what it’s like to work with an orchestra.
Two years ago, Wilson Leywantono started on a five-minute work for the orchestra, short after a pandemic started, a concert got cancelled, Wilson graduated his master's and moved back to Indonesia.
On the 14th of May 2022 m-o-o-n-l-i finally found its première in the concert hall of Amare. Wilson took a ferry, 3 planes and a train to be able to attend the rehearsals and concert.
Why and how did you sign up for the Residentie Orkest project?Wilson: ‘I’ve been wanting to write for a traditional orchestra for a long time, and then the opportunity presented itself in this project. I could sign up for the project through the online sign-up sheet. Each composer that was interested could put their name down at the concert they would like to be part of. A meeting followed between the students, the composition department, and the team from the Residentie Orkest to discuss our choices. I chose to be part of the Beethoven concert. For this concert, RO asked for a longer piece of five minutes. I was quite nervous about having to relate my piece to Beethoven. But I thought since this is my last year being a student, it is probably time to dare myself to take on the challenge just to see how I would react to it.’
How did you use Beethoven as an inspiration?
‘I didn’t want to make a personal choice on a piece to draw inspiration from. So, I opened YouTube and typed in Beethoven and the work that appeared on top was unsurprisingly the famous ‘Moonlight’ Piano Sonata No. 14.
I took the audio recording of the first few bars of the sonata and slowed down the playback speed to almost the point of stasis, just to see how different the soundscape would be. I was surprised by what I heard. Although it might still be recognizable to a keen listener, what I experienced was another microcosm of harmony and rhythm that I would not have expected to come out of the work. A question arose from this: are those sounds truly part of the work, or are they the byproduct of how the incapability of the technology to meet our consciousness? ‘
Did you work on this piece with your teachers?
‘I had a number of discussions with my teachers about the best ways of translating the audio and incorporating it into the sound of the orchestra. And also, on how it would be notated best. But in the end, the work itself is not necessarily just about imitating the audio, but rather serving as a starting point which the work is based upon.’
How does it feel to be back in the Netherlands?
‘It certainly did not feel like 2 years had passed by, maybe it was due to the fact that it has been an unusual 2 years for us all. Nonetheless, I am happy to be back, meeting old friends, the beach, and just being in the city.’
What do you think of the new conservatoire?
‘Amare is certainly quite a change from the old building I used to study in when I was doing my Composition Masters. It would be interesting to see how the effect of the new building will be for the students and the school.’
How was your experience of working with Residentie Orkest?
‘I am very pleased to have worked with Andrew Grams, the conductor who stepped for Richard Egarr, and the members of the Residentie Orkest. It was great that we had time to try out a number of things on the piece. For example, we could work on the dynamics and balance of the piece and really bring life to the notes. There seemed to be mutual respect between me as a composer, the conductor and the orchestra. I was really happy to experience this and this is the way it should always be.
I am very pleased with the performance of my piece.’
You can find more information about Wilson’s piece on the website of Residentie Orkest.
The next upcoming One Minute Symphony will take place on the 27th of May. The piece Līmen IV by alumnus composer Tilen Lebar will be premiered. More info