About a month ago I talked to conductor Jan Gerrit Adema. He asked me if I knew of any recordings of works for Theremin by Percy Grainger. He wanted to use these recordings in a special Grainger concert that he was planning.

I couldn’t let such a special occasion pass by: the concert turned out to be a collection representing different aspects of Grainger’s work. A live performance of his ‘Free Music No. 1’ would be a remarkable addition to the programme. The fact that this piece hadn’t been performed in the Netherlands before only made it more interesting. Fortunately I didn’t have to spend too much time looking for players for the ensemble. Thanks to Wilco Botermans I quickly found Marieke van der Heyden, Marcel Wierckx and Jessica Hummel ready to join me in this performance.

Playing the ‘Free Music No. 1’ was a very special experience to me, especially since I mostly play tonal music. The creation of a musical landscape by four players, formed by different graphic lines projected on a screen, was not only special to us, but also –especially because of the live performance – for the audience.

The concert was absolutely impressive. Before I had only heard ‘Lincolnshire Posy’ and ‘Londonderry Air’, and I didn’t really like Grainger’s music. After listening to this concert (and contributing to it for about 3 minutes), I’ve really changed my mind. The music was inspiring, especially the rarely performed ‘Tribute to Foster’ for choir and orchestra.

This piece is remarkable in every aspect: from the orchestration and the vocal barbershop-like solists to a choir that plays musical glasses. This complex and inventive way of arranging transforms the simple basis (the American children’s song ‘Doo-dah’) into an impressive and original concert-piece.

A recording of 'Free Music No. 1' is available on YouTube!