Klokken voor Haarlem (4 Players)
By Louis Andriessen
4 Players: Piano, Celesta, Synth, Vibes/Bells
Klokken voor Haarlem is a quartet that uses wide, unison chords to emulate the sound of bells. Scored for Piano, Synthesizer, Celesta, and Vibraphone/Bells player, this piece challenges the small ensemble to make perfect entrances amidst long pauses across each measure of 7/4 time. The chords are seemingly atonal, but as the piece progresses a clear harmonic progression makes itself apparent, changing the tone and mood of the piece. After several bell statements is a made flurry of sextuplets in each part. Later on, a melody makes its way through the noise, but cannot prevail, and the piece ends with the bells as it started. Duration of this piece is roughly 8 Minutes.
Annotated by Robert McCarthy