Duo Paul Frankhuijzen

The first impulse
for Bass clarinet and percussion instruments

The first impulse' is inspired by the artist who isolates himself in his own space to come to a creation. The theme here is creative inspiration, with the
question always being, what is this inspiration? Is it an error, or is it the repetitions and the efffects of it.

There are moments before the inspiration in the composition. Unconsciously, there can already be an inspiration and a change from space which has its
effect on the event. The mystery, the fight, the time before, after and in between, given the unravelable. Make it happen.

Franz Lizst's sonata b minor for piano was a great source of inspiration for this composition. It is a masterpiece that gave a new form of musical
expression. Lizst was the man who retired as an artist. The artist of the soul.

Elements of different parts of this sonata are used. These have not been considered from a traditional approach, such as harmonic analysis etc., but
precisely from the first promptings of different stages, in order to get to the bone of the sonata. These fragments are the inspiration of The first impulse'.

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Instrumentation

052 The first impulse
(2016 revised 2021)
9:30'

Bass Clarinet
Percussion instruments:
Gongs c' d' g'
Tam-tam (ca.40cm)
Suspended cymbal
Taiko drum
Snare drum

First performance, Fie Schouten

Slow intensity
for violin and piano

The piece has his inspiration in the thought of Stéphane Mallermé (1842-1898). He saw the poem as a structure of pronounced and concealed
words. To give a name to the object is to destroy the poetical power it contains.

In 'Slow intensity' Paul Frankhuijzen responded to this. His inspiration is especially the structure of spoken and unspoken words.

By means of slowing down the tempo it creates openings for new layers. The musical material which is arising out of ‘Éventail de Mademoiselle…’ for alto saxophone shows it self in this.

When an artist is working he/she can so intensively approach a detail or phrasing so that specific moments stay as a subjects on their own in that
larger scheme. In “Slow intensity” the composer stresses these moments. The intention is to show the present without explanation and not to create a
dream world.

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Instrumentation

047 Slow intensity
(2013)
11:20'

Violin, piano

Estampie
for alto recorder and bongo set

The Estampie, orginal from the from The Middle Ages. It is rather light hearted and that quality was the basis of departure in this composition. Besides its has great possibilities for solo performances and its dancing character.

The bongos gives drive to the composition, that is alternated with creative playing all the time. As, for instance, subtle play by using the fingertips can be alternated with playing with the flat of the hand, whereas the recorder clearly has more of a solo-role to play.

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Instrumentation

031 Estampie
(2006)
4:50'

Alto recorder, bongo set.. :

First performance, recorder, Suzanne van der Helm,
bongo,Jelle Overheul

Fantasia
for 2 cello's

Three data have been incorporated in ‘Fantasia’, i.e.

1) Some components are quiet. In those components both cellos move graciously and the melody plays a liberated part.

2) Other components on the other hand emanate energy. In those components the music sounds piercingly high.

3) There is a component in which the two cellos follow the rhythm simultaneously, but with the smallest of deviations, whereby music progresses as if it is gliding.

Those three details alternate throughout the composition.

The consort music for six voices by William Lawes (1602-1645), written for six violas de gamba was a source of inspiration for me as well, especially when it came to creativity, polyphony and contour.

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Instrumentation

031 Fantasia
(2004)
7'

2 cello's
commissioned by De Groep van Steen

First performance, ensemble Dubbelduet
Eduard van Regteren Altema, Jacqueline Hamelink

Handmade by the people of:
for 2 piano's / 1 piano

The inspiration comes from several film images from the film ‘Potemkin’ by Eisenstein. The revolution is created, as it were, in the movement of a crowd of people in that film. But also ‘minimal music’ has been a source of inspiration. The ever repetitive as well as the meditative properties of that
music style Paul Frankhuijzen has wanted to break up with other repetitive influences.

It starts out with a seemingly simply naïve movement pattern. Bit by bit a certain unrest comes into being. That unrest gradually gets the upper hand, but in such a way, that the drive remains present.

At the end as it were the naked approaching accents that were created in the unrest remain.
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Instrumentation

012 Handmade by the people of:
(1995)
6'

2 piano's or piano and four hands

First performance, Henriētte and Mieke van der Aalst

Annevoie
for tenor recorder and percusion instruments

The name refers to the Château d’Annevoie, situated south of the town of Namur in Belgium.

Charles-Alexis de Montpellier had the gardens surrounding the castle laid out around 1770. The prevailing theme in the gardens is the use of water, inspired by the fountains of the Villa dEste in Tivoli and the quiet basins of Versailles.

In each case a water stream is fed by three sources, appearing in a different shape every time (fountains, basins).

In the composition Paul has kept to the sequence of the guided tour. He classified the sequence according to the Haiku proportion of 5-7-5=17.
Every time the rhythm changes and/or at a double bar in the score, the visitor arrives in a different part of the garden, where a new garden element originates. The recorder plays a free melody simultaneously, thus depicting the individual emotions of the visitor.

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Instrumentation

05 Annevoie
(1993)
14'

Tenor recorder (or d'recorder)
Percusion instruments:Triangle low, high.
Cymbals: low, high. Chinees cymbal.
Tom tom, low. Conga low, high.
Bongo, low, high. Woodblock.
Gongs 5, from low to high.

commissioned by Maurice van Lieshout,
Eduardo leandro

First performance, recorder Maurice van Lieshout,
percusion Eduardo leandro