Orkest De Volharding – The Minimalists (2009)

Main reason for me to order for this album was Andiessen’s “Workers Union”, which I had heard before, but didn’t own yet.
The track is a beautiful example of the composer’s personal brand of raw-edged minimalism; it certainly gets the treatment it deserves here, what with legendary Orchestra De Volharding performing it in its inimitably rough and lively way. De Volharding was a project co-founded by Andriessen and Dutch jazz original Willem Breuker, and was meant to attract experimental musicians from various genres. Leftist political views were involved at the time, as was all the rage among young and rebellious Dutch intellectuals in the early seventies. Fidel Castro and chairman Mao were popular among these musicians, although one can hardly say the youngsters had firsthand knowledge about the actual situation in either Cuba or China.
There is more to enjoy: next to familiar compositions like Riley’s “In C” or Adams’s “Short Ride in a Fast Machine”, we see lesser-known works like Kyle Gann’s “Sunken City” or David Lang’s “Street”

Tracks:

Cd1

01. Steve Reich: City Life-Check it out [0:05:45.67]
02. Steve Reich: City Life-Pile driver\alarms [0:03:51.59]
03. Steve Reich: City Life-It s been a honeymoon can t take no mo [0:05:12.21]
04. Steve Reich: City Life-Heartbeats\boats and buoy [0:03:46.55]
05. Steve Reich: City Life-Heavy smoke [0:04:51.36]
06. Kyle Gann: Sunken City-Before [0:07:46.02]
07. Kyle Gann: Sunken City-After [0:21:09.69]
08. Louis Andriessen: Workers Union [0:17:11.36]

Cd2

01. Terry Riley: In C [0:51:35.64]
02. David Lang: Street [0:09:44.68]
03. John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine [0:04:07.01]

Performers:

Orkest De Volharding – Jussi Jaatinen
Geoffrey Douglas Madge - piano