According to presenter Lex Bohlmeijer on this DVD, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck would be too little visible in Dutch culture. To change that, the Utrecht String Quartet and director Daniël Brüggen are paying homage to Holland's most famous composer. Three contemporary fellow composers arranged a keyboard work by Sweelinck for string quartet, which will be performed here. The oldest of these is the
… transcription of the Chromatic Fantasy (1951) by composer and Sweelinck expert Bernard van den Sigtenhorst Meyer. Chiel Meijering was inspired by the melancholy of Mein Junges Leben Hat Ein End (2007) and adds even more depth in his arrangement. Samuel Vriezens' quartet transcription of the Phrygische Fantasie (2006), on the other hand, is extremely modest and here and there approaches the sound of the English viol consort of Sweelinck's contemporary William Byrd. Each work is combined with a short film by Daniël Brüggen, in which he tries to capture the music in images. An impressive homage, which Sweelinck shows and hear from a different side than usual. (JWvR)more
