Andriessen’s De Staat

With De Staat (1976), Louis Andriessen composed music for eternity. This highly personal mix of Stravinsky, American minimal, European avant-garde and jazz caused a shockwave in the international music world. Asko|Schönberg presents this politically charged work alongside a brand new work by Oscar Bettison. Bettison studied with Andriessen and is composer in residence at Asko|Schönberg this season. 

Andriessen drew inspiration from minimal music when composing De Staat, but applied minimalism in his utterly unique way. Bettison has written his piece for the same ensemble as De Staat. He sees his work as a ‘nocturnal wonderland’. A group of pianos, harps, and guitars are positioned centre stage, with some musicians changing positions. The singers incite the brass players and invoke the night.