The New Dutch Academy (NDA) will resurrect the symphonies of The Hague’s eighteenth century Court of Orange at the Dr. Anton Phillipzaal in The Hague on 24 March. The “Dutch Crown Jewels” concert is a unique opportunity to experience The Hague’s revitalised musical heritage and will be of interest to both Dutch and international audiences.

Today, The Hague is known as an international hub, but even in the eighteenth century the city attracted expatriates. Much of the music on the “Dutch Crown Jewels” programme was composed by foreign musicians who had made The Hague their temporary home. Those expat composers made wonderful contributions to the cultural fabric of the Netherlands. Furthermore, it is one of The Hague’s international expat residents behind the unearthing of this music, some of it having been forgotten for over two hundred years. Australian viola player Simon Murphy (pictured right) is the NDA founding Director and Conductor and he spoke to Catherine Swindles about his discovery of these long lost Dutch “jewels.”

Thirty-seven-year-old Murphy, who left Sydney fifteen years ago saw the Netherlands as “a beacon of cultural excellence and vision that had created the possibility for the early music movement. I wanted to contribute to that,” he says.

In 2002 Murphy founded the New Dutch Academy orchestra which has subsequently performed and broadcast internationally and made a name for itself for bringing newly discovered eighteenth century music onto the concert podium.

“Ever since I was a teenager I have been fascinated by the music of the eighteenth century” says Murphy, “There are the obvious composers like Beethoven and Bach but even more exciting was discovering the composers that I hadn’t heard of.”

Contrary to the impression of the sober and frugal Dutch Calvinist character, extravagant musical performance and composition flourished in the eighteenth century court of the Prince of Orange, Willem V.

“There were even a number of opera houses in The Hague at that time,” says Murphy, “I knew the city must have had a decent orchestra and a number of composers.” So the conductor, who has been labelled by De Volkskrant as the “baroque musician with guts,” embarked on a seven-year long project to rediscover the forgotten composers of the eighteenth century Court of Orange in The Hague.

Murphy’s research uncovered a list of composers’ names. Fortunately, as the Dutch were great publishers in the eighteenth century, he tracked down musical manuscripts the world over, from Washington to Moscow and Stockholm.

“Depending on how well their library or archive was organised, sometimes I would receive a poorly photocopied stack of papers in the mail. For one piece I waited for more than a year and a half. Then what arrived in the post was not a complete symphony,” says Murphy. With the extra difficulty of language barriers, Murphy said there were times he almost gave up. Finally the NDA ended up with “a stack of symphonies a couple of metres high.” Murphy said he was fascinated by the cosmopolitan style of these composers “a lovely blend of Italian, German, international influences in music.” Murphy views this music as an embodiment of eighteenth century enlightenment, “Very effervescent, elegant with a wonderful depth and earthiness.”

In 2009, the New Dutch Academy recorded a compilation of these works: “Crowning Glory – Zappa Symphonies.” The disc features symphonic works by composers active at the court, including Italian Francesco Zappa, and Germans Schwindl, Graaf and Carl Stamitz. Mozart features with his Symphony No. 5 “The Hague,” composed while on tour in the Dutch city at the age of nine.

“Eighteenth century rock ‘n roll, a total eye opener,” said the Haagsche Courant review of the recording. Murphy was overwhelmed by the “Zappa Symphonies” positive media. “Really, every review from each country, from America to Germany, has been positive” says Murphy, “and before this recording most didn’t even know that The Hague had it’s own symphonic tradition.”

Murphy believes The Hague’s symphonic history should be a selling point for the city in its current bid to become the 2018 European Cultural Capital. “Out of all the four contending Dutch cities, this symphonic tradition is one of the completely unique things about The Hague. Not one of the other cities has that tradition.”

On 24 March the international award winning NDA orchestra, whose member musicians hail from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, France, Spain, Poland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US, will revitalise The Hague’s symphonic tradition. It will be the first time this programme will be performed in concert for an audience, an opportunity for The Hague to rediscover its lost Dutch “jewels.”

Simon Murphy Conductor, The New Dutch Academy Orchestra, Georgia Browne Flute, Caroline Kang Cello:

• W.A. Mozart Symphony no. 5 in B Flat “The Hague” (‘Haagsche’)
• W.A. Mozart Andante in C for Flute and Orchestra
• F. Zappa Symphony in B Flat “The Cello Symphony”
• J. Schmitt “The Dutch Haydn” Symphony in E Flat “The Hurdy Gurdy” (‘De

  Draaileer’)
• Dutch Court Symphonies by C.E. Graaf and C. Stamitz

Listen to the NDA performing The Hague’s eighteenth century court composers here.

What: Dutch Crown Jewels
When: Thursday 24 March 2011
Where: Dr Anton Phillipzaal, Spuiplein, The Hague
Time: 20:15 (pre-concert talk 19:30)
Tickets: €28.50/€26.50. Students and under 18’s pay only €5.

Tickets available via www.phillipszaal.nl

More information about the New Dutch Academy at www.newdutchacademy.nl

By Catherine Swindles

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