Publications

... Ariadne, like Verdi’s overture, combines transparent lyricism with dramatic progression. Starting out with fragile flute figures, it swells to include the full complement of strings. When the whole range of the brass comes in with a driving motif, there is sinister menace. The piece constantly changes colour and texture, making use of the…

"Boldin dedicated the concert to the Dutch composer Theo Verbey, who died in October. His Four preludes to Infinity for oboe, violin, viola and cello came right after intermission. Each prelude recalls and recognizes the music of former times and celebrates its perpetual existence: “Mysterious” — the Second Viennese School of Schoenberg, Berg and…

Everything that Theo Verbey does sounds terrific. It is well constructed, always has a well-structured dramatic narrative line, and is equally well elaborated in subtle instrumental colors. Verbey uses this technical skill to make music that sounds understatedly natural, looking back with a touch of melancholy. Verbey has withdrawn to his own…

... After the interval, the caliber is maintained as the vibe becomes playful, thanks to Regina van Berkel and a functional decor in the form of a spine from prehistoric times when giant reptiles populated this Earth. She was inspired by Salvador Dali, which does not come without its risks. Introdans’ performers more than hold their own, however.…

... Take Regina van Berkel (1969), on the other hand. She and surrealist painter Salvador Dalí are a match made in heaven. The theatrical Frozen Echo (2011) is set to the rich orchestral composition of the same name by Theo Verbey, in which high, thin notes alternate with heavy brass, timpani and a wind machine. The eyecatcher in the fascinating…

... The first glimpse the public gets of the third piece of the evening is truly impressive. Regina van Berkel choreographed Frozen Echo in 2011 for the Ballet am Rhein in Düsseldorf to the composition of the same name by Theo Verbey. A dinosaur spine curves across the stage, made from 70 old-fashioned tube computer monitors by set designer…

“From complex simplicity to a tidal wave of emotions” Regina van Berkel’s […] ‘Memory of a Shape’, created for ballettmainz in 2009, was the Dutch premiere of the evening. Van Berkel's approach uses ‘fractal figures,’ figures arising from the multiplication of a basic form. The choreography is set to Theo Verbey’s ‘Fractal Symphony,’ an exciting…

Vasi & Kemner: unity in opposites. The program itself is full of opposites: a succession of ballades written from circa 1300 up until a very recent piece composed in 2016: classic alternating with modern. A ballade is a piece of music with a narrative character; a form that arose in the Middle Ages. A musical journey through time unfolds…

"The impressive Lumen ad finem cuniculi by the Dutch composer Theo Verbey experienced a committed, lucid and vivacious première. This energetic, as well as energizing, composition was commissioned by the orchestra to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Dutch coal mines."

... The impressive Lumen ad finem cuniculi by the Dutch composer Theo Verbey experienced a committed, lucid and vivacious première. This energetic, as well as energizing, composition was commissioned by the orchestra to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Dutch coal mines. The title “Light at the end of the tunnel” has therefore…

It’s an image familiar to every under-grounder: lights emerging from the walkway. Lights at the end of the tunnel. Everyone with a mine history can visualize it: those dancing and rhythmically swaying lights coming from the helmets. Theo Verbey (*1959) wrote Lumen Ad Finem Cuniculi thanks to a commission from philharmonie zuidnederland (South…

'The main focus of the evening, though, was the forty-five minute work that comprised the second half, Trees, Walls, Cities. This ‘Song Cycle for the Modern Day’ was commissioned for the 2013 City of London Festival, in collaboration with Derry’s Walled City Festival. The eight songs were named after eight international cities, with texts and…

... Haikus by De Vries, 4 Preludes to infinity by Verbey and a fragment from Zuidam's 'A love unsung' are a lot more accessible, lyrical and more melodious, with a highlight being the splendid third movement, 'Religious', from Verbey's 'Preludes', in which the composer gets under the skin of seventeenth century counterpoint. Verbey also provided…

"The Stolz Quartet (oboe and string trio) plays music from Dutch contemporary composers. New works but also compositions arranged for them of works by Maurice Ravel, Alexander Scriabin and Franz Liszt. The result is an excellent and balanced collection of 20th century music.[...]Composer Theo Verbey arranged four short piano preludes written by…

"Berg's Lyric Suite was written around 1925. It is a work that more or less follows Arnold Schoenberg's 12-tone method with, appropriately, lyric and hyper-romantic gestures from a string quartet (original version). In 1929, Berg set three movements of the Suite for string orchestra. Somewhere around 2010, the whole work was recast for orchestral…

"Hearing both works in the string orchestra version in this way heightens the expressiveness of each work and, at least to me, allows us to see the similarities. [...] Queyras and Ensemble Resonanz give us soaring renditions of both works. If the "Lyric Suite" seems in the string orchestra version virtually new, it is no doubt my reaction after a…