21 Feb 2011
Dutch Master Triumphs on the Rhine
Marieluise Jeitschko, translated by K. Schönberg, from Tanznetz
"Regina van Berkel is one of the most outstanding Dutch choreographers. For her superb theatrical choreography, with the seemingly contradictory title "Frozen Echo", her fellow countryman, composer Theo Verbey, expanded an earlier orchestral piece into an extremely expressive triptych."
06 Apr 2009
Dishes From a Recipe for Eye and Ear
Allan Kozinn, from New York Times
"...Theo Verbey’s “Man Ray — La Retour à la Raison” begins with repeating figures in the manner of 1970s Minimalism and morphs gracefully into a rich, atonal piece."
22 Jan 2009
Dazzling Works: Contemporary music from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Patric Standford, from Record Box
"Theo Verbeij's LIED for trombone and orchestra seems, in fact, to be a succession of four 'songs' in which the soloist Jörgen van Rijen, the orchestra's principal trombone player and the composer's fellow Dutchman, makes his instrument sing with an overall gentleness and expressiveness that denies any popular impression of its bombast…
16 Sep 2005
Berg/Verbey Sonata op. 1
Joachem Valkenburg, from NRC Handelsblad
"Theo Verbey's orchestration of Alban Berg's Sonato for piano Op.1 from 1984 sounded Mahleresque in its ability to carry one away. The beauty of sound is not only astonishing, but also serves to shine a beacon on Berg's romantic roots."
31 Jan 2005
Fractal Symphony
Kees Arntzen, from Trouw
"For a composer the challenge is to write music on a complicated foundation which is for the audience immediately understandable and a pleasure to listen to . Theo Verbey has reached new heights in succeeding in this task. This work in five movements is captivating for its full 30 minute duration."
20 Apr 1999
Expulsie
Paul Griffiths, from The New York Times
"By far the most substantial piece of the evening was "Expulsion" by the Dutch composer Theo Verbey. Like many other composers from the Netherlands, Mr. Verbey obviously appreciates the pulse and clarity of Stravinsky, in combination with the ruder dynamism of popular music as mediated by, again, American minimalists. But his music is unusually…
14 Apr 1998
Chaconne
Paul Griffiths, from The New York Times
"Mr. Verbey's piece was distinguished by nice junctures where the instruments took over the same note from one another. Perhaps there was an allusion here to the ensemble's name, for the three string tunings the instruments have in common: G-D-A, or sol-re-la, euphoniously reassorted."
The Grammar of Listening
Frits van der Waa, from Brochure, Theo Verbey
In a famous story by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges the Aleph is mentioned, ‘the place where all places of the earth come together, seen from all corners, without merging’. In the music of Theo Verbey one sees the same aspiration to universality. His oeuvre is less staggering and its diameter is less compact than the two or three…