World premiere MISSA KATHARINA

The Missa Katharina has been premiered on October 21 (2007), in the basilica of Ottobeuren in Germany.

Click here for information on Missa Katharina. You can also listen to a number of fragments.

new: The Heart of Lithuania

Jacob de Haan has based The Heart of Lithuania on five folk melodies, which grew to be especially popular in the second half of the 20th century. While all five songs originated in the Auk_taitija region, they are loved throughout Lithuania, and are currently sung by young people in cities, towns, and villages alike.


More info and audio fragments: The Heart of Lithuania

new: CANTICA DE SANCTO BENEDICTO

Cantica de Sancto Benedicto

Cantica de Sancto Benedicto is a three-movement work for mixed choir, soprano solo, concert band and organ ad libitum – on Latin lyrics that relate to the life of Saint Benedict. It was commissioned by the city of Norcia in Italy, where Benedict was born.
More info and audio files: Cantica de Sancto Benedicto

MUSIC FOR CHOIR AND CONCERT BAND

All of these compositions can be performed without choir as well.

Missa Brevis, written for choir and wind band, was commissioned by the Conseil Départemental pour la Musique et la Culture de Haute-Alsace (Dir.: Philippe Pfisterer) in Guebwiller (France), in celebration of the millennium of Pope Leon IX’s birth in Éguisheim (France). The composer conducted the first performance on June 23, 2002. It was performed live for the French television channel France 2.

The mass movements Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei are very suitable for the Catholic as well as the Protestant liturgy.
There is a cd performance by choir and wind band of the Conservatory of Leuven (Belgien).
More information and demo's:

Remembrance Day is a choral-like piece in memory of those who have died. Jacob de Haan wrote this work especially for a concert of the symphonic wind orchestra Symphonic Winds, a project band from Volkmarsen (Germany), which he conducted on Volkstrauertag (national remembrance day). The composition is based on a text from Totengedenken (Commemoration of those Who Have Died), published by the Volksbund. The enclosed narration text, which has been provided in four languages, is meant to be spoken (with a microphone) ad libitum during the performance at the indicated time. Also, choir parts based on vocals can complement the whole. Remembrance Day is a fairly slow work in which the quarter notes form the rhythmical basis. This brings about a certain cadence that, when added to the harmonic turns, has a comforting effect.
Listen especially to demo 3, the version for choir and band


Pacific Dreams The vocabularies of islands like Hawaii and Tahiti, their beautiful vowel combinations being sung ad libitum by a mixed choir. Pacific Dreams describes the experience of Miguel, a traveling composer from Spain who, feeling somewhat alienated from his homeland, is wandering through an area of Sydney known as The Rocks. At a small outdoor market in a typical street of this old colonial neighbourhood, he discovers a print of William DeShazo's painting "Pacific Dreams" (http://www.shafferfineart.com/The_Art_of_William_DeShazo.htm)

NEW CD 'THE BOOK OF URIZEN'

For info and demo fragments click here.

The Symphonic Wind Band of the Maastricht & Tilburg Conservatories / Micha Hamel / Ingrid Zeegers (Soprano) & Geert Peeters (Narrator)

The Book of Urizen - Jacob de Haan
Praetorius Variations - James Curnow
Cyrano - Piet Swerts
Guernica - Jan Hadermann

Order CD

JACOB DE HAAN WINS COMPOSITION PRIZE WITH

In october 2006 Jacob de Haan won a composition prize that involved writing Missa Katharina. The competition had been organized by the Dr. Dazert Foundation (Germany) in cooperation with CISM (the International Confederation of Music Societies). The composition is a mass for choir, soprano, and wind band (or organ). Missa Katharina is the second mass by Jacob de Haan; he previously wrote the Missa Brevis, which is part of the repertoire of many choirs and bands.

The Missa Katharina has been premiered this year, October 21, in the basilica of Ottobeuren in Germany.

Click here for information on Missa Katharina. You can also listen to a number of fragments.


Click here for information on Missa Brevis. You can also listen to a number of fragments.

RECENT RELEASES FOR CONCERT BAND

1. Nerval's Poems/i> is based on four poems from the collection Odelettes by Gérard de Nerval (1808-1855). Possibities: instrumental, choir (just on the melody), solo male or female vocals with microphone.

2. The Musical Village - Like in a musical, the most varying atmospheres in The Musical Village pass in revue. Dreamy passages are alternated with festive and swinging fragments; lyrical themes are also included.

3. Kraftwerk - Commissioned by Symphonic Windband Grafenrheinfeld (Germany). The theme of this work is the history of the town of Grafenrheinfeld (Bavaria, Germany) in the twentieth century.

4. Pioneers of the Lowlands - This concert march is a tribute to the “pioneers” in the world of wind music in the Low Lands (Netherlands): the original founders of the bands and the people who take the lead in organizing behind the scenes of the societies and associations.

5. Singapore Rhapsody - Commissioned by the Co-Curricular Activities Branch of the Ministry of Education for the 2005 Singapore Youth Festival Singapore Rhapsody was written on commission of the Ministry of Education Co-Curricular Activities Branch for the Singapore Youth Festival of 2005.

6. Nordic Fanfare and Hymn - This opening work was written for the opening ceremony of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf (Allgäu, Germany).

7. The Book of Urizen - The Book of Urizen is a work for concert band, solo soprano, and a male narrator in which sound collages of religious expressions are used. The piece is inspired by the compelling visionary poem of the same name (which the poet illustrated himself) by the Englishman William Blake (1757-1827), who occupies a unique position in western literature and the visual arts.

8. Bridge Between Nations -This work builds a musical bridge between the nations of the European Union.

9. So nimm denn meine Hände - The style in which Jacob de Haan arranged Friedrich Silcher’s melody is along the lines of the great romantic tradition of Wagner and Bruckner.

10. Bandtime Expert - The BAND TIME series consists of a number of books containing easy pieces suitable for youth band. BAND TIME Expert is intended for the second year of band playing and contains ten pieces in different styles. The difficulty of these pieces increases in parallel with the material covered in the second part of the Look, Listen & Learn method.

11. Everest - Everest is the name of a restaurant on the 40th floor of a skyscraper in Chicago. Jacob de Haan dedicates this concert march to the chef, Jean Joho.

12. Remembrance Day (Totengedenken) - Remembrance Day (Totengedenken) is a choral-like piece in memory of those who have died.