Canto ostinato op vier vleugels en orgel door Jeroen van Veen & Friends

Canto ostinato on 4 pianos and organ

Looking at the annual number of performances of Canto ostinato , Simeon ten Holt seems like a one-hit wonder. That impression is unjustified; he has composed a magnificent oeuvre. Canto ostinato owes its popularity to its structure: not a fixed piece, but rather ritual music with an open ending. The players are allowed to repeat the motifs at their own discretion. Canto ostinato’s reputation is entirely justified; it is a Dutch minimalist classic, both intimate and overwhelming. Tonight on four grand pianos plus an organ.

Jeroen van Veen & Friends

"A way of life," is how pianist Jeroen van Veen describes Canto ostinato , Simeon ten Holt's most famous piece. The number of performances he has given of the work runs into the hundreds. And for more than ten years, he has been performing Canto in the Grote Zaal, each time with different pianists. In the 1990s, Van Veen recorded the piece for the first time, a performance that was acclaimed by the composer himself. A friendship developed. "Simeon was a father figure to me; our connection went beyond just the music." Ten Holt bequeathed all his scores and manuscripts to Jeroen van Veen.