Goldrush

'Goldrush' is not the first piece I have written for percussion. Both my symphonies and some of my chamber works contain a lot of percussion and I have written some pieces for percussion ensemble. Percussion excites me. I grew up in the sixties and my roots are in rock culture. I played in bands, found out how to improvise and went to the Conservatory of Music to study composition. For me, rhythm is the heartbeat of the music and I think you can hear that in my work. Composing for me always begins with ideas and sketches on which I improvise in my studio, using computers, samplers and so on. Musical inspiration comes suddenly and evaporates immediately, and modern technology helps me to hold on to it and crystallize it into a composition. 'Goldrush' involves the whole family of percussion instruments. Although music is an abstract art form it can tell stories too. 'Goldrush' is an adventure; while listening to it you can imagine people exploring new land in search of gold, which led to so many catastrophes in the history of man. At the end of the piece, when you are least expecting it and after a lot of struggling, they find pure, shining gold, represented by instruments such as crotales, chimes and the glockenspiel. - JACOB TER VELDHUIS