Kadanza

- both the composer and the musicians have a faithful fanbase of amateur recorder players, who will definitely be interested in this album - this is the first album dedicated entirely to the composer - because of the theatrical qualities of the composer's music, his music is often played as an encore, focusing much attention on his name Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk is a Dutch contemporary composer, who writes music that is challenging to musicians and at the same time fun to listen to. This album sums up all his compositions that involve the recorder, featuring musicians that work closely with the composer and that commissioned new pieces of music by him. Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk says: "On this CD you will hear a considerable number of the pieces that I wrote for recorder between 1985 and 2015. Most of these have meanwhile been played worldwide by many musicians and ensembles. This CD takes stock of this by presenting performances by the best-known ensembles from the Low Countries. Central to all of this stands the recorder - that lovely instrument. Most of all I enjoy the historic repertoire of the various types of recorder: the vocal polyphony and dance music of the Renaissance, the breakneck development of instrumental virtuosity and lyricism after that. What’s more, the recorder is outstanding as an instrument with a pedagogical mission: to use its deceptive simplicity to initiate the player and then lead onwards to the highest levels of virtuosity."