Treasure of Utrecht

On Sunday 28 June, students from Utrechts Conservatorium, together with vocalists and musicians from all over Utrecht, will present their gift to the city: the Treasure of Utrecht. The spectacle is the festive closing event of our celebration of 150 years of HKU Utrechts Conservatorium.

REGISTER HERE TO JOIN AS A SINGER OR MUSICIAN!

Musical parade starting at Dom Square – ending with a concert at Mariaplaats
Treasure of Utrecht starts as a parade at Dom Square, processing to Mariaplaats where students and the public will sing and play the music of Jacob van Eyck: a blind carillonneur from the seventeenth-century. We invite everyone to come and join us.

Upon arrival at Mariaplaats, the students will perform two works at a large outdoor stage, joined by vocalists and musicians from Utrecht. The first work is a compilation of graphic scores created by Utrecht-based primary school children. The second is a renewed premiere of a composition, that was long thought to be lost, from perhaps the greatest composer that Utrecht has ever seen: Louis Andriessen.

By the city, for the city
The music by Van Eyck, Andriessen and Utrechts primary school children, serve to mark the bond that HKU Utrechts Conservatorium has with the musical history of the city. Therefore the whole public is welcome to join in the parade and sing or play along with the closing concert at Mariaplaats.

The Treasure of Utrecht

Musical closing ceremony of 150 -year anniversary celebration of HKU Utrechts Conservatorium.

Sunday 28 June - Dom Square and Mariaplaats - 16.00 - 18.00

Programme
16.00: Start at Dom Square
16.15-16.45: Music Parade from Dom Square to Mariaplaats
16.45-17.45: Concert at Mariaplaats

Musical parade starting at Dom Square

Concert at Mariaplaats

Louis Andriessen and Red Rackham’s Treasure

Louis Andriessen was born and raised in Utrecht, in a well-known family of Utrecht composers. His father, Hendrik Andriessen, was director of Utrechts Conservatorium from 1937 to 1949. Louis wrote Red Rackham’s Treasure in 1970, commissioned by the local government for the Utrecht Music School, then located on Dom Square. Andriessen based the work on the famous Tintin comic by the same name, published in 1944. The music is written as a graphic composition on a nine-metre-long roll of wallpaper, adorned with shapes, musical symbols and texts. The work was first performed in 1971 by pupils of the Utrecht music school. and was subsequently lost for a long time. By now, it has resurfaced again and deserves an official re-premiere, 56 years after its conception.

Graphic score

Andriessen was deeply convinced of the social importance of new music. This is also evident in Red Rackham's Treasure: the composition invites musicians of all levels to interpret the work and contribute new music themselves. Andriessen wrote Red Rackham's Treasure on an extraordinary nine-metre roll of wallpaper, employing four different forms of notation: descriptive text, graphic drawings, chord symbols and traditional musical notation.

The work contains not only sound and instrumental performance, but also the use of the voice (everyone sings together) and even physical movement. The piece contains elements such as playfulness – the treasure is truly discovered! – on the part of the performers – sections of the score were developed by the students themselves – improvisation, ensemble playing and virtuosity.

Graphical scores composed by school children

Prior to the performance of Red Rackham’s Treasure, there is the execution of the graphical scores composed by pupils of Utrecht’s primary schools, also inspired by the score of Red Rackham’s Treasure. They wrote them in the months prior to the exeuction under the guidance by students of the Music in Education programme. The graphic scores will be displayed on the large LED screens behind the stage.

Pre-shows

• Sunday 5 June at 8 PM in the Atrium of Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, prior to the concert Goede Maten (Louis Andriessen & Misha Mengelberg), which starts at 8.30 PM in Bimhuis.
• Sunday 28 June under the dome roof of Utrecht Central Station during the Dutch Composer's Day.

Don’t miss this celebration: the unforgettable closing event of the 150 year anniversary celebration of HKU Utrechts Conservatorium. Walk along in the musical parade from Dom Square to Mariaplaats and play / sing along with the Conservatorium students during the final concert at Mariaplaats.