Sunday, January 22, 2017

Romantic Bach and Beyond

Winner of the Bach Competition plays Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Ravel


Encore concert: Monday 23rd, 6pm. Details below





Daniël van der Hoeven
second visit to Eelswamp

First Prize and Gold Medal, YPF National Dutch Piano Competition in 2010
Winner, J.S Bach Competition, Würzburg, 2013
Bärenreiter Prize, International Bach Competition, Leipzig, 2014
Second Prize, Seattle International Piano Competition, 2015


Friday 20th January, 6pm - sold out
Romantic Bach: The Seven Toccatas BWV 910 to 916




'Flamboyant', 'virtuosic', 'romantic', would be just a few words to describe these seven early works by Bach. He wrote the Toccatas in his early twenties after his hike to Luebeck to hear the great organist, Buxtehude, who was a master of improvisation. Hence the toccatas.  
The toccata is a musical form of sweeping passages in improvisatory style with constantly changing moods. On the piano they lend themselves to a romantic interpretation. Each of Bach's toccatas contains an introduction in toccata style; sometimes flamboyant, sometimes contemplative. There follows a contrasting fugue, often an exuberant moto perpetuo - Bach at his best! 

These are highly enjoyable works, full of contrast, and it will be a great opportunity to hear them all. Plaudits to Daniel for undertaking to perform the whole cycle for us.

Toccata in F Sharp Minor, BWV 910 
Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911 
Toccata in D Major, BWV 912 
Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913 
Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914 
Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915 
Toccata in G Major, BWV 916

Sunday 22nd January, 5pm 
Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel

Mozart, Sonata no.14 in C Minor, K457

Mozart's cataloguer, Ludwig Koechel, described this sonata "Without question this is the most important of all Mozart’s pianoforte sonatas. Surpassing all the others by reason of the fire and passion which, to its last note, breathe through it, it foreshadows the pianoforte sonata, as it was destined to become in the hands of Beethoven." Indeed, it has been said that this sonata is the prototype or inspiration for Beethoven's Pathetique.

Beethoven, Sonata no. 8 in C Minor, op.13 "Pathetique"

This is one of Beethoven's most popular early sonatas, written when the composer was around 27. It was written 14 years after Mozart's C minor sonata and is often said to be modeled on K457, which we will hear before this sonata. 



Beethoven, Sonata no. 22 in F major, op. 54
This is one of Beethoven's best kept secrets. It is a short work in two movements composed in 1804, around the time of the 5th Symphony. It is perhaps overshadowed by its two titanic neighbours: no. 21 the Waldstein and no. 23 the Appassionata. Nonetheless, it is a remarkable and highly original work. Beethoven scholar, Donald Tovey, had a special liking for it:

"[I]ts material is childlike, or even dog-like, and those who best understand children and dogs have the best chance of enjoying an adequate reading of this music; laughing with, but not at its animal spirits; following in strenuous earnest its indefatigable pursuit of its game whether that be its own tail or something more remote and elusive."

Indeed, the final movement is a bubbly moto perpetuo, which could easily bring to mind a dog chasing its tail!

Ravel, Gaspard de la Nuit 
Scarbo, the goblin

Ravel's great three-movement, programatic, masterpiece is based on poems by Aloysius Bertrand. It is in three movements, Ondine, Le Gibet and Scarbo, the last of which is one of Ravel's most virtuosic creations, said to be a rival for Balakirev's Islamey. 


Ondine, the water nymph


Daniël van der Hoeven (1985) was born in Amerongen, the Netherlands. He studied piano at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Netherlands and at the Conservatoire Superieure in Paris. 

In 2013, he was the winner of the International J.S. Bach Competition in Würzburg, Germany. In October 2015 he won second place at the Seattle International Piano Competition, competing against 88 other pianists. Other prizes include the YPF National Dutch Piano Competition in 2010 (1st prize and Gold Medal), Lagny-sur-Marne International Piano Competition in 2015 (2nd prize), International Bach Competition Leipzig in 2014 (Bärenreiter prize), as well as finalist diploma at the international piano competitions of Gorizia (Italy) and Malta. 

He has performed in Carnegie Hall, New York, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Romania and Poland. He has recorded two well-received CDs with works by Prokofiev/Bartók and J.S. Bach. Currently he teaches at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. This is Daniel's second visit to Eelswamp. 


Reservations: 1,200 baht for one concert. 2,000 baht for both. Email asiachart@hotmail.com or call 038 069681 office hours. Due to limited number of places payment must be received before the day.

Directions to Eelswamp: search for 'Eelswamp' on google maps. Directions can be found at the bottom of this page: http://eelswamp.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-music-room-at-eelswamp.html

Taxi service to Eelswamp: we recommend Grabtaxi

Monday 23rd January, 6pm 
Encore concert 
Selections from the previous two concerts. Only 500 baht for those who have attended either the 20th or 22nd, otherwise, 1,200 baht. All proceeds will go directly to Daniel.


 A member of 




Official media partner