The Foundations, a contemporary oratorio

Based on Ramsey Nasr's The Foundations, Camiel Jansen writes a musical reflection on 2020. This contemporary oratorio finds a counterpoint and counterpart in the dark works of Mussorgsky.

Critical State of Humanity
To call Camiel Jansen a socially engaged composer is an understatement. He made his name with compositions such as The Surcharge Scandal and Mars, about man's intended journey to this planet, and with his jazzy compositions he likes to look at things from a different angle. In the contemporary oratorio The Foundations, he explores the roots of the critical state of humanity exposed by the corona pandemic.

New light on Mussorgsky
The social and programmatic slant of The Foundations finds a counterpart in Night on the Bald Mountain and Paintings from an Exhibition by Mussorgsky. Not in Ravel's famous arrangement, but in Leopold Stokowski's shorter, much darker and ultimately thoroughly Russian orchestration. This rarely heard arrangement today undoubtedly sheds new light on these famous works by Mussorgsky.