I've been listening to a lot of Simeon Ten Holt (best selling Dutch composer) recently and it's really great. He sounds very much like say the more melodic of early Michael Nyman or Lubomyr Melnyk, but with the grand scale of Glass's Music in Twelve Parts or Steve Reich's Drumming. For instance, his most famous and popular work is Canto Ostinato, which fits nicely onto a triple LP set. You can get his complete piano works on 11CDs for about $75 as an import. Aside from a recent namedrop in James Blackshaw press releases, and in a recent Vital Weekly Lubomyr Melnyk review, you don't see much of his name and he seems barely known in the US, probably because he isn't the flashiest or loudest of minimalists. Also he doesn't seem especially soundtrackable. But, hey, that's why you should listen!
― matinee, Sunday, 6 April 2008 19:15 (seventeen years ago)
listened to canto ostinato for the first time, really liked it
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Friday, 25 May 2012 21:34 (thirteen years ago)
would rec
RIP Simeon. He passed away today at the age of 89 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JDCsOL2vBJc
― knaaq (ryanrandom666), Sunday, 25 November 2012 22:18 (twelve years ago)
I discovered Canto Ostinato last year while jonesing for more epic piano noodling after discovering Lubomyr Melnyk and it's just one of my favorite things. really rewards sticking with the whole piece in a way that Music In Twelve Parts didn't really happen for me; Reich's Drumming is an interesting comparison that I can hear a lot more clearly. or maybe E2-E4 - just one of those maximized exploration of a single musical idea. anyway I really like it and I should listen to it the whole way through more often (vs individual segments as part of this monster ambient/minimalist playlist that I play on random while I go to sleep).
I have the 2014 Music On Vinyl 2LP pressing; I don't believe they have the greatest reputation but this recording sounded good enough to totally sell me on the piece forever so there.
― grinding like a jolly elf (jamescobo), Friday, 5 June 2015 04:57 (ten years ago)