Jeroen van Veen (1969-)
"Continuum" Pianoconcerto n° 1
Incanto n° 2
Ripalmania pour 6 pianos
"In Sea", for any combination of instruments
Minimal Prélude 41
Minimal Prélude 46
Minimal Prélude 48
Minimal Prélude 49, pour piano et tape-delay
Minimal Prélude 50 pour 2 pianos
Minimal Prélude 51 "Hotwax"
Minimal Prélude 52 "for Mike"
Minimal Prélude 53
Minimal Prélude 54
Minimal Prélude 55
Minimal Prélude 56
Minimal Prélude 58 "for Luk Perceval"
Minimal Prélude 60 "Tango for Organ"
Minimal Prélude pour 2 Rippen Grand Pianos et 6 Ebows
"Almost Six O'clock"
"Una Corda"
Velvet Piano
"Ebow4two"
"Building"
"Inside Out"
"Muted String"
"Dreaming"
"Rocking"
"Back to f"
"Sambanova"
"Two Ways"
" On the Move"
"With a little help from my piano"

Jeroen van Veen, piano, clavier, orgue
Sandra van Veen, piano
Mike del Ferro, piano
Flute Octet Blow Up

A cornucopia of catchy melodies and hypnotic music from the king of minimalist piano. Jeroen van Veen has won international success with albums of Satie, Pärt, Glass and Riley. These are only some of the most significant composers whose work he has recorded for Brilliant Classics in building a library on record of minimalist piano music. Simplicity, repetition and appealing melody are the qualities shared by all the composers who subscribe to this aesthetic, and they underlie van Veen’s own compositions. Although subtitled Volume 2, this is the third album to focus exclusively on the pianist as composer. Books 1 and 2 of his Minimal Piano Preludes were reissued on a 2CD set (BC95383) in 2016, and won high praise from MusicWeb International: ‘Both spectacular and simple, these pieces all have bags of content and an underlying surge of joy in creation and performance that is irresistible.’ Further preludes feature in a 5CD box of his piano music (BC9454) and this sequel takes us up to Minimal Prelude No.60, a ‘tango for organ’. ‘All my music is about time and space,’ says van Veen in a booklet essay. ‘The duration of music is an essential part of the concept in my music. The concept of music, specifically my minimal oriented music, only can exist in time. The slow progression, building of the material, the motifs and the search for new sounds is audible in this new box.’ All the works featured here were composed between 2010 and 2018. Continuum (CD1) is a concertante work for piano and flute octet. Incanto (CD2) is another CD-length piece, entirely composed in an unusual 11/8 time signature. Ripalmania (CD3) is written for six pianos, a scoring which creates an entrancing effect. In Velvet Piano (CD6) van Veen explores the timbral possibilities of pianos prepared with objects after the style of John Cage, though without the American composer’s aim of disconcerting the listener. The final disc is a celebration of minimalist jazz, in which the border between composition and improvisation almost vanishes.