History
In the beginning
It is impossible to pinpoint exactly when the Nederlands Kamerkoor (Netherlands Chamber Choir) came into existence. In 1937 the young musician Felix de Nobel was invited by VARA Radio to put together a choir to perform in a series of radio broadcasts of Bach cantatas. This choir, named originally Pro Musica, gave its first live public performance in Haarlem early in 1939, now under the name Nederlandsch Kamerkoor.
Felix de Nobel (photo Paul Hameleers)
The pioneers
The Choir’s initial make-up could be described as curious. Felix de Nobel, who had studied choral conducting with Sam Dresden, managed to gather around him the crème de la crème of Dutch singers, many of whom would later go on to become renowned soloists: Theo Baylé, Corry Bijster, Greet Koeman, Roos Boelsma, Annie Hermes and Guus Hoekman. De Nobel was, however, in time forced to conclude that it was impossible to create a homogeneous unit from opera and oratorio singers, all of whom “were trying to bellow the loudest”, as Annie Hermes put it, and who, as soon as they found more lucrative work, flew the nest.
The road to success
Having managed to steer the Choir through World War II, Felix de Nobel appeared in 1946 with a new formation with which he could better realize his choral ideals. After just one season in the employment of the Netherlands Transitional Radio Authority, the choir subsequently had to stand on its own feet for a long period of time. The introduction of a strict rehearsal regime enabled the conductor and Choir rapidly to build up a repertoire spanning five centuries of a cappella music, and moreover to perform it at the highest level.
The first official photograph of the complete Nederlands Kamerkoor after WW II, taken in the Main Hall of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (1947).
Invitations poured in from abroad: England (1948), Perugia (1949) and the prestigious Edinburgh Festival (1951). The success of these foreign tours soon placed the Nederlands Kamerkoor at the pinnacle of international choral music, and the Dutch press, with their jubilant accounts of this success, quickly made those back home realize what a unique ensemble Holland could now boast. The Nederlands Kamerkoor became a regular guest at prominent Dutch choral events and the Holland Festival.
Contact with composers
Numerous composers, from both the Netherlands and abroad, became inspired to write works for the Choir, best known of whom are Francis Poulenc (see photo), Frank Martin, Rudolf Escher, Hendrik Andriessen en Henk Badings. Cordial relations were also established with Kodàly and Dallapiccola, among others.
Toward financial stability
The artistic successes, however, stood in sharp contrast to the circumstances in which the choir members were forced to work. The singers could not be assured of a permanent contract, and Felix de Nobel held absolute control over his ensemble, which had to meet its financial responsibilities without outside assistance and was therefore grateful for any and all invitations, however abysmal the fee. The financial situation of the singers was precarious, and it was impossible for them to make ends meet without taking on other work. The Choir’s very survival hung constantly by a thread.
In 1951 it was announced that the Choir would receive a modest government grant, and in 1953 it received an actual subsidy for the first time. In the years following this contribution continued to increase, affording the choir members a substantial rise in salary.
The Nederlands Kamerkoor arrives in New York on January 9, 1967 at the start of its fourth tour of North America.
Felix de Nobel’s later years
The resulting growth in continuity of personnel in the Nederlands Kamerkoor proved of great benefit to its artistic achievements. The Choir flourished in the decade between 1955 and 1965: highlights of this period were the frequent collaboration with conductor Carlo Maria Giulini in Holland Festival opera productions, and the repeated tours to North America.
1965 saw an improvement in the singers’ social security, with the introduction of structural subsidization of the Nederlands Kamerkoor by the Dutch government.
The first years after De Nobel
This latest development, however necessary from a social standpoint, brought with it a great artistic danger. The Choir’s personnel now seldom altered, and as a result the conductor, the singers, and consequently their audiences grew collectively older. When, in 1972, Felix de Nobel was compelled for reasons of age and health to relinquish the baton, the situation became desperate. A number of older singers, it was clear, would also have to be made redundant, but there was no established procedure for this. And who should succeed de Nobel – a conductor with undisputed authority, a quality no longer so appreciated in the 70s, and even considered somewhat suspect? What’s more, the Choir, which had built up such a great reputation in early music, proved no longer able to keep up with developments, then particularly strong in Holland, in authentic early music practice. Tranquillity was not to return to the Nederlands Kamerkoor during that decade: conductors who were entrusted with its artistic direction soon fell victim to the confusion caused by the processes of rejuvenation of personnel and of artistic re-orientation.
A remarkable photo that played a prominent role in the equally remarkable 1985 publicity campaign (photo Marja Leeuwenberg).
The 1980s
By the beginning of the 1980s the rejuvenation of the Choir was complete, and the decision was taken no longer to seek a single chief conductor who would conduct all the Choir’s concerts. In an attempt to rejoin the early music movement, conductors who enjoyed a particular reputation in that field, or who would later do so, were enlisted on a project-by-project basis. These early music specialists included Gustav Leonhardt, Nicolaus Harnoncourt, Ton Koopman, Jos van Immerseel, Paul Van Nevel, Christopher Hogwood, Roger Norrington, Andrew Parrott, Peter Philips and William Christie. In addition the Choir sought out specialists in other fields, such as Reinbert de Leeuw and Uwe Gronostay, as well as renowned all-round choral conductors like Eric Ericson and John Alldis. By the mid-1980s it was clear that the Nederlands Kamerkoor had rejoined the élite of international choral music.
In 1987 Uwe Gronostay was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. He was given the task of fostering unity and continuity in the Choir’s sound, a task he achieved fairly quickly, largely by working intensively with the Choir on his own favourite genre: late-Romantic choral music – an area in which, during his years at the helm, many of the Choir’s finest CDs were made, under his direction. In 1997 Uwe Gronostay left this post, and was succeeded by the Dane Ivar Munk, who became the first non-conducting artistic director in the Nederlands Kamerkoor’s history.
(photo Daniël Gronostay)
Then in 1998 the role of chief conductor was taken over by Tonu Kaljuste from Estonia. Both these appointments were responsible for a shift in programming – more emphasis on contemporary music, particularly from Eastern and Northern Europe, with splendid programmes of music by Pärt, Tüur, Tormis and – a real discovery – Taneyev.
The arrival in 2002 of Stephen Layton as chief conductor gave the Choir’s repertoire a distinctly British tint, with works by Parry, Howells, Tavener and MacMillan, with the music of composers such as Milhaud and Martinu providing a welcome – and memorable – contrast.
The Nederlands Kamerkoor now
Thus the Nederlands Kamerkoor came to occupy the unique position it now enjoys: that of a professional vocal ensemble, not attached to a radio corporation or opera house, which performs with some of the world’s most renowned and specialized conductors, and does so currently again – as in the 1980s – without a chief conductor. Some highlights from the Choir’s recent seasons show just how versatile it is: Haydn’s “Seasons” with Sir Simon Rattle in the Concertgebouw, a seven-hour-long performance of Sir John Tavener’s “The Veil of the Temple”, and a semi-staged programme of songs by Burt Bacharach, arranged for a cappella chorus and intstrumental combo.
The Choir is a welcome guest abroad, and has toured (repeatedly) in the U.S., Japan, Israel, and in many countries of Europe.
As well as collaborating regularly with well-known ensembles such as the Orchestra of the 18th Century under Frans Brüggen and the Schönberg Ensemble under Reinbert de Leeuw, the Nederlands Kamerkoor has for many years now programmed its own subscription series, with largely a cappella music. Especially popular with audiences are the programmes conducted by Honorary Guest Conductor Paul Van Nevel, who has over the last 20 years done so much to help the Choir regain its reputation in early music performance.
The tradition of building up contacts with composers has also been given a new lease of life: such great names as Kagel, Kancheli,Tavener and MacMillan have all written pieces specially for the Choir.
The Nederlands Kamerkoor continues to bring onto the market a constant stream of CDs with fascinating music, (well over 60 to date), many of which have been awarded prizes both national and international.
The Nederlands Kamerkoor has a faithful following which some 20 years ago formed itself into an active association of friends, Cantus Nobilitas, which provides the Choir with both moral and practical support.