In The Ocean – A Film About the Classical Avant Garde

Composer Gustav Mahler is the subject of filmmaker Frank Sheffer's two documentaries. In Conducting Mahler, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and others interpret Mahler's symphonies under the direction of such musical luminaries as Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink and Riccardo Muti. In I Have Lost Touch with the World, maestro Riccardo Chailly and biographer Henri-Louis de la Grange analyse Mahler's Ninth Symphony.

Described by writer Henry Miller as “the stratospheric colossus of sound”, French sonic alchemist Edgard Varèse (1883 - 1965) continues to influence music even 40 years after his death. Artists who cite his influence include Frank Zappa, John Cage, Elliot Carter, Pierre Boulez and many others in the contemporary DJ scene. Classifying music as ‘organised sound', Varèse was the first composer to emancipate music from accepted chordal combinations.

In 1968 Zwartjes was one of the first Dutch visual artists to make use of film: initially as a record of his performances, but quite soon after as an independent medium, perfectly suited to his way of creating visual art. Zwartjes did everything himself – camera, sound, editing and even the developing in the laboratory. He would work with non-professional actors selected from his circle of friends, and filmed in and around his own house. He particularly favoured editing his film ‘in the camera’ by switching the camera on and off while shooting. ‘My own motor system determined the film style,’ Zwartjes stated in an interview. ‘It never occurred to me to wonder: can this shot follow on after this one? If you start wondering about that you should be looking for another job straight away.’ This publication consists of a selection of photographs taken by Zwartjes during his years of filming and a short footage film on DVD from 1969.

Attrazione d'Amore is a touching illustration of the unique relation that has developed between the Conductor Riccardo Chailly and his famous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Voyage to Cythera navigates through wonderful musical quotes made of performances conducted by Berio, rehearsals, archival documents and interviews featuring Riccardo Chailly and Louis Andriessen.

An intense portrait of the painter Robert Zandvliet that moves through his studio and his head. While the artist explains what interests him about a painting, we see him at work: mixing paints, stretching canvas, trying out different brushes, but above all being concentrated and busy at length.

Carefully composed portrait of prominent modern composer Elliott Carter (1908-1912). Scheffer depicts both the person and the development in his music and the musical tradition it grew out of, as well as the time in which the American Carter grew up. The result: historical images of the city of New York, old film footage, cinematographic finds to illustrate the music and statements by conspicuous fellow-composers and musicians, including Pierre Boulez and Daniel Barenboim.

Director Scheffer registered a performance of the Tea Opera by Chinese composer Tan Dun (who won an Oscar in 2001 with his score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Scheffer interlaces the images with interviews with Dun, stage director Pierre Audi and librettist Xu Ying, about the opera and the role tea and oriental philosophy play in this work. Using monochrome, sometimes abstract images (in yellow, blue, red and green), close-ups of plants and flowers and images of the Chinese nature and people (sometimes accelerated or decelerated, sometimes in black-and-white), he mirrors the stylised opera performance and Dun's reflective music.

It is the dream of the Persian avant-garde composer Nader Mashayekhi to bring modern classical music to his country Iran. His dream becomes reality when he is asked to conduct the Teheran Symphony Orchestra.

Eclat is a fascinating documentary about the work. We witness rehearsals by the Netherlands' Nieuw Ensemble, hear comments about the piece from the composer, conductor Ed Spanjaard and some of the musicians, and we see a full performance of the work. Eclat ("To burst out") is a beautiful example of the strangely lyrical pointillist style that Boulez had inherited from Anton von Webern. Aural pinwheels and shifting musical kaleidoscopes with stunning instrumental color is the only way to verbally describe what must be heard to be understood. This is definitely not for those who hate "modern" music. For those who respond to contemporary music, this piece is masterful and this film is a must-see!