The Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci, by Jan Bosveld

Composer: Jan Bosveld Publisher: www.starmusicpublishing.com https://starmusicpublishing.com/shop/... Program Notes: The Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci (Introduction of new modern Sounds) The Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci lived from 1454 to 1512. In service of Spain and Portugal, he explored parts of America and was the first to come to the conclusion; this country is an isolated continent. It was Vespucci who introduced the concept of a “new world”. He wrote letters about the new world in which he talked about fertility and beauty of the continent. Based on these letters, the German cartographer, Martin Waltseemüller, suggested that the discovered land should be named after Vespucci. This proposal was adopted and on a map of Mercator, published in 1538, we find Terra Americi or America as the name for the entire continent. The discovery of a new world is a metaphor for the theme of the composition by Jan Bosveld. In six movements, the musical landscape of the modern musical idiom is explored. Each individual movement is written in a specific technique, style, or scale. Part 1 is based on the whole tone scales linked to pendiatonicism. Part 2 is devoted to bitonality. Part 3 is created based on aleatory music. Part 4 is written in minimalism music style. Part 5 contains atonal and polyrhythmic elements. Part 6 is based on polymetre. Exploring all these aspects, the “new world” of the modern musical idiom will be hopefully more accessible. A continent of fertility and beauty.