Completed in 1979, Canto Ostinato is the magnum opus and best known work by Dutch composer Simeon Ten Holt (1923-2012). It encompasses 100 short sections that contain five beats to the measure, most of which can repeat as many times as one desires. A main theme emerges midway, adding a tinge of Romanticism to Ten Holt’s Minimalist aesthetic. The theme reiterates toward the end as well. Voicing and registration throughout Canto Ostinato generally are left up to the musicians, which is why performance durations vary widely.
Jeroen van Veen’s immense discography includes numerous recorded versions of Canto Ostinato in myriad incarnations from solo and duo piano to piano/marimba/organ combinations, prepared pianos, and synthesizers. A number of these came out in Brilliant Classics’ 2014 12-CD compendium Canto Ostinato XL. Later that year Brilliant Classics released a further recording with Van Veen and friends called Canto Ostinato XXL, this time with four pianos and organ, and lasting more than four hours.
In September 2021 Sandra and Jeroen van Veen re-recorded Canto in the studio on two pianos for the present release, interpolating Jeroen’s original half-hour-long composition Incanto 6 between Ten Holt’s Sections 89 and 90.
While van Veen’s melodic material noticeably differs from Ten Holt’s, the stylistic shift between composers seems quite insidious. Furthermore, the overall performance proves more measured, more varied in articulation and dynamically contrasted compared to the fleeter yet more generalized sweep of their 79-minute two-piano interpretation released in the aforementioned boxed set. One could argue that certain gestures have morphed into self-awareness, such as the prickly staccatos in Section 41 that lilted more effectively before. On the other hand, the beautiful lead-up into the main theme now conveys a mellifluous, long-lined flow.
While both interpretations hold equal validity, listeners new to Canto Ostinato may find the earlier recording’s 79-minute duration more manageable. Yet seasoned Canto mavens with time on their hands won’t want to be without the van Veens’ latest insights. Who knows what their next ten recorded Canto Ostinato versions will bring?
