Thierry Deleruyelle's 'Sand and Stars' has been announced as the set-work for the Championship Division of 2023 Netherlands National Championships.

It follows the announcement made by the British Open Championships that the work would be used at their event at Symphony Hall in September, and was confirmed by the NBK National Championship contest organisers after informing their competing bands earlier this week.

As reported by 4BR the work is inspired by the fateful journey undertaken by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944), who hoped to break the record for a flight between Paris and Saigon in 1935.

New repertoire

As has become the norm in recent years, the NBK Foundation has introduced new repertoire as well as recently established works for the event in Utrecht on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th November.

The First Division competitors will be faced by a new commission entitled, 'Afterlife' by Belgian composer Stijn Aertgeerts.

It reflects on his impressions of death and the unearthly domain, and the way musical themes have been used to infer this based on development of the famous 'Dies Irae' motif famously used by Berlioz in 'Symphonie Fantastique'.

Philip Sparke's 'Lakeland Variations' inspired by the region of Seeland (Lakeland) in the north-west part of Switzerland and its three lakes of Morat, Neuchatel and Bienne is the Second Division set-work.

The work has also been selected for the National Championship of Great Britain Second Section Final.

Third and Fourth Divisions

The Third Division bands will be faced with 'The Day of the Lord' by Steven Ponsford.

It takes its inspiration from biblical passages the prophecy of the last days. It brings elements of the chorale 'The Judgment Day' with the hymnals 'I See the King of Glory' and 'Salvation belongs to God' with reference to the text 'The sun shall be turned to darkness, the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes'.

A brand new work from the composer Zoran Rosendahl will test the Fourth Division bands.

'The Pillars of Mankind' has been commissioned by the NBK Foundation and is dedicated to the victims of the earthquakes of February 2023 in southern Turkey.

The work follows the storyline of an episode in the controversial Netflix series 'Ancient Apocalypse' by journalist Graham Hancock set in Gobekli Tepe.

We are proud that in addition to works by established composers we have been able to give two young musicians in Zoran Rosendahl and Stijn Aertgeerts the opportunity to write new repertoireorganisers

Wonderful list

Speaking about the works, the NBK Foundation Chairperson Ale Nicolai said: "These are a wonderful list of five challenging compositions for both musicians and audience.

We are proud that, in addition to works by established composers, we have been able to give two young musicians in Zoran Rosendahl and Stijn Aertgeerts the opportunity to write new repertoire on behalf of the NBK Foundation."

Set Works:

Championship Division: Sand and Stars (Thierry Deleruyelle)
First Division: Afterlife (Stijn Aertgeerts)
Second Division: Lakeland Variations (Philip Sparke)
Third Division: The Day of the Lord (Steven Ponsford)
Fourth Division: The Pillars of Mankind (Zoran Rosendahl)

Further information:

For further information go to: https://www.enbk.nl/news?newsid=644272fddaa10b068b00006c