Jaap Nico Hamburger | Tzimtzum

The new album featuring eight works by composer Jaap Nico Hamburger showcases his mastery in large and small forms. Known for his large-scale compositions like concertos and operas, Hamburger explores more intimate chamber works in this album, each inspired by unique visions from art to history.

The album is unified under “Tzimtzum,” a Kabbalistic term signifying contraction and making space for the human experience. This concept ties the works together, reflecting themes of Free Will versus Determinism and purposeful reduction to create room for expansive meaning. Each piece in the anthology stands as an act of eloquence, interconnected in its focus on intimacy and virtuosity.

Featured Tracks

Piano Quartet

Featuring three movements, Jaap Nico Hamburger’s Piano Quartet takes listeners on a journey of emotional depth and melodic richness. From the introspective and contemplative “Andante” to the lively and vivacious “Allegro Vivace,” and the delicate and improvisational “Poco Andante – Quasi ad libitum,” this composition showcases Hamburger’s masterful compositional language and his ability to create a profound connection between visual art and music. This unique and evocative piano quartet is part of a forthcoming album, TzimTzum due in November 2023, which showcases the chamber works Jaap Nico Hamburger.

Jaap Nico Hamburger is the current Composer in Residence with Mécénat Musica in Montréal. His compositions include commissions for orchestra, opera, chamber music and solo works. His music has been performed and recorded in Canada, The Netherlands and Israel.

Recently, he was commissioned by the United Nations and the Government of the Netherlands to compose a new concerto on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the International Court of Justice.  Other commissions include works for Discovery Channel as well as European broadcasting companies. He is a Canadian Music Centre Associate Composer. His Chamber Symphony No. 2 ‘Children’s War Diaries’ was nominated for the Matthijs Vermeulen Award (2021) and received a JUNO nomination for classical composition of the year (2022).

Concerto Antico

Concerto Antico is described by Jaap as so: “Last year, the Orchestre Classique de Montréal and Ensemble Caprice asked me to contribute a new work for a program featuring music by Handel. It of course caused me to contemplate the music of times past. What makes a work a distinct reflection of its own time? In the early 18th century, music made much use of dance forms, and was often created to be entertainment for ‘the privileged’ in society. So how are we different from people in the eighteenth century?

In a non-musical conception of the Renaissance era, Nostradamus stared into a smoke covered mirror to look at the future. In a metaphorical sense, I tried to do the opposite: stare into the mirror of our times to look at the past. If anything, the socio-economic developments of the past two hundred years have significantly widened not just the circle of listeners to music but, as the pandemic has shown, the mass participation of the entire society in the dominant conversations of the day.

Concerto Antico is written in five short movements that start in the here and now, then return to the style of the 18th century, and gradually work their way back to the future. The music ends where it started, but is transformed. History may repeat itself, but we as an audience, affected by our shared experiences, have changed.”