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| Herman Gorter |
Herman Gorter was a leading member of
the Eighties Movement, a highly influential group of writers in the Netherlands
at the end of the nineteenth century. His first book, a 4,000-verse epic poem
called Mei (May), sealed his reputation as a great writer on its publication in
1889 and is regarded as the pinnacle of Dutch Impressionist literature. Gorter
rapidly followed this up with a book of short lyric poetry simply called Verzen
(Poems) in 1890, which was equally hailed as a masterpiece. Thanks to the
publication of, amongst others, De School der Poëzie (The School of Poetry;
1897) and his endeavours to combine lyricism and social involvement, his poetic
significance remained undisputed. Today his poems are regarded by many as the
starting point for modernism in Dutch poetry as a whole.
November 27, 2021: Come his dearest - about Herman Gorter (Nijmegen)
November 23, 2021 by Neerlandistiek
Editorial Respond
- Recitation artist Simon Mulder and soundscape artists Beggar Brahim (electric guitar) and Jesse LaChiffre (clarinet) perform songs from the CD 'Herman Gorter – Verzen 1890', in which the poems from the lyrical, experimental, sensitivist period of classicist, poet and socialist Herman Gorter, enter into a unique harmony with Beggar Brahim's sound landscapes, culminating in an 'explicatorium': a combination of recitation, soundscape and film on Gorter's moving poem 'My dearest was dead'.
Classical music duo Saskia de Man and
Daan van de Velde perform special and rarely performed songs based on texts by
Gorter, assisted by soprano Heleen Oomen, who performs a new song based on a
text by Gorter by composer Antoine Oomen.
Publisher HetMoet presents a new
anthology of Gorter's work, introduced with an essay by Simon Mulder: 'A red
song sings there' and Ascolta Music Publishing presents the new edition of
three songs by Antoine Oomen with texts by Gorter.
Furthermore, the only known film
images of Gorter from the Eye film institute and the premiere of our video clip
based on Gorter's compelling poem 'In the Black Night'.
