LEO SMIT
SUITE FOR ORCHESTRA (1926/1958, 2021)
Conducted by Shelley Katz using the Symphonova
Prelude
Arrangement: Bob Zimmerman
Forlane
Arrangement: Godefroy Devreese
Rondeau
Arrangement: Godefroy Devreese
Suite for orchestra (1926/1958, 2021) Huib Ramaer provides the following illustration in the booklet of the cd box ‘Leo Smit Complete Works’: The character of the Prélude from Smit’s Suite pour le piano is primarily aggressive, and for a reason. As well as suggesting Ravel’s Jeux d’eau, this is a musical depiction of the turmoil between the Dutch and the Spanish. (….) The Suite is clearly influenced by the piano music of Ravel. In the Tombeau de Couperin-like Forlane, the bitonal writing produces some extremely sour chords, while the challengingly bold Rondeau is totally characteristic of Smit, but with a wink towards Poulenc. Gradually the music becomes more swinging. At the end, the main theme returns in a changed form, interrupted by violent piano music that seems to have been derived from Ravel’s Gaspar de la nuit. (translation: Nicoline Gatehouse) For the orchestration of ‘Forlane’ and ‘Rondeau’ by Godfried Devreese, Huib Ramaer adds the following: The history of the musical material of these two orchestrations is somewhat complex. The Suite for solo piano was originally based on the music for the A-Z play for wind-band. The Flemish composer Godfried Devreese (1893-1972) then orchestrated the second and third movements of the piano version for woodwind, brass, strings, harp, timpani and celesta. This ‘free adaptation’ was performed some time before 1940 by the Haarlem Orchestral Society conducted by Frits Schuurman. (translation: Nicoline Gatehouse) The autograph of the piano version is currently located at the Nederlands Muziek Instituut in The Hague. The original score of the A-Z play has not been retrieved.
Leo Smit was born in Amsterdam into a Jewish family. He studied at the gymnasium until the age of seventeen and left school without a diploma; his deepest wish was to study music. He attended composition lessons with Bernard Zweers and Sem Dresden at the Amsterdam Conservatory. In 1924 he was the first composer to graduate “cum laude” in composition. Early on and throughout his career, his orchestral works were performed by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, under the direction of well-known conductors like Cornelis Dopper, Pierre Monteux and Eduard van Beinum. For three years he taught harmony and analysis at the Amsterdam Conservatory. In 1927, he moved to Paris, where he could listen to the newest French music and attend the most inspirational performances. In November 1937, Smit and his wife went back to Amsterdam due to family circumstances. Smit took up his teaching practise, he taught piano and music theory to private students at his home. Three years later, World War II broke out. Soon Jewish musicians and composers were barred from musical life. Their music became forbidden. Smit’s compositions written in the years 1940-1943 reflect this significant loss of freedom. In November 1943, Leo Smit and his wife were forced to leave their house in the south part of Amsterdam. They moved to the Transvaal neighbourhood, a Jewish ghetto in the east of Amsterdam. In March 1943, they were arrested, incarcerated at the Hollandsche Schouwburg (the Jewish Theatre) and transported to transit camp Westerbork. By the end of April, they were deported to concentration camp Sobibor and murdered upon arrival.
Source: Leo Smit Foundation
