Music in Movement creates a guide to the life and work of the greatest composers of contemporary classical music

The Music in Movement (MiM) project highlights the richness of European contemporary music by tracing the stories of four eminent composers: Louis Andriessen, Pierre Boulez, Arvo Pärt and Kazimierz Serocki. Through accessible themes, quizzes and, most importantly, a wealth of music, MiM reaches out to a broad audience in a new and engaging way. At the same time users with a background in music will be able to discover interesting storylines as well as delightful footage.

Music in Movement creates a new online channel disseminating the work of the four composers and depicts their influence on the European musical landscape of the 20th and 21st centuries. The project focuses on four outstanding personalities; Louis Andriessen (1939, the Netherlands), Pierre Boulez (1925–2016, France), Arvo Pärt (1935, Estonia) and Kazimierz Serocki (1922–1981, Poland). They represent various European countries and cultures, while their oeuvres reflect – as fully as possible – a range of compositional techniques, styles and aesthetics. The project aims to expand to include more European countries in the future.

When you approach silence with love, music can emerge.

Arvo Pärt

MiM does so by placing it in the broad context of the cultural and socio-political landscape of the 20th and 21st centuries. MiM invites its users to discover more about the composers’ biographies, their representative works, explore video materials, see manuscripts, printed scores and photos. With the help of specially designed tools and carefully chosen storytelling the portal allows its users to freely and independently identify the relations between the four personalities.

I see music as a kind of continuity, like a big tree…Of course there are many branches, many different directions. I think music is in constant evolution, and there is nothing absolutely fixed and rigidly determined.

Pierre Boulez

Music in Movement is about providing context for information. The Musical Crossroads tab presented in the form of a graph reveals various connections and makes it possible to explore the relations between the composers, relevant events, music centres, etc. by linking together data freely available online. Through an online quiz, a glossary and tailor-made teaching materials MiM explains key concepts of contemporary composition trends, styles and techniques, bringing them closer to the general public.

Finally, although music speaks for itself, some internationally renowned artists have agreed to share their comments, reflections and anecdotes regarding the composers. Björk, Steve Reich, Kronos Quartet, Jerzy Hoffman and Jaap Drupsteen, just to name a few, will talk about ideas and memories that resulted in some great pieces, elaborate on the composers’ impact on culture and reveal stories generally unknown to the public.

One of the best ways to understand the world and the arts is to understand history in depth. True progress in artistic thinking comes from knowledge of the past.
Therefore, I wholeheartedly support all efforts to make the archives visible and audible through this website.

Louis Andriessen

MiM is created by four prominent institutes engaged in the preservation and exploitation of cultural heritage – the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision; the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute, Poland; the French Audiovisual Institute; and the Arvo Pärt Centre, Estonia.

Two creative agencies – Rytm Interactive (Poland) and Frontwise (Dutch) – are responsible for the design and development of the online environment.
Music in Movement is co-financed by the Grant for International Collaborative Projects with Heritage Institutes of the Dutch Mondriaan Fund.

For more information please visit the MiM project website: http://musicinmovement.eu/.

Facebook: /musicinmove
Twitter: @musicinmove

Contact for the media:

Netherlands: Lizzy Komen, the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision,
lkomen@beeldengeluid.nl, T. +31 (0) 35 – 6771747

Poland: Agata Heft, the National Firm Archive – Audiovisual Institute
agata.heft@fina.gov.pl, T. +48 22 380 49 75

General contact:
info@musicinmovement.eu