Car Ensemble of the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
The Car Ensemble of the Netherlands ("Nederlands Auto Ensemble") was a Dutch
orchestra with a line-up
of both car
s and instruments and gave a number of performance
s in the Netherlands
and Germany
from 1984 until 1987.
The Car
Ensemble
was founded in Rotterdam
in 1984 by the Dutch
artist
and designer
Herbert Verhey and had its premiere
that year in the Tom Tom Club in that city.
The scores were built up of blocks with improvisation
instructions to which the conductor
had the opportunity to allow each segment a longer or shorter duration. The Car
Ensemble
made use of engine
sounds, car horns, the sound of doors and car radio's
, mixed with vocals, saxophone
and percussion. Those who operated the cars in the orchestra mostly had previously been involved with the Concert For Thirty Cars ("Concert voor 30 Auto's") by Herbert Verhey, performed on October 23, 1983 at a remote helicopter platform
near Rotterdam
.
On invitation of the Goethe Institut, the Car Ensemble performed on September 5, 1985 in Düsseldorf
, Germany
. The cars for that occasion were operated by the local artist
s Marcel Hardung, Adolf Lechtenberg, Julia Lohmann, Gisela Kleinlein and Klaus Richter. The musicians were from the Netherlands: Marjo Kroese (vocals), Bob Stoute (percussion) and Alan Purves (percussion). A recording of this concert was issued in 1986 on flexi disc
by Time Based Arts in Amsterdam
.
For performance
s of the Car Ensemble in Amsterdam on June 13 and 14, 1986, in the framework of the Romantic Aesthetics Festival, a drive-in cinema
was set up whereby the Car Ensemble made use of a local radio station
to broadcast
additional sounds, conversation
s and instructions to the audience
in their cars. The British cinematographer
s Richard Heslop
and Daniel Landin for that occasion were invited to direct a film, Procar in cooperation with Herbert Verhey and to be used for back-drop projection. The remastered audio recording of the event later on became the soundtrack
of the film. In 1987, Procar (16 mm, black and white, 19 mins.) was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival .
The last performance of the Car Ensemble was on August 16, 1987, at the invitation of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, a theatre festival
held that year in 's-Hertogenbosch. The Car Ensemble for that occasion worked together with the Dutch artist
Willem de Ridder, whereby the latter in a radio broadcast
directed citizens with their cars to a parking lot
in the city to take part in the orchestra.
Although dissolved by Verhey in the fall of 1987, he gave one final performance with the Car Ensemble ("Nederlands Auto Ensemble") in June 1990 in Hilversum
(the Netherlands) on request of Han Reiziger for his TV program on classical
- and contemporary music, Reiziger in Muziek. Han Reiziger — who in 1983 had also broadcast
the Concert For Thirty Cars — then operated one of the cars of the orchestra.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
orchestra with a line-up
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
of both car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
s and instruments and gave a number of performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
s in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
from 1984 until 1987.
The Car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
Ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
was founded in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
in 1984 by the Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
Herbert Verhey and had its premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
that year in the Tom Tom Club in that city.
The scores were built up of blocks with improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
instructions to which the conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
had the opportunity to allow each segment a longer or shorter duration. The Car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
Ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
made use of engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
sounds, car horns, the sound of doors and car radio's
Car audio
Car audio/video , auto radio, mobile audio, 12-volt and other terms are used to describe the sound or video system fitted in an automobile. While 12-volt audio and video systems are also used, marketed, or manufactured for marine, aviation, and buses, this article focuses on cars as the most common...
, mixed with vocals, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and percussion. Those who operated the cars in the orchestra mostly had previously been involved with the Concert For Thirty Cars ("Concert voor 30 Auto's") by Herbert Verhey, performed on October 23, 1983 at a remote helicopter platform
Heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...
near Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
.
On invitation of the Goethe Institut, the Car Ensemble performed on September 5, 1985 in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The cars for that occasion were operated by the local artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s Marcel Hardung, Adolf Lechtenberg, Julia Lohmann, Gisela Kleinlein and Klaus Richter. The musicians were from the Netherlands: Marjo Kroese (vocals), Bob Stoute (percussion) and Alan Purves (percussion). A recording of this concert was issued in 1986 on flexi disc
Flexi disc
The flexi disc is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable...
by Time Based Arts in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
For performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
s of the Car Ensemble in Amsterdam on June 13 and 14, 1986, in the framework of the Romantic Aesthetics Festival, a drive-in cinema
Drive-in theater
A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars.The screen can be as simple as a...
was set up whereby the Car Ensemble made use of a local radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
to broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
additional sounds, conversation
Conversation
Conversation is a form of interactive, spontaneous communication between two or more people who are following rules of etiquette.Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the structure and organization of human interaction, with a more specific focus on conversational...
s and instructions to the audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
in their cars. The British cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
s Richard Heslop
Richard Heslop
Richard Heslop is a British director of music videos and films. He has produced videos for artists including Queen, The Cure, and New Order, as well as programs on Channel 4 and the BBC...
and Daniel Landin for that occasion were invited to direct a film, Procar in cooperation with Herbert Verhey and to be used for back-drop projection. The remastered audio recording of the event later on became the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of the film. In 1987, Procar (16 mm, black and white, 19 mins.) was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival .
The last performance of the Car Ensemble was on August 16, 1987, at the invitation of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, a theatre festival
Theatre festival
Theatre festivals amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus. The medieval mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feasts...
held that year in 's-Hertogenbosch. The Car Ensemble for that occasion worked together with the Dutch artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Willem de Ridder, whereby the latter in a radio broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
directed citizens with their cars to a parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
in the city to take part in the orchestra.
Although dissolved by Verhey in the fall of 1987, he gave one final performance with the Car Ensemble ("Nederlands Auto Ensemble") in June 1990 in Hilversum
Hilversum
is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...
(the Netherlands) on request of Han Reiziger for his TV program on classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
- and contemporary music, Reiziger in Muziek. Han Reiziger — who in 1983 had also broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
the Concert For Thirty Cars — then operated one of the cars of the orchestra.