ABSTRACT
This book finds its cause in the Festival Nieuwe spirituele muziek (New Spiritual Music), held November, 1999 in Amsterdam and for which there was a continuation in June, 2007.1 New Spiritual Music. “The last big movement in the development of the music history of the 20th century that simultaneously marks the transition towards the 21st century,” read the program notes.2 They continue: “If only because of the very essential change in the aesthetic and cultural-philosophical foundations of the New Spiritual Music with respect to the traditional avant-garde since World War II, the aggravated attention that the composers of spiritual music will receive during this large-scale festival is justified.”
