Carlos Micháns


Carlos Micháns is a Dutch composer, writer and draughtsman of Argentine origin. He lives in the Netherlands since 1982. His works are published in The Hague by Donemus. Micháns is also a writer. He has published poetry, short stories, novels and a series of essays on Argentine history. From 1995 to 2012 he was in charge of Podium Neerlandés, a program of Radio Nederland for Latin American audiences featuring recordings made in the Netherlands' major concert halls.

Biography

Early years in Argentina

Born in Buenos Aires into a middle-class family with Spanish, French, English, Scottish and North American ancestry, Micháns started taking piano and theory lessons at seven, but gave up after a few years. According to the composer himself, he found theory and solfège boring and just wanted to play what he heard and compose his own tunes. At twelve he decided to give himself a second chance and returned to piano and theory lessons. He never again stopped studying until he graduated from university. Still a teenager, he was encouraged by his piano teacher Almah Melgar to play his own compositions at the yearly students concerts held at a well-known piano shop in downtown Buenos Aires. This first taste of success, though brief and modest, made him decide to become a composer. However, his first lessons in composition at seventeen with Roberto García Morillo, a major figure in Argentine music, did not prove a great success, which Micháns attributed to his teacher’s lack of pedagogical skill and insight. At the same time he studied harmony, counterpoint and fugue with Susana Oliveto, a young and knowledgeable woman composer who would become his true musical mentor and a lifelong friend. In 1967 he was granted a two-year scholarship by Almah Melgar which enabled him to study organ with her husband Carlos Larrimbe, a renowned choir conductor and organist at St. Saviour’s Church in Buenos Aires. The prospective of a future as an organist and eventual successor to his teacher, however, came to an abrupt end when the latter succumbed to a massive heart attack less than a year later. Disorientated by this sudden change of scenario, he nevertheless continued his studies of choir and orchestra conducting at the University of Buenos Aires and the Art Institute of Argentina's major opera house, Teatro Colón, which he completed almost simultaneously in 1973.

Changing plans

Almost certain of a job at the theater once he graduated, his hopes were again cut short by a new blow of fate. The political unrest in Argentina in the early 1970s and the return to power of the corrupt peronist regime brought about a reorganization of the theater and the reincorporation of staff previously dismissed by the former board of directors. It also caused Pedro Valenti Costa, head of the Art Institute and directly responsible for Micháns' eventual appointment as an assistant conductor, to resign. A few years of uncertainty about his future followed, during which he took up drawing and sculpting and enrolled in the Faculty of Veterinary, which he believed might provide a safer source of income in cattle-land Argentina. This new venture, however, was short lived, and he quit the faculty after a few months, during which constant demonstrations by the militant peronist youth on the one hand and aggressive indoctrination by left-wing teachers on the other, made studying almost impossible. In 1976, Micháns decided to return to music and managed to secure a monthly salary as a music teacher, which he later traded for a more lucrative and relaxed position as a private English teacher. Although he never ceased to compose, his output was limited and hardly ever played, except for a few minor pieces for piano, organ and choir. A significant breakthrough was the performance in 1981 of his Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra by the National Symphonic Orchestra, which, although warmly reviewed, he later discarded.

The Netherlands: a new beginning

Back from a short visit to the Netherlands in 1981, Micháns applied for a scholarship from the Dutch government which would enable him to free himself from work and other obligations and concentrate purely on composition. Although the scholarship came through, the sudden outbreak of the Falkland War threatened to frustrate his plans once again. He only obtained his permit after Argentina’s defeat and left for the Netherlands in August 1982. At the Utrecht Conservatorium, at the time one of the Netherlands' most prestigious and international music schools, he took lessons from Hans Kox, Joep Straesser, Ton Bruynèl and Tristan Keuris. During this new phase as an adult student, Micháns could not only fully concentrate on composition, as he had hoped, but also explore other styles and composition techniques. Soon after obtaining his diploma in 1987 he decided to become a Dutch citizen. He has resided in Utrecht ever since.

France

Since 2011, Micháns divides his time between the Netherlands and France, where, apart from composing, he organises concerts and participates in other cultural activities, mainly in the northeastern region of Champagne-Ardenne. Together with economist and art-lover Marcel Peek he has founded the "Centre Culturel Arteméum" in the historical town of Langres. The aim of the Centre, which opened to the public in July 2019, is mainly to hold exhibitions of Micháns' art collections, which cover various fields and cultures.

The music

Far from denying his South American roots and musical background, including elements from Argentina’s rich folk music and rhythms, Micháns regards them as components of his personality, although not essential to his musical language. On the other hand, sustained exposure to new music from all over the world rarely heard in Argentina, would result in a gradual updating of his regular style, without breaking with tradition altogether. Never interested in experimentation for its own sake, he nevertheless adopted certain aspects of serialism and minimalism, discovered the music of Olivier Messiaen, Witold Lutoslawski and Henri Dutilleux and blended his findings into a uniform and distinctive style of his own. More recently, he has added a few Asian elements to his palette, as a result of his frequent visits to India and Indonesia. This is particularly evident in his Sinfonia Concertante Nr. 4, the choral work Tirthankara, Purana for saxophone and piano and Dradivian Moods for oboe and string quartet. In his view, any style, culture or period may supply useful material and enrich the grammar of music, and it is up to the composer to select and combine the elements most suited to his needs, in order to configure a widely accessible, yet personal and distinctive language. This new approach is clear in one of Micháns' major piano works, Apparitions, composed for the outstanding Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam in 1990 and which the composer himself regards as a turning point in his creative career. A few years earlier than Apparitions, the Magnificat for soprano and choir also reflects Micháns' affinity with vocal music and his former training as a choir conductor. Combining rich, dissonant harmonies and a counterpoint with strong roots in polyphonic tradition, it is the first of a long series of works which would gradually establish his name in the Netherlands' rich choral life. Writing almost exclusively on commission, Micháns' output since his arrival in the Netherlands has grown steadily. At present, his catalog includes works for all sorts of instrumental combinations, from solos to major compositions for choir and orchestra. His list of chamber and choral music features a number of titles regularly performed by Dutch and international musicians and ensembles. Several of his compositions, which are published in The Hague by Donemus, have been released on CD. Among the musicians and ensembles of international stature which have performed music by Carlos Micháns are: Isabelle van Keulen, Ronald Brautigam, Michael Collins, Liza Ferschtman, Tjeerd Top Dmitry Ferschtman, Remy van Kesteren, Arno Bornkamp, Pieter Wispelwey, Marcio Carneiro, Lavinia Meijer, Udo Reinemann, Thierry Fischer, Kenneth Montgomery, Etienne Siebens, Utrecht String Quartet, Aurelia Saxophone Quartet, Duo Imaginaire, Het Reizend Muziekgezelschap, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orkest van het Oosten, Radio Kamer Filharmonie, Groot Omroepkoor, Holland Symfonia and Hagen Philharmonisches Orchester.

Literary work

Although never intended for publication, Micháns' first serious literary endeavours date back to the 1970s, when he started writing short stories and poetry. It was not until after his first visits to India in the early 1990s that he decided to publish limited editions of his travel stories, legends and a novel based on Indian traditions and religion. The primary goal of these publications, however, was neither literary nor commercial, but to serve as fund-raisers for humanitarian projects in South India in which Micháns was then involved. He later continued to explore and write on other subjects, including autobiographical stories and an essay on aspects of Argentina’s history up to 1982. Among his works in progress are a new series of Indian stories, animal stories and an introduction to aspects of Mongolian religious art. In addition, from 1995 to 2012 Micháns was a free-lance writer and editor for Podium Neerlandés, a classical music program of the Dutch international broadcasting station Radio Nederland for Spanish speaking, mainly Latin American audiences.

Selected works

Solo

Tema, Toccata y Fuga
Aria
Diferencias y Fuga en Modo Arcaico
Musique pour Saxophone
In Alta Solitudine
Cello Sonata
Apparitions
Viola Sonata
Suite en Noir
Trois Impromptus
Cinq Réflexions
Cinq-Plus-Cinq
Mouvements Éclatants
Cinq Prières de Détresse
Deux Improvisations

Chamber music

Divertimento for Five Trumpets
Music for Harp and Clarinet
3 Pezzi per Piano e Marimba
Concerto per cinque Nr. 1
Clarinet Quartet
String Quartet Nr. 1
Episodes for 18 players
Four movements for cello & piano
Saxophone Quartet Nr. 1
String Quartet Nr. 2
Concerto da Camera
Piano Quintet
Saxophone Quartet Nr. 2
Après Minuit
Purana
Divertimento for eight strings
L’Ange Maudit
Igoriana
Piano Quartet
Entre Nous
Trois Étoffes Anciennes
Dravidian Moods
Trois Portraits de l'Amour
Del Sur
Four City Nocturnes
Fünf Kommentare zu "Ich ruf zu dir..."
The Frozen Lake
La Mort d'Euterpe
Improvisation sur "Ich ruf zu dir..."
Chant d'Amour
Improvisation sur "Ich ruf zu dir..."
Triade
Lacrimae
Lachrimae Aeternae
Canta, canta mais
Urban Suite

Songs

Cinco canciones de amor
Vijf monogrammen
Terracotta
The Fall

Choir

J'ai étranglé mon frère
Magnificat
Herbstlieder
Salmos
Le Cortège d'Orphée
Six épigrammes
Tres Plegarias
Dos Tangos
Dos Abismos
Ave Maria – Pater Noster
Apostrophe
Cherished Dream

Orchestra

Sinfonia Concertante Nr. 1
Joy
Concerto Breve
Mouvements Concertants
Sinfonia Concertante Nr. 2
Phoenix
Kaleidos
Sinfonia Concertante Nr. 4
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra
Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra
Sinfonia Concertante Nr. 5

Voice/Choir and Orchestra

Syrinx
Correspondences
Quid Hoc Dementiae Est?
Sinfonia Trajectina
And Nothing Death
Three Poems of Drenthe
Soy Manuela

Literary work

Rogelio G.
El Mercader de Pumpuhar
De Ogen van Meenakshi
Madurai, Madurai
Het Regent Rood in Buenos Aires
Poemas Terminales
Nuevos Abismos
Miniature Thangkas of Mongolia
Parabestiario
Del Opio de los Pueblos y otros escritos
Nuevos Poemas
Desde la Oscuridad
Volver a Madurai
Madurai Revisited
Niet echt over Muziek
Cahier de Voisey
Cahier de la Nuit
Cahier du Néant
Cahier de Portraits