In 2020, the Government of The Netherlands commissioned a harp concerto to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ). The work was given in memory of Charles Grelinger, the Dutch-Jewish composer who wrote 'Hymn des Nations' on occasion of the 1913 inauguration of the Peace Palace, the permanent location of the ICJ. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, the commissioned work was written for a small ensemble. The world- premiere of the chamber version was performed on April 18, 2021 in The Hague and streamed on-line. In the summer of 2021, the work was revised for full orchestra and harp solo. It has not been performed or recorded to date.

First movement
1st theme: Charles Darwin talked about “our ancestors singing love songs to each other before we could speak articulate language”. Historically, the pentatonic scale is much older than the European concept of tonality. Thus, the opening theme is written using a pentatonic scale
Strings: reference to the opening of Beethoven’s 9th symphony: one of the most, if not the most brave, important and enduring testimony to the ideal of peace and brotherhood of men
2nd theme: an expression of pure optimism (1913, opening of the Peace Palace; 1945, United Nations is created to provide a diplomatic alternative to armed conflict “no more war”)

Second movement
1st theme: citation of Hymn of the Nations by Charles Grelinger. The world stood by when Grelinger was murdered and the ‘League of Nations’ failed to do what it stood for. The citation is rephrased from the original, hopeful major key into a questioning minor key
2nd theme: citation of a theme from Arnold Schönberg’s ‘Verklärte Nacht’. Survival of war is sometimes a flip of the coin: Grelinger died in an eastbound train to Auschwitz. Arnold Schoenberg understood the coming danger just in time, and traveled westbound to the US, escaping Europe and the war, and thus survived

Third movement
1st theme: The United Nations’ Security Council has five permanent members. Following a short introduction, the first theme is written in a 5/8 signature. It is intended to portray the UN’s original and optimistic post WWII spirit to resolve all international conflict by means of diplomacy rather than war

Ultimately, and in reference to the many armed conflicts since WWII (such as Korea, Vietnam, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and the many conflicts in the Middle East) the main theme from the 1st movement returns, overtaking the enthusiasm of the 3rd movement’s main theme. This time, the theme does not come to a harmonic conclusion, as we realize that even the UN has not (yet) found an answer to the horrors of war. Thus, the theme is cut short, and the concerto proceeds with an Adagio that is a new tone setting of the Kaddish prayer. The adagio is a personal expression of respect to Charles Grelinger, whose life was cut short during the Holocaust, and at the same time a prayer for peace on earth. The concerto ends with a 3rd and last musical quotation to the words “May He who creates peace in heaven create peace for all of us on earth. And we say: Amen.”