Johan de Meij

Loch Ness

The symphonic poem 'Loch Ness' consists of five through-composed impressions of this mysterious Scottish Lake. I) The Lake At Dawn - calm, static, sonorous blocks depict the troubled opaque water surface and the enormous depth of the Lake at daybreak. II) Slowly the rising early-morning mist reveals the distant ruins of Urquhart Castle, represented by a solemn theme in the trombones which is taken over by the full band, thus evoking the illustrious past of this fortress besieged so many times. III) Inverness: Bagpipes and Tourists - the music takes us down to the town of Inverness where the first tourists mark the slow but steady start of a new season to the sound of a Scottish melody. IV) Storm - suddenly a heavy wheater breaks: fierce gusts of wind and heavy showers transform the erstwhile calm surface into an obscure and whirling mass of water, and clouds rapidly passing over offer an eery scene... V) Conclusion - storm and rain gradually decrease and when everything is quiet again we are granted a last view of the Lake in its full glory.