The Vision of Berlage takes on an entirely new form with our new podcast series, The Ideals of Berlage. The first episode will be available to listen to from the beginning of September.
The ideals of Berlage (podcastseries)
In each episode, Vincent Bijlo is joined by a different member of the Berlage Saxophone Quartet to dive deeper into the ideas behind the project. Together, they explore Berlage’s vision, the connection between music and architecture, and how his ideals still resonate today.
Listen now to the second episode! (external link)Episode 2 with Eva van Grinsven
In Episode 2 of The Ideals of Berlage, Vincent Bijlo and Eva van Grinsven take us through the Kunstmuseum Den Haag: H.P. Berlage’s final masterpiece and the setting where this episode was recorded.
Together, they explore Berlage’s ideals on art, architecture and civilisation, listen to voices from the past, and draw a fascinating parallel between music and architecture through Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
The episode also delves into The Pantheon of Humanity, the peace monument Berlage designed during the First World War and which lies at the heart of the performance The Vision of Berlage.
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“Architecture,” said architect H. P. Berlage (1856–1934), “is frozen music, and music is liquid architecture.”
This idea forms the basis of the collaboration between the Berlage Saxophone Quartet and Berlage’s great-grandson, cabaret artist, writer and podcast maker Vincent Bijlo.
In the three-part podcast Berlage’s Ideals, Bijlo and the members of the quartet discuss Berlage’s Vision, their Gesamtkunstwerk created entirely in the spirit of H. P. Berlage, or HPB, as he is still known within the family.
Through music, text and imagery, the performance brings Berlage’s idealistic philosophy to life.
Bijlo: “We begin the podcast in 1914, on the day the World War broke out, a war that no one at the time knew would turn out to be only the first.
We talk about the peace monument Berlage designed shortly afterwards. He dedicated it to all of humanity. It was intended to become a symbol of the end of the era of imperialist wars.
We share music from the performance, hear the voice of my grandmother, Berlage’s youngest daughter, and even the architect himself briefly addresses us.”
“Art,” Berlage said, “elevates and art serves.”
And so it is. This podcast hopes to do the same, because 92 years after his death, Berlage’s ideals have lost none of their power.