Doss: Van Gogh

VAN GOGH
Grade 5
Thomas Doss
OKTAVIAN MUSIC
www.oktavianmusic.com

Performed by The Luxembourg Military Band & Lieutenant Colonel Jean Claude Braun

https://www.musicroom.com/search?q=va...
Distributet by Hal Leonard Europe

This composition is not a work inspired by the life of the famous painter, but rather an attempt at a pictorial immersion into his world. In
addition to Van Gogh’s character and tragic life, the technique he employed to create his works, the bright colours of his paintings and his
view of nature served as inspiration for this musical work. Point by point, stroke by stroke, Van Gogh brought his own world to life on canvas.
On the life of Van Gogh:

The structure of the work:
Start: Brushes and Paints
Van Gogh retired to Arles in southern France where he found his artistic home. The colours and flowering gardens of this landscape
awakened in him an unbelievably great creative power.
A: A Picture Comes into Being
Van Gogh’s psychotic episodes and bouts of depression did not stop him from painting wonderful pictures. Hardly anyone recognised his
genius during his lifetime—on the contrary, he often felt misunderstood.
C: Paris - Arles
In Paris (from 1886), Van Gogh became inspired by the French art scene. His works found few takers, however. He met and befriended the
painter Paul Gauguin, but the lack of success made Van Gogh short tempered, and he began to drink. Eventually, he moved from Paris to
Arles in the south of France to establish an artists’ collective with Gaugin. Within a few weeks, the two got into such a violent argument that
Van Gogh attacked his friend with a knife. The friends parted ways and afterwards Van Gogh cut off his right ear.
In 1889 he voluntarily admitted himself into a mental hospital at St. Rémy, suffering from hallucinations and fearing that he would lose his
mind.
G: The Starry Night
One of his most famous paintings, created in 1898.
H: Death and Brotherly Love
Vincent van Gogh accepted an invitation to Auver-sur-Oise in 1890. This was one of his most intensive creative periods. He also went
there for treatment, but his mental state hardly improved. After an extended walk, he injured himself fatally with a pistol under mysterious
circumstances. Not even to his beloved brother Theo, who had supported him all his life, did he reveal on his deathbed how the accident
had occurred.
J: Art Market
Today, Van Gogh’s paintings are among the most expensive paintings on the art market. How ironic, given that he could hardly sell a painting
during his lifetime.
“I put my heart and soul into my work and lost my mind in the process.” (Vincent van Gogh)