Canto Ostinato

Canto Ostinato ("Obstinate Song" (as ostinato)) is a musical composition written by the Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt.

The piece was completed in 1976 and performed for the first time in 1979 and is by far his most popular and most performed work.

The most remarkable aspect about this work is the amount of freedom that is given to the performer(s). The piece can be performed with different instruments and a different number of performers. Most commonly, it is played with either two or four pianos, but during the first performance in Bergen, North Holland in the Netherlands, the performers used three pianos and an electric organ. Other aspects which illustrate this freedom can be found in how this piece has been built up. The composer created a hundred and six small cells called 'sections' of a few bars, which can be played ad libitum and be repeated either one or many more times (some bridges excepted). Because of this build-up, performance may take from some two hours to more than a day.

The whole piece is at a steady tempo of ♩ = 60, marked so several times along the score. It starts with 2
4 which, given the fact that quintuplets are thoroughly used in this composition, is actually 10
16. Following is a complete representation of the structure of the work:

The piece is regularly performed live in the Netherlands with changing players and instruments, ranging from those with four pianos or one or more different instruments, to those played by a solo musician. A couple of performances have taken place with the carillon of the Dom Tower of Utrecht. It has also been performed in several public spaces all around the Netherlands, such as the Groningen railway station.

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