Peter Schat (1935–2003) is counted among the most remarkable and important of post-war Dutch composers.

While in the 60s and 70s he served the ideology of the avant-garde and social activism, dedicating work to anti-capitalist figures such as Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh, he later turned a stylistic and philosophical corner, taking up the anti-communist cause and devising his own “Tone Clock” system of tonality that would govern his work to come.

His 12 Symphonic Variations, De Hemel (Heaven, 1990), is ‘dedicated to the martyrs for democracy at Tiananmen Square’ in Beijing. It is a large-scale symphonic-romantic composition lasting about 45 minutes. Set for large orchestra with extended woodwind and brass sections, two harps, piano and an enlarged percussion group, the work’s instrumentation aims for homogeneity and the blending of various instrumental colours, with percussion at times figuring prominently. It is a construction of stable harmonies, a grand cathedral of tones and intervals. Melodies, serving so to speak as Gothic adornments, are often derived directly from the harmonies, underlining their fundaments. The massive, slow build up is comparable to that of a Bruckner symphony.