Jan Bosveld

The Golden City

Prague, also named 'The Golden City', has been the cultural and administrative capital city of the Czech Republic for thousands of years.
The city is beautifully situated on the river Moldau.
Every year millions of tourists visit Prague. It is one of the most popular cities of Eastern Europe. With it's mysterious little squares, dark alley ways and cobblestone streets, the 'City of the 100 Towers' is a unique mixture of architecture, dominated by monumental buildings, numerous churches and the oldest castle of Europe.
The Bohemian capital city remains timeless. Visit the fort and be amazed at the lovely views over the Charles Bridge. Spend your time carefully browsing through the little stalls filled with paintings, photos, jewelery and hand-decorated products, accompanied by the sounds of the street musicians in the background.
Notice the famous 15 th century astronomical clock that indicates the time every hour with a parade of the twelve apostles.
When composing this piece, it was Jan Bosveld's intention to depict the atmosphere of this metropolitan city with over one million inhabitants, rather than to create a fairly literal musical portrait.
One of the many other names of Prague is 'The City of the Clocks'. This can be heard throughout the piece depicted by the tubular bells.
The piece consists of three movements (slow-fast-slow) and was written in a rhapsodic format.

Jan Bosveld was commissioned to write 'The Golden City' by the Dutch Music Lend and Information Centre (MUI), a department of the library for the province of Gelderland in Arnhem, the Netherlands.