At the beginning of October, Bernard Haitink’s complete collection of scores was transferred to the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. The collection, which fills 14 large moving boxes, includes much of the music Haitink conducted, as well as manuscripts by composers. On 19 October, at our alumni reunion, Haitink's widow Patricia presented the collection to Ed Spanjaard, principal subject teacher in orchestral conducting, saying, ‘The scores have come home.’

Ed Spanjaard is delighted with the donation. Yet he wonders whether the scores will provide many new insights into Haitink's working methods. ‘He writes very little of a personal nature in his scores,’ says Spanjaard. ‘It will still be quite difficult to extract the mystery of his greatness from them.’