The symphonic poem Gorcum was inspired by the story of the martyrs of Gorcum (Gorinchem), nineteen Dutch Catholics who were hanged in the town of Brielle on 9 July 1572. Their martyr’s death took place at the beginning of the Eighty Years’ War, the revolt of the Netherlands against Spain, which was both a war of independence and religion. After Brielle was captured by the Calvinist Watergeuzen (‘Sea Beggars’), the uprising expanded and the Catholic clergy was increasingly besieged. Monasteries a...