several periodicals. During the first large-scale peace demonstration of 1955 he said: "The atomic bomb is an anti-life, anti-God, anti-man weapon." The performance of the Second Symphony (which was awarded a prize at the 1953 Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels) during the 1956 Holland Festival instigated a new period of creativity. Vermeulen moved to rural Laren with his wife and child, where he composed the Sixth Symphony Les minutes heureuses, followed by various songs and the String Quartet. His last work, the Seventh Symphony, carrying the title Dithyrambes pour les temps à venir, reveals unflagging optimism. The composer died after a wasting disease, on 26 July 1967. The 'Vermeulen Incident' Vermeulen's dissatisfaction with the artistic policies of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and its leader Willem Mengelberg came to a head in November 1918. After a performance of the Seventh Symphony of Cornelis Dopper, conducted by the composer, Vermeulen stood up and shouted Long live Sousa! from the stands of the Concertgebouw. A part of the audience thought that the socialist leader Troelstra, who had attempted a revolution days earlier, was meant and therefore interpreted Vermeulen's words as incitement, leading to great turmoil and a flurry of publications. The orchestra considered whether or not they could ban specific journalists from the hall. The incident also highlighted the already lumbering conflict between traditionalists (represented by Cornelis Dopper and chief conductor Willem Mengelberg) and avant-garde figures such as assistant conductor Evert Cornelis. Even though the Concertgebouw's board would admit Vermeulen again after a while, his relations with the orchestra were tainted forever. As a consequence, Vermeulen's Second Symphony, written 1919–20 and entitled Prelude à la nouvelle journée, had to wait until the 1950s for its premiere; Mengelberg publicly stated that he would not even look at it (though see also this link ). As a result of numerous conflicts, Vermeulen decided to settle and work abroad for many years, particularly in France where he became a Paris correspondent for a journal in the then Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). He died in Laren. Works His symphonies, especially the last six of his seven, are atonal but also extremely contrapuntal, involving many musical lines combining simultaneously. In this he resembles Charles Ives in some ways. In his compositional work Vermeulen always focused his attention on melody. In his music a flow of melodies can be heard from beginning to end, quite diverse in form