Early in the morning, the Oude Kerk is a meditative oasis in the city. Since 2017, on every first Friday of the month at 8 a.m., when the rising sun casts its light through the church’s towering windows and the neighbourhood slowly wakes up, visitors can enjoy the Silence music programme. The concerts celebrate the acoustics and space of the Oude Kerk, which invites mostly young, experimental musicians. There are no fixed seats; visitors are welcome to walk around and discover what the music sounds like in different places in the church.

The Silence concert on February 1, 2019 took place throughout the church, the world of the mellotron is spatially "enlarged". Confrontations, fragments, contrasts, voices, strings and sounds. Listeners could create their own composition by moving through the church, or by choosing a fixed place. Five musicians played with the material of the mellotron, four adapted psalms by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. In addition, 'Es sang vor langen Jahren' by Arvo Pärt, for voice and two string instruments, was be performed. The musicians of Silence # 18 were Kaspar Kröner (countertenor), Margarida Sampoia (flute), Oene van Geel (viola), Gareth Davis (bass clarinet), Pau Solas Masafrets (cello), and Jacob Lekkerkerker (mellotron).

Materials

Instruments, mellotron

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