in the series Silence

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.

In the Silence concert on April 5, a contrast could be heard between two sound worlds. The Instrument of Troubled Dreams by Cardiff & Miller played the solo role in a static work by James Tenney, In a large, open space (1994). In this composition by Tenney (1934-2006) each instrument plays a perfectly intonated "overtone" of a low F. A cyclical movement of perfect harmony that seems to be infinite. Actually, there was no greater contrast imaginable between the multitude of sounds from Cardiff & Miller's Instrument of Troubled Dreams and James Tenney's static composition.

The musicians of Silence #20 were Dario Calderone (bass), Pau Sola Masafrets (cello), Oene van Geel (viola), Maya Felixbrodt (viola), Jan Willem van der Ham (bassoon), Jan Bastiani (trombone), Gareth Davis (bass clarinet), María Martínez Ayerza (recorder), Petri Arvo (recorder), Juho Myllylä (recorder), Carole Reis (organ), and Jacob Lekkerkerker (mellotron).

Materials

Instruments

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