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.

This edition of the Silence series took place in the High Choir. Lined up in the space were twelve music stands. Violinist Diamanda Dramm played the six movements of Luigi Nono’s 'La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura' as she walked from music stand to music stand. She skipped one or more music stands each time: in the performance, there is no direct way from a to b. Arranged around the choir were eight loudspeakers that relayed four groups of electronic soundtracks: sounds of the violin’s attack and melodic and harmonic sounds from violin improvisations, but also sandwiched and abstracted violin sounds and the everyday sounds of voices, doors and chairs. Together, Dramm and sound director Wouter Snoei roamed through this labyrinth of sound following a – more or less – prearranged route. The soundtracks composed by Luigi Nono formed the warp for a new weft of live violin playing and sound direction.

Materials

Music stands, viola

Show gallery or Scroll for more