A music adventure to remember: Dag in de Branding Festival

on Saturday 15 October in The Hague

The theme of this festival, The Presence of Absence, is also the title of Oscar Bettison’s newest piece and Ensemble Klang, together with the Matangi Quartet, will perform the world premiere. Another programme peak is the Dutch premiere of Studi per l’intonazione del mare, which is our most ambitious project to date. One singer, one percussionist, one hundred flutes and saxophones will conjure up the mystical expanse of the sea. Artist-in-residence Christian Karlsen will conduct this masterpiece by Salvatore Sciarrino. This will be followed by Luciano Berio’s Rendering, with the Residentie Orkest under the baton of Karlsen. Composer Claudio Baroni, artist Joost Rekveld and double bass player Dario Calderone merge film and music in their performance of Ursae Minoris.

Oscar Bettison – The Presence of Absence
Oscar Bettison’s music defies convention and does not fail to stir the emotions. This British/American composer studied under Louis Andriessen and Martijn Padding in The Hague. Bettison likes challenging traditional concert music by introducing unusual instruments, electronics and groovy rock sounds. His composition The Presence of Absence was written specifically for Ensemble Klang and the Dag in de Branding Festival. He has turned poems from classical antiquity, modern texts about Roman ruins, oceans and interstellar space into soundscapes. He shows us that civilizations once thought of as invincible have met their downfall. We can learn from the past, but fail to do so, which may have disastrous consequences.

Pete Harden, artistic leader of Ensemble Klang, wrote the following about The Presence of Absence: “In an age when ancient ruins are being destroyed in Syria and we are losing irreplaceable artefacts from historically important cultures, this impressive new piece by Oscar Bettison deals with the collapse of human civilization by showing us the ruins that have been left standing. The work focuses on the foreboding and disturbing emptiness of the places on which cities once stood. The Presence of Absence will surely be a significant concert piece in the next ten years.”

Salvatore Sciarrino - Studi per l’intonazione del mare
Christian Karlsen will conduct the Dutch premiere of Studi per l’intonazione del mare by Salvatore Sciarrino. The Italian composer has opted for an unusual choice of instruments. Although a large number of instruments are involved, Studi per l’Intonazione del Mare is surprisingly nuanced in character. Sciarrino wants the wind players to play in a microscopically natural way so they “atmospherically blend into an acoustic haze of magical sound.”
Studi per l’Intonazione del Mare is a music adventure to remember.

Dag in de Branding Festival #41 – Saturday 15 October 2016

15.00 - Nieuwe Kerk
Oscar Bettison – String Quartet (Dutch premiere)
Oscar Bettison – The Presence of Absence (world premiere)
Ensemble Klang; Matangi Quartet; Michaela Riener, soprano

17.00 - Elandstraatkerk
Luciano Berio – Récit / Chemins VII
Ned McGowan – Wurgelguik
Salvatore Sciarrino – Studi per l’intonazione del mare (Dutch premiere)
Branding Ensemble; 100 flutists and 100 saxophonists; Kaspar Kröner, countertenor; Christian Karlsen, conductor

20.30 - Nieuwe Kerk
Master students from the Royal Conservatory (The Hague) and CodArts (Rotterdam) get inspired by Schubert:
Emil Tan Erten – new work
Leo Svirsky – new work
Christoph Blum – new work
Amund Roe – new work
Berio / Schubert – Rendering
Residentie Orkest; Christian Karlsen, conductor

22.00 - Paard van Troje
Claudio Baroni – Ursae Minoris
Joost Rekveld, video; Dario Calderone, double bass; Claudio Baroni, electronics

Ticket sales and additional information: http://www.dagindebranding.nl/en/