Egmont (2020) – a monologue
Goethe’s Egmont retold. A monologue to accompany Beethoven’s Egmont Complete Incidental Music op. 84, for a Clara that sings and speaks.
The story of Egmont recounts an important chapter of the Dutch national history. Goethe turned this dramatic event into a theatre play. Beethoven subsquently wrote his famous incidental music to Goethe’s play.
This monologue is a retelling of the story from the perspective of Clara, Egmont’s lover. Clara also sings two songs in Beethoven’s music.
It’s a personal account of a historic event about trust, guilt, principles and love.
For:
Clara – actress/singer
Orchestra
Written for and premièred with Philharmonie Zuidnederland
Special thanks to: Jos Roeden
Inner Voice (2021) – a monologue
A monologue intérieure and exterieure about the extraordinary life choices of Elsa Diepenbrock (1868-1939), wife of composer Alphons Diepenbrock.
The piece is a dialogue between two voices – voices that speak and sing, that ask and answer. They seem to belong to two different people, but after a while the voices seem to blend into one. A story about how we relate to others – can we fully understand and know what drives other people? And can we understand why sometimes people chose to fall silent and not make themselves understood and heard?
Inspired by the book Cécile and Elsa, Strijdbare freules by Elisabeth Leijnse.
For:
Female singer/actress (prerecorded and live)
Piano
Written for and premièred at Oranjewoud Festival 2021 with pianist Hans Eijsackers.
Dag Anna (2020) – a monologue
About the life of pianist and composer Anna Stibbe. She’s forgotten and she didn’t mind disappearing. Being humble, I am not sure she would have liked the idea that a concert hall now bears her name. Yes, it bears her name even though no-one knows who she was…It’s the only proof she existed. But she once lived in my street, so surely there must be something that remains of her?
For:
Singer/actress
Piano
Written for the opening of the Anna Stibbe Zaal, Rosa Spier Huis – cancelled because of covid regulations.
Miroir de peine et d’amour (2018) – a monologue
A monologue to accompany Hendrik Andriessen’s Miroir de peine, on poems by Henri Ghéon. Miroir de peine gives voice to the anguish of Virgin Mary when Jesus died. The monologue Miroir de peine et d’amour recounts the special bond that Ghéon himself had to his mother, the dramatic event that made him loose his faith and how art made him believe again, but… in what?
For:
Singer/actress
Harmonium
Written for and premièred at Festival Boulevard 2018 by Cora Burggraaf and Annelies Focquart (harmonium).
