Walpurgis . Het Collectief

John Keats' poetry inspired the Flemish composer Bart Vanhecke (1964) to write 'Close my willing eyes', a composition for three sopranos and ensemble. The work was already written in 1999 but has never been performed. The musical theatre Walpurgis and Het Collectief have now devised a poetic concerto around it. Even in his purely instrumental music, Vanhecke regularly uses poetry as a source of inspiration. 'L'eau du songe' for bass-clarinet, cello and piano is based upon a poem by Maurice Maeterlinck. After offering a clever and individual version of Bach's 'Musikalisches Opfer', Het Collectief then tackles his cantata 'Ich habe genug'. Brahms' 'Female Canons' are also revised. Both interpretations will be heard for the very first time in this concert. Four singers, eleven musicians and a lighting designer have come together to create this project. They are jointly exploring the gamut of light and shade, life and death, and poetry and music. For everybody involved, 'Close my willing eyes' is also part of the run-up to 'Silence', Bart Vanhecke's first opera, which is planned for 2009.