| Makers | Ensemble Klang |
| Duration | 80 min |
| Part of | Language no problem |
| Program lines |
So(ul)cietySocietal issues are addressed in this work, however complicated they may be.
HomegrownCreators from The Hague, because we like to showcase the creative talent the Hofstad has to offer.
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Enter an intimate world of sound with instruments, texts, and electronics coming at you from all directions.
Peter Adriaansz’s Environments is a reflexion on man and society. Against a sound backdrop of harmonies and sounds that surround you, spoken texts question how we fill our days, what we spend time on, and what goal lies behind our intellectual, spiritual, and political striving. Ensemble Klang presents this near-utopian work by one of the Netherlands’ most celebrated composers.
Peter Adriaansz’s Environments is an evening-long reflection on humankind and society. Over lusciously rich harmonies and constantly encircling sounds, spoken word texts pose questions about how we fill our days, how we pass the time, and what the purpose might be of our intellectual, spiritual and political pursuits.
In this profoundly personal 85 minute work, Peter Adriaansz’s largest to date, an amplified ensemble is built around an array of specially tuned guitars, winds, vibraphones, Bayan, keyboards and synthesizers. We hear texts from Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, beat philosopher Alan Watts and an expanded version of The Principle of Polarity (as formulated in the mysterious Kybalion).
The audience are immersed in a sound world, with instruments, texts and electronics coming from in front, behind and above. In this special ‘in the round’ setting, Environments delivers a simultaneously intimate and expansive experience.
This work by one of the Netherlands’ most lauded composers, and one of Ensemble Klang’s closest collaborators, is decidedly idealistic. Environments‘ own pursuit could even be called ‘Utopian’.
"A wondrous paradox of ever-changing stillness, in which a sense of time fades. Sounds remain motionless in space. And yet everything sparkles and vibrates."
— NRC
Korzo Zaal