7 & 14 April 2024
Sur la Terre … Comme au Ciel

‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy’ (Hamlet)

This spring Photonen brings you a new, fresh, exciting a cappella programme in French and English. Visions, desires, ambition and the pursuit of rapture and fulfillment expand in Sur la terre… comme au ciel our horizons.

Trancendence and Beauty

In intriguing choral music from the late 20th and early 21st century, classical compositional tradition and groundbreaking, sometimes transcendent ideas enter into an inspiring symbiosis.

“… a breathtaking account of a royal writer from Sumer who, against a background of war, expresses his love for a priestess…”

Composer Ton de Leeuw on À cette heure du jour

In Eric Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine, you can hear how Leonardo da Vinci is challenged in a dream to break free from the earth. The text occasionally cites from Da Vinci’s diaries, and does one hear a touch of Monteverdi there?

Renowned Dutch composer and musicologist Ton de Leeuw strove for a balance between Western compositional techniques and oriental philosophy, which resulted in À cette heure du jour (1992). According to his own words the text is “a breathtaking account of a royal writer from Sumer who, against a background of war, expresses his love for a priestess. After an introductory fragment depicting the heat of a summer’s day, a long invocation of the gods follows in order to implore their favors. The song, which resembles a litany, alternates with two slow and lyrical passages, in which his feelings for his beloved gain the upper hand.”

There are fresh and rythmic pieces like a hymn by Sisask, who was inspired by astronomy and created his own pentonic scale, based on the orbits of the planets, and Horizons (1995) by Peter Louis van Dijk. The latter was commissioned by the King’s Singers to write a piece for their South African tour. A glorious energetic hymn is Howells’ Regina caeli (1915), whereas Ils dorment by the young Dutch Utrecht based composer Diederik van der Laag renders total contemplation. He composed Ils dorment to a poem dating from 1915, by a French ‘war poet’.

In addition, you will hear beloved late Romantic choral works by the French composers Poulenc, Saint-Säens and Maurice Duruflé.

Playfulness, inspiration, beauty, nature, prayer, dance, love and poetry lift us up and add comfort and color to our lives.

The full programme can be found here.

Sunday 7 april 2024 – 3.15 pm – HAARLEM
Waalse Kerk, Begijnhof 28, 2011 HE Haarlem

Sunday 14 april 2024 – 3.15 pm – AMSTERDAM
Oranjekerk, Tweede van der Helststraat 1-3, 1073 AE Amsterdam
(crossing Van der Helststraat/Van Ostadestraat)

Admission:
Presale € 18 / € 15,50
At the venue € 19,50 / € 17
Child up to 12 years € 10 (both online and at the venue)

Kindly note: We do not charge any administration fees. The discounted rate applies to student/CJP/Haarlempas/Amsterdamse Stadspas with green dot. Both city passes are valid for both concerts. The presale rate is valid until 11:59 pm on the day before the concert. You can purchase tickets online until 3 pm on the day of the concert. After that at the cash register at the venue, either by debit card, in cash or with your phone.

We are looking forward to your visit!