God’s own musicians

Birdsong: nature’s most elusive song has inspired musicians for centuries. Tonight, Utrecht-based ensemble Insomnio revisits two brilliant 21st-century pieces in which birdsong plays the leading role. The highlight is Vanapriya, beloved forest by Korean Seung-Won Oh, a work Insomnio premiered at the Muziekgebouw in 2020. You will also hear new work by Jacob ter Veldhuis and the spectacular Bird Concerto for ensemble and live electronics by Englishman Jonathan Harvey.

With his wittily titled Bird Concerto with Pianosong (2001), Harvey wrote a masterly tribute to Olivier Messiaen, the composer in whose oeuvre birds are omnipresent. Harvey pulled off a dazzling feat by fusing piano, ensemble, live electronics and recordings of forty Californian songbirds into music of an otherworldly beauty. De Volkskrant: ‘the seamless fusion of speaker and ensemble tones ensure that the music remains captivating from start to finish.’