What do we hear in the buffer zone between city and sea? That question is asked by ensemble Kluster5 in this programme full of works by young composers – and, conveniently, they also provide an answer. Just like the 360-degree view of the Scheveningen dunes that Hendrik Willem Mesdag painted in his famous Panorama, Kluster5 conjures up a musical impression of that same environment as we find it today. Kluster5 – with saxophone, of course, as in all concerts of this Festival Dag in de Branding – is one of the most interesting young ensembles in the Netherlands.
A lot has changed since Mesdag captured life in the ancient fishing village in 1881. The Pier was built, the Boulevard and the Ferris wheel. Some things have remained the same, though, like the sound of the surf, the wind and the periodic storms. Kluster5 asked six composers to create musical impressions of aspects of the Scheveningen experience, which combine into a sonic panorama.
Jan-Peter de Graaff, composer and guest curator of this edition of the festival, contributed two pieces, one about a remote beach café and the other about patterns that occur on the beach: of waves, of moving crowds or in the architecture of the skyline. The ‘in-between zone’ of the beach is familiar territory for De Graaff, by the way: he grew up on Terschelling and is currently based in The Hague.
Max van Platen focuses on weather phenomena in Kermis in de hel (‘Fair in hell’) while the titles Beach days (Remy Alexander) and Carousel (Amarante Nat) speak for themselves. Molly Joyce, in Lost & Found, lends an ear to things left behind on the beach when the people have left.