Under the bridge, where Iris van der Ende sits with her harp, the room works like a resonance chamber. All stays hanging before it dissolves: music, sounds, thoughts. Iris lets you listen to the sound in a lost place in the city, and answers these with arpeggios, chords and melodies. Thus she plays her harp and the space.
The summer of 2018 was full of festivals featuring our new project in collaborations with theatre maker-harpist Iris van der Ende: Onder de brug performances during the Amsterdam Grachtenfestival August 11 & 12th (6 shows) and the north Amsterdam Over Het IJ Festival (26 shows) in July:
Videos of “Onder de brug”
Program note for the music-only version
Under, music for harp in a resonant space, was composed in 2018 for theater maker and harpist Iris van der Ende, who dreamed up an unusual project under a resonant bridge in north Amsterdam. For the Festival Over Het IJ we developed a performance with a harp on a boat floating under a bridge by Amsterdam Marina harbor. We tested the sonic properties and resonance response to her harp and I wrote a work to put her in dialogue with the bridge, a work inspired by rebounding sound, rapidly muted harp strings, waves, wind, and water. A month after we adapted to the Brugkelder 485 and the Torontobrug in Amsterdam for the Grachtenfestival, a fantastic experience. My hope is that this music will also be performed in many other settings, challenging the player and listeners to fully engage with the space around them.
Harp compatibility: This piece works with the standard pedal harp and also smaller lever harp.
Duration: c. 11 minutes
Movement titles:
I. Rebound
II. Reflect
III. Resound
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Under for harp$10.00