SUTRA, I.M. Wim Henderickx

Yehudi Menuhin, Jacqueline du Pré, Alexander Scriabin, Gustav Holst, Philip Glass, Giacinto Scelsi … Annelien Van Wauwe is far from the first to have experienced the beneficial effects of yoga on music. She discovered this already while studying clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik Hans Eisler Berlin and was offered a range of holistic, physical supplementary subjects ranging from Alexander techniques to yoga. Her breath control, breath support and clarinet playing benefited so much from this that she has never stopped. It was during Savasana, the relaxation moment after a yoga session where blood pressure can drop, that she suddenly realized "we need new music, not a piece of new-age background music but a genuine composition for the concert hall."

With this wish and with four of her favorite sutras (short ancient texts in Sanskrit that describe the basic principles of yoga) Annelien Van Wauwe approached composer Wim Henderickx (1962-2022) who was immediately interested. He wrote Sutra, a concerto for bass clarinet in A for orchestra and electronics (developed by Jorrit Tamminga) which premiered in the spring of 2022 in Glasgow. Annelien Van Wauwe performed the clarinet solo together with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Martyn Brabbins. A few months earlier she had recorded 'Sutra' together with Mozart's clarinet concerto with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, under the direction of Andrew Manze. Shortly before his sudden death on 18 December 2022, Wim Henderickx created a version for soloist and ensemble on commission from the Musica Divina festival, tailored entirely to Carousel, Annelien Van Wauwe's ensemble. This more intimate version now has its premiere almost a year later in the Jesuit Church in Lier.

JUST LET IT HAPPEN

The Sutra concerto transcends the classical dialogue form between soloist and orchestra or ensemble and works rather towards a deep connection between performers and audience. Like a classical concerto it consists of four movements, based on the four sutras that the soloist and commissioner brought in.

I Pranayama, the awakening life breath (prāna), after a short introduction there follows gradually an explosion of energy. II Dhyana, meditation, at a slow tempo. III Dharana, concentration of the mind, a very rhythmic section that approaches the energy of Le Sacre, but in which the clarinet gradually leads the music to a point of rest and focus. IV Samadhi, breathes a blissful freedom and total absorption.

Sutra is a tour de force. At moments when it gets really difficult for the musicians who not only play but also recite and sing, they think back to the advice the composer gave them: "Just let it happen."

KC: The bass clarinet was THE instrument of W.A. Mozart. Do you see any other link between the concerto of Mozart and that of Wim Henderickx?

AVW: The concerti are rather each other's opposites or contrasts, Mozart's classical language alongside Wim's contemporary version, that is so exciting. Sutra is therefore not a typical concerto, but rather chamber music where you feel completely embedded in the sounds the composer created. And, it's rather delicate to say, but Mozart, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Poulenc, … the list is long of composers who only started writing for clarinet at the very end of their lives. And it is absolutely tragic to say that Wim also died after that great clarinet concerto. Now that there is a bit more distance, I sometimes think that there is a very sad link to Mozart's clarinet concerto in that way. Perhaps a sign that it is a masterpiece that will still be known in 100 years?

KC: Jelle Tassyns, Jeroen d'Hoe, Annelies Van Parys, Aftab Darvishi, Calliope Tsoupaki, Manfred Trojahn,… also wrote music for you on commission. What was so special about the collaboration with Wim Henderickx?

AVW: Oh, that he immediately felt addressed by the theme I had in mind, of course. And also absolutely wonderful was that he really liked to listen to me and received my feedback with open arms, for example when it came to the bass clarinet. The fact alone that he wrote for bass clarinet and not just for clarinet and completely let himself be carried along in my ideas was incredible. I learned so much from that man, in terms of performance, in terms of rhythm, energy. The way Wim communicated with me, with the conductor, with the orchestras, with everyone was moreover a beautiful confirmation of how the concept of 'karma' works. That obviously positive karma, well, that only came back. I'm going to try much harder now than before to really continue that, since that encounter with Wim Henderickx it has become a must for me.

The concert programme 'Levensadem' concludes with Sutra and opens with two nocturnes for flute and strings from 1994 by Wim Henderickx, originally for solo woodwind and piano. They are two separate pieces that bathe in an intimate, poetic atmosphere with a vague, almost improvisatory rhythm that the composer wrote upon the birth of his first son, Ruben. With breath.respiro, Juri Vallentin, oboist of Carousel, invites the audience to participate in a "collective breath sculpture", guided by the amplified breath of the performer and later by electronic loops of the live-recorded breath. The breath serves as a metronome for the improvising variations he plays, and because these are inspired by the interaction between audience and performer, each performance of the piece is different every time. From Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) we hear KO-THA, 3 Dances for double bass, no.1, a work that demands a rather percussive approach to the double bass, a nod to Wim who was a percussionist. Wies Bouvé will perform his own version that closely follows the original which was intended for guitar, but still takes advantage of the larger soundboard of the double bass. A world premiere.

BREATH MEDITATION

40 years ago you were a weirdo if you did yoga or ate vegetarian, nowadays you'll find a few yoga studios in every city. Annelien Van Wauwe, who almost missed a career in athletics by a hair, also has a diploma as a 'yoga teacher'. She suspects that anyone who wants to keep going faster and seeks the limit will naturally end up at yoga, because that practice can bring us physical, emotional and mental rest. She doesn't mind that there is still little traditional yoga to be found in the West, what is more important is that people find their way to simplicity and a slower pace.

On 8 October, everyone can roll out their own yoga mat at 15:00 in the church for a workshop with yoga breathing techniques and live musical fragments from Sutra on bass clarinet and electronics. A concerto that is structured according to the principles of yoga could hardly get a better introduction than in this way. Appropriate clothing or prior knowledge are not necessary, a mat is handy but not essential.

KC: The theme of the festival is 'Care for each other'. How do you as a musician and ensemble leader fill in this theme?

AVW: First and foremost, it is important to take good care of yourself, only then can you care for others. As a musician, I try to do that very much by spreading everything I can take from music, from yoga, from life around me and carry it with me during rehearsals and other work. In the ensemble I find it very important to take every musician completely as he/she is. Carousel, that's a lot of different personalities and something like that can only work if everyone feels good. To care for everyone, I think that is indeed in my personality and that is why Carousel came about because I think it's a beautiful plan to not only make music with such wonderful musicians but also enjoy life and get very, very close to each other.

SUTRA, I.M. Wim Henderickx a yoga-inspired concert, closing moment of Musica Divina 2023 Sunday 8 October 15:00 Breath meditation led by Annelien Van Wauwe 20:00 Concert 'Levensadem' with Carousel

Programme

Wim Henderickx - 2 nocturnes Juri Vallentin - breath.respiro Giacinto Scelsi - KO-THA, 3 Dances of Shiva for double bass, Nr. 1 Wim Henderickx - SUTRA, concerto for bass clarinet and electronics (arr. for ensemble)

Breath meditation: the language is Dutch, registration takes place via kempen@festival.be Location: Jezuïetenkerk, Gasthuisvest 50, Lier https://musica-divina.be/programma/levensadem