Yehudi Menuhin, Jacqueline du Pré, Alexander Scriabin, Gustav Holst, Philip Glass, Giacinto Scelsi … Annelien Van Wauwe was far from the first to experience the beneficial effects of yoga on music. She discovered this while studying clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik Hans Eisler Berlin, where she was offered a range of holistic, physical supplementary courses ranging from Alexander Technique to yoga. Her breath control, breath support, and clarinet playing improved so much that she never stopped. It was during Savasana, the relaxation phase after a yoga session where blood pressure can drop, that she suddenly realized "we need new music, not some new-age background music but a real composition for the concert hall."
With this wish and 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 basset clarinet in A for orchestra and electronics (developed by Jorrit Tamminga) that premiered in spring 2022 in Glasgow. Annelien Van Wauwe performed the clarinet solo with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Martyn Brabbins. A few months earlier, she had already recorded 'Sutra' together with Mozart's clarinet concerto with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, conducted by Andrew Manze. Shortly before his sudden death on December 18, 2022, Wim Henderickx created a version for soloist and ensemble at the request of the Musica Divina festival, tailored entirely to Carousel, Annelien Van Wauwe's ensemble. This more intimate version will now premiere almost a year later in the Jesuit Church of Lier.
JUST LET IT HAPPEN
Wim Henderickx
The Sutra concerto transcends the classical dialogue form between soloist and orchestra or ensemble, instead working toward 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 forth.
I Pranayama, the awakening life breath (prāna), after a short introduction, there is a gradual explosion of energy. II Dhyana, meditation, at a slow tempo. III Dharana, concentration of the mind, a highly rhythmic section that approaches the energy of Le Sacre, but in which the clarinet gradually guides the music toward a point of rest and focus. IV Samadhibreathes a blissful freedom and total absorption.
Sutra is a tour de force. At moments when things get really challenging for the musicians who not only play but also recite and sing, they recall the advice the composer gave them: "Just let it happen."
KC: The basset clarinet was THE instrument of W.A. Mozart. Do you see any other connection between Mozart's concerto and that of Wim Henderickx?
AVW: The concertos are rather each other's opposites or contrasts, Mozart's classical language alongside Wim's contemporary version, that's so exciting. Sutra is therefore not a typical concerto, but rather chamber music where you feel completely immersed in the sounds the composer conceived. And, it's rather delicate to say, but Mozart, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Poulenc, ... the list is long of composers who only began writing for clarinet at the very end of their lives. And it's absolutely tragic that Wim also passed away after that great clarinet concerto. Now that there's a bit more distance, I sometimes think that in that way there's a very sad link to Mozart's clarinet concerto. Perhaps a sign that we're talking about 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 commissioned music from you. What was special about collaborating with Wim Henderickx?
AVW: Oh, that he immediately felt called by the theme I had in mind, of course. And it was also absolutely wonderful that he really enjoyed listening to me and received my feedback with open arms, especially when it came to the basset clarinet. Just the fact that he wrote for basset clarinet and not just regular clarinet, and that he completely embraced 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 furthermore a beautiful confirmation of how the concept of 'karma' works. That decidedly positive karma, well, it only came back. I'm going to try much harder now than before to really carry that forward, since that encounter with Wim Henderickx it's become a must for me.
The concert program 'Life's Breath ' 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 improvisational rhythm that the composer wrote upon the birth of his first son, Ruben.
With breath.respiro invites Juri Vallentin, oboist with Carousel, to invite the audience to participate in a "collective breath sculpture", guided by the performer's amplified breath and later by electronic loops of the live-recorded breath. The breath acts as a metronome for the improvising variations he plays and because they are inspired by the interaction between audience and performer, each performance of the piece is different every time. By Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) is KO-THA, 3 Dances for double bass, no.1 to be heard, a work that requires a fairly percussive approach to the contrabass, a nod to Wim who was a percussionist. Wies Bouvé will perform her own version that closely follows the original, which was intended for guitar, but still takes advantage of the larger sound box of the double bass. A premiere.
BREATHING MEDITATION
© Joëlle Van Autreve
Forty years ago you were a weirdo if you did yoga or ate vegetarian, nowadays you can find a few yoga studios in every city. Annelien Van Wauwe, who almost missed a career in athletics, also has a 'yoga teacher' diploma. She suspects that anyone who keeps wanting to go faster and pushing the limits naturally ends up at yoga, because that practice can bring us physical, emotional, and mental peace. She doesn't mind that little traditional yoga is found in the West; what matters more is that people find their way to simplicity and a slower pace.
On October 8th, everyone can unfold their own yoga mat in the church at 3 p.m. for a workshop with yoga breathing techniques and live music excerpts from Sutra on basset clarinet and electronics. A concerto built according to the principles of yoga could hardly receive a better introduction than this way. Appropriate clothing or prior knowledge is not necessary, a mat is handy but not essential.
KC: The festival's theme is 'Taking Care of Each Other'. As a musician and ensemble leader, how do you interpret this theme?
AVW: First and foremost, it's important to take good care of yourself, only then can you take care of others. As a musician, I try really hard to spread everything I can draw 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 they are. Carousel consists of MANY different personalities and something like that can only work if everyone feels good. Taking care of everyone, I think that's in my nature and that's why Carousel came into being because I think it's a beautiful plan to not only make music with such wonderful musicians but also enjoy life and come really, really close together.
SUTRA, I.M. Wim Henderickx
a yoga-inspired concert,
Musica Divina 2023 grand finale
Sunday, October 8th
3:00 PM Breathing meditation led by Annelien Van Wauwe
8:00 PM Concert 'Breath of Life' with Carousel
Program
Wim Henderickx – 2 Nocturnes
Juri Vallentin – breath.respiro
Giacinto Scelsi – KO-THA, 3 Dances of Shiva for double bass, No. 1
Wim Henderickx – SUTRA, concerto for bass clarinet and electronics (arr. for ensemble)
Breathing meditation: conducted in Dutch, registration via kempen@festival.be
Venue: Jezuit Church, Gasthuisvest 50, Lier
https://musica-divina.be/programma/levensadem
