for accordion
for accordion and strings
Commissioned by Vincent van Amsterdam, Wim Henderickx started working on a new composition for accordion solo and a version for accordion and strings in 2022.
Commenting on the composition sketches, Henderickx mentions that the title was inspired by the iconic phrase ‘Thunder only happens when it's raining’ from Fleetwood Mac's album Dreams. Henderickx further notes that at times, the piece not only contains a heady energy, but also offers the listener the opportunity for deep inner reflection. The alternation between virtuosity and intimate moments, makes it a technically challenging as well as an emotionally rich work.
Henderickx worked intensively on this concerto until the end of 2022. Upon his unexpected death on 18 December 2022, he left behind an almost completely finished score, in which the form had been meticulously established and the musical material was largely presented in sketch form. In consultation with his widow Bea Steylaerts, Henderickx's brother and sons, and in close collaboration with Vincent van Amsterdam, Diederik Glorieux realised the final version of the Accordion Concerto in 2024, assisted in this by Hannes Vanlancker. Besides the solo version and the version for accordion and string orchestra, a version for accordion and string quintet has also been realised.
The one-movement work consists of 16 contrasting sections. Contrary to what the macrostructure suggests, - as is often the case with Henderickx's work - the prime number is on all other levels the building block for inner structure and musical identities.
In this composition, there is a contrast between powerful, raw energies and refined, poetic textures. Henderickx juxtaposes dissonant chords with sonorous harmonies and combines repetitive elements with fluid, constantly transforming melodies. The result is a work in which extremes coexist without transition or announcement. As in his opera De Bekeerlinge (The Convert), which he had just finished at the start of this composition, you will also find a diversity of musical traditions in this work, which Henderickx managed to transform into a musical language all his own.
ACCORDION CONCERTO (Thunder only happens when it's raining) (2022-2024)
(+/- 15')
for accordion
for accordion and strings
commissioned by Vincent van Amsterdam
First performance on 19 October 2024 at STUK in Leuven, during the Festival 20-21 (BE)
Vincent van Amsterdam and LUDWIG