NADA BRAHMA was commissioned by the Flanders Festival and Muziektheater Transparant in 2005 for the Music Festival Music@Venture, curated by Jonathan Harvey.

NADA BRAHMA (Sanskrit) literally means God is Sound.
‘The creation, the cosmos, the world is sound and sound is the world. Even emptiness is sound. The Spirit and the Soul are sound' (Joachim-Ernst Berendt).

This work for soprano, ensemble and electronics is the third part in the TANTRIC CYCLE, seven compositions inspired by Eastern music and culture.
They followed the 3 RAGAS, works composed in the 90s.

The work contains 7 parts :

1. Cosmic Time
2. Cosmic Energy
3. Sacred Noise
4. Cosmic Pulsations
5. Cosmic Chord
6. New Spirituality
7. Cosmic Silence

The composition is based on algorhythmical procedures, which form the basics of the music and the text. The composer constructed an abstract text (without substantive meanings) with sounds recalling ancient languages such as Sanskrit and Latin.

The work is written for soprano solo, 11 musicians (3 strings, 6 winds en 2 percussionists) and live electronics. The instruments are a metaphore for wordly affairs, while the electronics represent the cosmic. The electronics were realized in collaboration with Jorrit Tamminga.

RECORDINGS

Full Cd Wim Henderickx
Cd 'Triptych' (2014)
With NADA BRAHMA, ON THE ROAD and
ATLANTIC WALL
HERMESensemble, cond. Wim Henderickx
www.amazon.com

LISTEN 1 (Part III Sacred Noise)

LISTEN 2 (Part IV New Spirituality)

Hendrickje Van Kerckhove (soprano), HERMESensemble and Jorrit Tamminga (electronics)

SCORE

Norsk Musikforlag (publisher)

Download PDF (sample)

INSTRUMENTATION / EXTRA INFORMATION

for soprano, instrumental ensemble and live electronics
(+/- 25’)
Commissioned by Festival van Vlaanderen Antwerpen and Muziektheater Transparant
Jonathan Harvey, curator of the festival
instrumentation: sopr/ fl(=alto fl),ob,bcl(=cl),bn/ trpt,tbn/ 2 perc/ vla,vlc,db
first performance: 20 October 2005, Music@Venture (curator Jonathan Harvey), Augustinus, Antwerp
Rolande Van der Paal, soprano,
ChampdAction, cond. James Wood