'Dichter bij muziek' (closer to music) has special resonance

On Friday 11 October 2024, the Sporck Foundation organised a special musical programme in the Tilburg Cenakel. This evening, among other things, saw a connection between music and literature, performed by an internationally renowned trio. Under the motto ‘Closer to music’, two short song cycles by Jo Sporck were central, including the premiere of Vespers on poems by Sasja Janssen. This poet recently received the prestigious Johan Polak Poetry Prize.

Jo Sporck wrote Vespers immediately after the premiere of Into Silence, which was voted one of the 10 best classical music concerts of 2023 by NRC.

This special chamber music evening was musically performed by Hein Wiedijk, first clarinetist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Judith van Wanroij, soprano with an internationally impressive career and pianist Thomas Beijer, winner of the Dutch Music Prize 2022, among others. Music by Samuel Barber and works for clarinet and piano by Francis Poulenc and Alban Berg were also performed on this evening.

The audience's reactions afterwards were full of praise. The varied programme, the high quality of the music and the presentation by the musicians were particularly appreciated.