ARBOR is the first work in a new series of compositions titled GR 129. The GR 129 is the "Across Belgium" long-distance trail, a path that diagonally traverses the country between Bruges and Arlon, spanning nearly 600 km.

Over the years, during various hikes mainly through Belgium, I have captured images and videos which I organized into strict categories: trees, roads, animals, spirits, and stones. I process these images into a video and subsequently compose the accompanying music.

ARBOR is an ode to the many manifestations of a tree. The tree as a silent witness to life, as a giver and provider, as a comforter and protector, as a storyteller and a fundamental and strong manifestation of life itself.

Arbor, arboretum.

Silens vitae testis.

Aerem donas spiritu tuo.

Arbor consolatrix.

Praebitor tutelae atque hospitii.

Umbrae ac alimenti.

Radices ramique vestri velut venae.

Fluxus qui nobis narrat.

In the archive I discovered some older compositions for fanfares and harmonies. I decided to reinterpret them with a series of electronic instruments while maintaining the logic in terms of timbre and harmony as much as possible. 

That was the impetus for new compositions, in which I primarily paid attention to the harmony and less to the beat or the soundscape. I consciously left out digital and other percussion as much as possible.

Compositions:

EHSM – electronic hymn for stateless mammals

EHFPIC – electronic hymn for fairplay in interstellar competitions

EHBHT – electronic hymn for black hole theories

EHUM – electronic hymn for underrated molluks

EHWO – electronic hymn for wormhole olympics

A trekking through the breathtaking Spanish mountains of los Picos de Europa was the inspiration for this work. 'A hike with my thirteen year old son that commenced calm and promising, but almost ended in a nightmare when we lost track and the climbing and descending became more and more extreme and dangerous.'

The cello concerto describes in five stages a journey along gorges, glaciers and ravines, in which experiences of fear, vertigo, exhaustion and survival instinct go hand in hand with a sense of beauty and respect for the untouched nature and the grandeur of the mountains.

Cellist Robrecht Kessels brought the scores to life in a convincingly expressive and intense way, often restrained and contemplative, sometimes exuberant and animated in a dosed manner.

Structurally and dynamically, each piece builds up to one or more peaks and then descends through sometimes unpredictable turns.

Compositions:

picos cerebrales

picos de miedo

picos de sueños

picos de agotamiento

catarsis

It started with a theater concept about quantum physics. Circumstances bogged down the text and the project bled to death. However, the music took on a life of its own and the dramaturgy continued to work...

Invisible matter, metamorphosis, generating energy out of thin air, defying gravity or eleven dimensions, eight of which lie curled up like a butterfly's tongue: quantum mechanics once again opened doors to sorcery, alchemy and divination for even the greatest scientific skeptics. For example, light can be both wave and particle, and a Schrödinger's cat can be both alive and dead at the same time.

As with esoteric theories or occult sciences, only the gifted few seem to have real access to this elusive physics. Except maybe the jester, the idiot. With no limits imposed on his imagination, he too holds the key to this magical knowledge: he/she is The Quantum Idiot. These compositions form a musical report in five episodes of a mental journey through the sometimes wonderfully silly quantum landscape.

The Quantum Idiot: "Is it a wave or a particle entering my ears now?"

Compositions:

quantum idiot I

quantum idiot II

quantum idiot III

quantum idiot IV

quantum idiot V