Amateur horn players, accompanied by the Korpus Horn Quartet (Reindert Geirnaert, Guillaume Michiels, Jonathan van der Beek, Jason Enuset), perform the composition Across the Distance by American composer John Luther Adams. Adams, who lived in Alaska for nearly 40 years, was initially active as an environmentalist. Starting in the 1980s, he devoted himself entirely to composing, staying true to his original, inner drive: namely, he wants to improve the world. In his music – often intended for outdoor performance – Adams therefore seeks authenticity and connection, with space, nature, the elements, the earth, humanity.
Across the Distance is a composition Luther Adams wrote in 2015, for one or more groups of eight horns. In May, Musica launched an appeal to (amateur) horn players from near and far, from the DKO, active in harmonies and brass bands, … to participate in the performance of this composition during OORtreders. After two extensive rehearsal moments, Across the Distance resonates throughout Het Klankenbos: natural tones, played by many horns – the instrument of nature par excellence – rise from a central point in the Het Klankenbos. The natural tones are non-tempered, acoustically perfect intervals, grounded in the natural harmonic series.
Over the course of the performance, the players spread out in space and mingle among the audience, who are free to move among the performers. In this way, the sounds of nature disperse in the space and, embracing the audience, move out into the wider world.
As part of Sounds Now, co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe program.
