On October 17, Het Collectief will play a concert in the brand new 'Polderbos' crematorium in Ostend. The ‘Classical music and Architecture’ concert series invites ensembles to put together concert programs that match the specific architectural qualities of the different locations. In this way, the series links the interest in architecture with that in the latest classical music.
Perhaps it is not really in good taste to program the music of Mauricio Kagel in a crematorium. Kagel is known in the world of contemporary music as an eccentric composer with an extraordinary sense of humour. His ‘Phantasiestück’ for flute and piano consists of a constant alternation of wacky musical characters, a colorful musical collage, as it were. Kagel achieves a very original and at the same time surprising theatrical effect by setting up an accompanying orchestra behind a screen, creating a bizarre dialogue between visible and invisible musicians. The panels of the pulpit in the funeral home come in handy here…
With music by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, Het Collectief wants to highlight the function of the brand new building: his ‘Clarinet Quartet’ is an extremely nostalgic work in the pure, simple style so typical for his later works. The center of gravity of this composition lies in the elegiac last movement with the title 'Abschied'. With this music, Het Collectief also symbolically bids farewell to an imaginary deceased…’