Vocaal Ensemble TIEN - Wie fremd ich geworden bin

How Strange I Have Become

is the central theme of the program that TIEN is presenting this autumn, led by Hebe de Champeaux. This theme comes from a cycle of four poems by Herman Hesse. The composer Andries van Rossem set these poems to music on behalf of Tien.

“How Strange I Have Become” is about the longing for the past, for peace and for unity and connection, in a world where confusion, alienation, powerlessness and despair reign. A world in which man himself is the cause of evil. The First World War had a major impact on the life of Hermann Hesse, as well as on that of Hubert Parry, who lost many loved ones. We sing two of his Songs of Farewell. Samuel Coleridge Taylor lived at the same time as Parry. His Sea Drift is about a test of strength between man and nature. Doherty's The Destroyer also has natural violence as its theme, but it can just as easily be seen as a metaphor for the destructive power of man. Miks ma ei tapa ennast by the Dutch composer Diederik van der Laag refers to the despair of an Estonian politician who passionately defended his mother tongue against the Russification of his country in the 1980s. With “Wie fremd ich geworden bin,” TIEN presents a committed and current program in which spectacle and tranquility alternate.

More information and tickets via: https://www.vocaal-ensemble-tien.nl/