Sic accensa profatur (Dido’s Complaint) | Willem Wander van Nieuwkerk

2004b

Song for soprano, accompanied by violin and piano

For prof. dr. Daan den Hengst, commissioned by the University of Amsterdam's Dept. of Classical Studies.
Tekst: Vergil, Aenid IV 362 - 392

Dido’s Complaint is a setting of Vergil, Aeneid IV 362 – 392. It is a sister piece of the Trio for violin, clarinet and piano from 2004, written shortly after. Besides chamber music, I hope to be able to write some more songs. This piece also somewhat furthered my ability to better write for my own instrument, the piano.

In the song the narrator introduces Dido, who is raving about Aenid’s disloyalty. She in turn curses him and deplores herself, announces her suicide and her return as an avenging spirit, and eventually collapses. The narrator winds up decribing how her maids lay exhausted Dido to rest .

The piece was commissioned by the Institue of Classical Studies of the University of Amsterdam. It is performed by Sabine Wuethrich (soprano), Peter Brunt (violin) and Maarten den Hengst (piano).

Sic accensa profatur (Dido’s Complaint)

About me

Musical beauty and simplicity are my aim. My guiding principle is the classical European tradition. Folk music, church music and Early Music are the sources to which I return to seek new melodic beauty. I value musical craftsmanship and intuition highly. Musicians are my first audience. It is their virtuosic interplay, comic or dramatic, but always emotionally charged, that is the musical theater my music presents to the listener. The sounds I cherish most are those that through the musician’s hearts, breath and hands bear the mark of their personal interpretation.
Chamber music is, therefore, central to me – I have written for the Bennewitz Quartet and Harry-Imre Dijkstra, the Skampa Quartet, Rosanne Philippens, the Bartók Trio, the Utrecht String Quartet and many others.
My chamber music for recorders has a special place in my work and is played in large numbers by amateurs. The CD Kadanza is a fruit of decades of collaboration with the best professionals who were often also the best teachers.
For me, choral music is also a species of chamber music. It should challenge and offer musical satisfaction to those many amateur singers – that I am one of.

My music features individual performers – to convey a thought, an emotion, and a story to the audience in a virtuoso and intense fashion.

In rehearsal and performance, the performers and I learn a lot from each other. Sometimes their improvisations are included in the musical story. Scores will always be adapted to their needs.

The interplay between performer and composer is absolutely essential in newly written music. As is the interplay between sponsor and composer.

Would you like me to rehearse with you or do you want to know more about a piece?

Do you want me to write a piece for a particular line-up or event?

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Besides composing, I lecture in New Music at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, with a focus on chamber music and music aesthetics. Some of the writing and thinking that I do there can be found in the ‘text’ section.