“Joey Roukens’ Requiem is a captivating, tightly ordered chaos”.

Another Roukens! Composer Joey Roukens (1982) recently premiered his First Symphony with great success. Now, less than three weeks later, we get another large piece from him. Roukens composed the Bosch Requiem: the opening of the November Music music festival in Den Bosch, which is written by a different composer every year.

The premiere was on Thursday and yes: it is impressive again. Roukens, a great lover of requiems, set his own requiem with choir, string orchestra and two percussionists. In bluish light, with a sound as if sand and water are falling, a string and whisper of the choir it begins.

A pitying solo violin inserts upwards and falls in steps before the full light comes on and the choir sings ‘Requiem aeternam’. An hour of exciting variety follows, sometimes serene, sometimes explosive, but full of recurring themes: for example, ascending lines in steps, reminiscent of stairs going up. The more explosive parts are heated by lightning-fast time signature changes and stackings that are reminiscent of Philip Glass. In the ‘Dies irae’, for example, the strings switch between rhythms so quickly that they start to swing. Sometimes the music breaks open like heaven, even if only for a short time.

Bosch Requiem by Joey Roukens, by Amsterdam Sinfonietta,
Netherlands Chamber Choir conducted by Sofi Jeannin.

Heard: premiere 3/11, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam.
Next performances: 4/11 November Music ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 5/11 Muziekcentrum Enschede.

Info: sinfonietta.nl
Listen to: nporadio4.nl

Release available at Donemus:
DCV 422 – Joey Roukens: Scenes from an Old Memory Box