In the past month, May 2023, a new composition by Willem Jeths, titled "Ishq," was premiered in the unique concert series of the Calefax Reed Quintet in collaboration with Pauline Cornelisse, a well-known Dutch writer, comedian, columnist, and television presenter, known as "one of the Netherlands' most creative and original minds."
In this highly successful series of concerts, Pauline Cornelisse delved into the captivating link between language and music. Together, they pondered the intriguing concept of engaging in a conversation with a wind instrument and explored the rich history of composers attempting to transform natural and human sounds into musical expressions.
In a recent review by Lidy van der Spek in Leidsch Dagblad, she wrote about the new piece by Willem Jeths, "Ishq":
According to Paulien, Jeth's 'Ishq' (love) is about Pyramus and Thisbe with a lot of blood and suicides, the later Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. Here content, experience of the sad text is 'expressed' by clarinet and oboe, while the three others create depth. Like a carbon pencil weeping over the color panel, the clarinet cries out until all the lines fade, die away. Dead silence is enforced. Lidy van der Spek, May 14, 2023, leidsch dagblad
Read the full review on Leidsch Dagblad
