Confrontations

CONFRONTATIONS was commissioned by the Zuiderpershuis (World Cultures Centre in Antwerp) in 2003. The original version lasts 75 minutes. After the premiere, Wim Henderickx made an abridged Festival version of 30'. In this composition, the composer seeks to confront non-Western and Western percussion, drawing inspiration from African rhythms and dance, among other things. The original, more extensive version was created in Burkina Faso (Africa) in 2003 with Adama Dramé and Gert François. Two master drummers (Western and non-Western) are accompanied by two choirs of four percussionists each. For Wim Henderickx, it was important to have the two musical cultures confront each other, but also to allow them to merge. African percussion instruments, such as the djembe and the dundun, are used. These are contrasted with typical Western percussion instruments. The performance is a mixture of improvisation and notation. The abridged “Festival” version, lasting about 30 minutes, consists of the following parts: Prologue I Oppression II Revenge III Confrontation IV Fusion