A performance of Venus, Fire, Desire (2016) by the BRON saxophone quartet on Friday September 28, 2018 at Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht:
The title of this composition is of course a big wink to the 1969 hit ‘Venus’ by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. But in essence, the piece is about the contrast between Venus (water, the female principle) and Fire (Mars, the male principle) and the attraction between the two (Desire.)
I wrote Venus, Fire, Desire for the BRON saxophone quartet. This special quartet recently won the Fontys Toonzaal Ensemble competition and consists of the passionate musicians Cameron Millar – soprano sax, Niek Starmans – alto sax, Hannah Koob – tenor sax and Oscar Trompenaars – baritone sax. They play on historic Buescher saxophones from the 1920s and 1930s. The sound of these saxes goes much more towards wood instruments and is really wonderful.
Venus, Fire, Desire was premiered in a concert around my music on Monday the 29th of August 2016 at the Cenakel Chapel in Tilburg. After this concert the quartet has performed the work several times in their concerts.
In addition to concerts in the Netherlands, Venus, Fire, Desire was also performed a number of times during the BRON saxophone quartet’s 2019 summer tour of Germany.
Together with my girlfriend, I attended their performance on 20 July 2019 at the Freiburger Museumnacht. It was a fantastic experience. In a stunningly beautiful hall with wonderful acoustics, the piece was very well performed by the BRON saxophone quartet.
A photo of the concert, which was posted on the quartet’s facebook page.
Venus, Fire, Desire was well received by the Freiburger audience. There is a lot of love for old, but also modern music in this well-preserved beautiful German city. An unforgettable experience.