Shankar & Stockhausen - Harp duo Wauters & Camille Guénot

No greater cult composer in the 20th century than German Karlheinz Stockhausen. Known for his bizarre Helicopter String Quartet, his 29-hour opera Licht and many other revolutionary compositions. Freude, one of his last works, he wrote for two harps, as part of the 24-hour cycle Klang. The tuning of the harps, the musicians' playing and singing are so precisely matched that no duo resounds, but rather one breathing, angelic being with two heads and one voice. Freude sounds sublime, incantatory ecstatic, at times fairy-like (From brochure Concertgebouw Brugge 2018).

Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) was an Indian musician and composer of Hindustani classical music. He was one of the best-known proponents of the sitar in the second half of the 20th century and influenced many other musicians around the world. L'aube enchantée was written for two Western instruments - flute and harp - but uses some techniques from Indian music, most notably the use of a raga as its fundamental theme. A raga is one of the ancient melodic patterns of Indian music. The raga "Todi" on which this work is based is described as a "mourning melody," but it develops into a joyous energy toward the end. The incantatory, ecstatic it already has in common with the subsequent Freude for two harps.

L'aube enchantée - Ravi Shankar
Freude - Karlheinz Stockhausen
Camille Guénot, flute
Emma Wauters, harp
Mathilde Wauters, harp