Performed by the student orchestra of Royal Conservatoire Antwerp on 14 February 2025. Conducted by Cèlia Brunet Vila. Orchestra, conductor and composer coached by Ed Spanjaard and Bram Van Camp.
”With realization, things make one family. Without realization, things are separated in a thousand ways. Without realization, things make one family. With realization, things are separated in a thousand ways.’’ This verse comes from case 16 of the Gateless Gate, a collection of 48 instructional Buddhist stories that is compiled by Mumon Ekai (1193-1260). When the Bell Rings is inspired by this case. The colours, forms and shapes are not separated, yet also not really connected. When you bring your ear closer to the music, you hear less of the sound. In When the Bell Rings, one of the lowest possible notes of the symphonic orchestra slowly infiltrates all instruments. An increasingly complex percussive texture surrounds it, until a massive bell starts ringing. Over the course of seven chimes, the colour, shape and sound of the bell mutates, its inner life gently emerging. After the last chime, a web of energy remains and starts to flourish, but before long dissipates into nothingness.