"The mind is like a forest There is no hierarchy, no control centre Numberless paths branch in all directions It’s dark beneath the leaves You can get lost ..." Volkskrant (★★★★): "A work in which death and beauty coincide" NRC (★★★): “Noordegraaf’s exciting, rhythmical music, brilliantly performed by N.A.P, was attractive" UrWald was originally created as a feature length music theatre work for ensemble, film and live actor, by composer and director Arnoud Noordegraaf and writer Adrian Hornsby. It was premiered at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in october 2013, featuring actor Porgy Franssen live on stage. UrWald is all about losing control. Both in it's theatrical performance as in the music, the sense of a dense forest lures. The music, or rather the one-on-one combination of composition and scenario writing, introduces a new and unprecedented style. Tempo and timbre- changes are reflected in the film scenes, and vice versa: for example, the clipping of stems in the greenhouse cuts sudden pauses into the music; the sound of blood drops falling on the school corridor becomes the pulse for the composition. Every ingredient is connected to the music, and derives its dramatic power from it. In UrWald Noordegraaf combines multiple media in a single larger whole, creating a language and style still in its pioneer phase. The composition opens with a virtuoso piano concerto, with complex rhythms propelling forwards without rest. The ensemble counters with hard, vertical stabs; an abundance of bundled energy hitting back against the soloist. As piano and ensemble start interacting more, the composition is rudely interrupted by a violin solo, musically voicing the heart of Hélène. The instrument takes the ensemble in its wake and develops a new, almost Ligeti-esque idiom of rhythmical complexity and harmonic beauty. Eventually the piano returns, duetting, duelling and intertwining with the violin. Arnoud Noordegraaf (NL, 1974) is a composer who doesn’t shy away from a strong narrative and a healthy dose of humour. His productions form a class apart within Dutch contemporary music, combining interdisciplinary media in composition and theatrical forms, resulting in “a remarkable unity in style and atmosphere” (NRC Handelsblad). Noordegraaf studied theatre at the Maastricht Theatre School and composition at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, with Louis Andriessen. His musical style focuses on a strong interaction between live instruments and their electronic counterparts; a very surreal musical vocabulary, in which instruments or voices produce sounds beyond their natural capacities. The musician’s struggle with an invisible counterpart complements the theatrical struggle of accepting the world as it is, a recurring theme in Noordegraaf’s work. Nieuw Amsterdams Peil (N.A.P.) is a group of musicians who open the public ear to chamber music by composers of wildly divergent schools. Their rich reptoire has a particular emphasis on 20th and 21st century works, while also shedding light on composers’ sources of inspiration, and defining their place in the context of music history. The collective was formed by violinist Heleen Hulst and pianist Gerard Bouwhuis in 2005, and is made up of specialists in the performance of new music. They receive regular offers from composers to write for them. Find the UrWald website for even more information and live performances.