This piece is inspired by the fictional character Captain Nemo (Latin for ‘no one’), from the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. Captain Nemo is a mysterious sea captain who is a scientific genius and roams the depths of the seas in his submarine, The Nautilus.
He hates all the imperialistic nations of the world. Because of this he avoids dry land, except when it’s uninhabited, and uses no products that are not marine in nature. How he came to hate them is not explained in the novel, but he is clearly struggling with something that relates to them.
The first part of the piece is about the great mysteries and wonders of the deep that Captain Nemo and his travellers explore with the Nautilus. The second part is about Captain Nemo himself and about a more specific moment. During a storm he ties himself to the Nautilus, which is floating above the surface, feeling the brutality and roughness of the sea. Venting his emotions into the storm.
In a collaboration between Musica and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, 13 pieces written by participants of SoundMine – an international composition course in Belgium featuring Wim Henderickx, Diederik Glorieux and Jorrit Taminga – were selected to be performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under the guidance and baton of Wim Henderickx. They were subsequently performed in the deSingel in Antwerp on the 14th of May.
I am very grateful to Wim Henderickx, The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Musica for this wonderful opportunity.
siebrand 