Inner Life

When composer Wim Henderickx suddenly passed away in December 2022, he was working on Inner Life, a large-scale music theatre work commissioned by Muziektheater Transparant and HERMESensemble. The concept for this composition was developed in 2021 and 2022 in close dialogue with his musical assistant Diederik Glorieux and Kevin Voets, then director of HERMESensemble.

The first two chapters of Inner Life were developed jointly by Wim Henderickx and Diederik Glorieux. The intention was that Glorieux would further develop the remaining five chapters in dialogue with and under the supervision of Wim. After Wim’s death, this artistic collaboration continued as an intensive co-creative process, in which Diederik Glorieux worked together with dramaturg Kevin Voets, director Aïda Gabriëls, Bea Steylaerts and Jorrit Tamminga (electronics).

Together, they further developed the existing material in accordance with Wim Henderickx’s artistic intentions. Diederik Glorieux took on the musical direction for the performances in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Inner Life is both a composition and a game or artistic experiment in which different musical personalities and groups can participate. The composition starts from a basic ensemble of seven performers and has an open structure. The score consists of two complementary parts: on the one hand, a framework containing structure, instrumentation, timeline, harmonies, registers and energies; on the other hand, a collection of musical figures. These two elements are freely combined, giving each performance a unique character.

The work invites different types of performers to participate in the creative process. In addition to professional musicians, choirs, wind bands and music associations of different levels can also take part. Each realisation becomes a musical encounter in which performers collectively shape a new interpretation of the work.