This quartet composed for the Van Kuijk Quartet, extend Christian Rivet’s catalog with a new chamber music work. Once again it’s inspired of a literature universe, that of the South African poetess Ingrid De Kok. 

On 9 October, the audience of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam will have the opportunity to discover the French touch of string quartets alongside the German Romantic tradition (Beethoven and Brahms): the young and brilliant Van Kuijk Quartet will perform the world premiere of the first opus for string quartet composed by their compatriot Christian Rivet, Amahlathi amanzi (the title is derived from the Zulu language and means "water forest").

A world of rustling thoughts, flashbacks and echoes, the score combines the sounds of the balafon, the African choral tradition, birdsong, and the playfulness of wind and silence in a form far from the canon of tradition. Much like the rest Christian Rivet’s highly inspired catalogue, the work’s sonic remembrance of a dream awakened in the heart of this "water forest" will exude the scent of nostalgia and wonder.

Information

French premiere : 

 11 January 2020, Qatuor Van Kuijk, Auditorium de la Cité de la Musique (Paris)