Martyn Brabbins - De Schelde

Facts A Dutch-language oratorio from one of the pioneers of the Flemish musicscene! Peter Benoit was a rarity in the predominantly French-speaking culturallandscape of Belgium, and a Dutch-language oratorio about the ScheldtRiver was of huge symbolic value. Depicting the river as a lifeline reflectedthe radical optimism of Benoit's cultural policy. He had chosen the subjectwell: few other European rivers had so often been the subject of cross-borderconflicts, treaties, lawsuits, sieges, blockades, and battles as the Scheldt. Forthe libretto, Benoit collaborated with writer Emanuel Hiel, who had previouslyprovided the libretto for Lucifer. Together they created a complex scenario,moving away from the narrative oratorio tradition, in which the river is usedto depict a journey through national consciousness.