Esbjerg Ensemble premiered the piece IMPRESSIONS FROM A TRIP TO POMPEII on February 7th 2025, 12.10 in the concert hall of Syddansk Musikkonservatorium Esbjerg.
Inspired by a journey to Pompeii, the piece weaves together sensory impressions of the ancient ruins with fragments of Charles van Lerberghe’s poetry, also set to music in Gabriel Fauré’s La Chanson d’Ève. Across five movements—Glass, ashes, traces of milk or wine; “…poussière d’étoiles, Lève-toi sous mes pas! …”; Souls, marble; “…Épanche mon âme En ton abîme, pour qu’elle embaume La terre sombre et le souffle des morts.”; and Glass, dust—the work creates its own poetic narrative, where echoes of the past dissolve into sound, memory, and decay.
The piece premiered during Esbjerg Ensemble’s annual composer workshop in Week 6, an intensive program where composition students from conservatories collaborate with the ensemble’s musicians and conductor. Over the course of the week, the work was rehearsed, refined, and shaped through dialogue with the performers and fellow composers. The process culminated in a concert at the Southern Denmark Academy of Music, where the audience experienced the culmination of the week’s creative explorations.