Cantique des Cantiques

Love, desire, and musical stillness

With Daniel-Lesur’s Le Cantique des Cantiques, the Netherlands Chamber Choir presents a profound and multi-layered choral work based on the biblical Song of Songs. Under the direction of Swedish conductor Sofi Jeannin, a musical dialogue unfolds between two lovers, centering on themes of longing, beauty, and connection. The work does not follow a linear narrative but instead explores the tensions between closeness and distance, fulfillment and absence.

From cosmic loneliness to human connection

Preceding the main work is The Great Alone, a new large-scale choral piece by Dutch composer Rob Zuidam. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources and physicist Enrico Fermi’s famous question—“But where is everybody?”—Zuidam explores the sense of existential and cosmic loneliness.

Two perspectives in one concert

Together, these works form a musical journey from emptiness to connection. While The Great Alone evokes the solitude of the universe, Cantique des Cantiques celebrates the intimate, reciprocal love between two people—a concert in which contrast and coherence reinforce one another.