Colloquium: Etty Hillesum

Op 30 november 1943 werd de Amsterdamse Etty Hillesum vermoord in Auschwitz, 29 jaar oud. Om haar te eren, presenteren Elisabeth Hubmann en Thomas Sojer vandaag een bedachtzaam en veelzijdig colloquium. Hubmann is organist en ethnomusicoloog, Sojer is theoloog aan de universiteit in Erfurt. Samen deden ze onderzoek naar Hillesums denkwereld. Andrea Gutteres componeerde in het verlengde daarvan Dear God, I Think It’s Time We Talked voor hyperorgel, drie zangers en elektronica. In het colloquium van vandaag gaat de compositie in première, Sojer geeft een lezing en is er ruimte voor discussie. De taal die we gebruiken is het Engels – daarom hieronder de aankondiging eveneens in die taal.

 

 

Hineinhorchen: An afternoon of acousmatic bodies in dialogue

In honor of the 111th birthday of Jewish philosopher Etty Hillesum, Elisabeth Hubmann and Thomas Sojer present a thoughtful, multi-disciplinary afternoon inspired by her writings. The colloquium explores the creation and dissolution of corpo-real presence through the concept of 'acousmatic bodies', where listening becomes an active experience of textual, musical, and physical forms.

 

Hillesum’s reflections will be paired with the ideas of other philosophers and accompanied by music from composers shaped by the challenges of their times. The program includes forty minutes of music alongside forty minutes of selected texts, creating a resonant conversation between sound and language.

 

A key feature of the event is Dear God, I Think It’s Time We Talked, a poetic cycle set to music by Andrea Guterres. The piece explores philosophical and ontological themes, offering a dialogue with the divine in a world growing distant from nature.

 

The colloquium also includes a lecture by theologian Thomas Sojer and a performance of organ music by Elisabeth Hubmann, featuring works from the interwar period by the composers Louis Vierne, Hendrik Andriessen, Maurice Duruflé, and Jean Langlais — musicians whose works reflect both the struggles and hopes of their era.

 

The event aims to bring together poetry, philosophy, and music in a simple, yet profound interdisciplinary experience.

 

 

Program

 

M U S I C

Dear God, I Think It's Time We Talked (for three singers, hyperorgan, and electronics) by Andrea Guterres

 

L E C T U R E   &   D I S C U S S I O N

Thomas Sojer

 

M U S I C

Elisabeth Hubmann plays organ works by Louis Vierne, Hendrik Andriessen, Maurice Duruflé, Jean Langlais, Jehan Alain.