HIIIT, always remembered by some people as Slagwerk Den Haag, their name until last year, is an ensemble of about half-a-dozen percussionist based in . . .err . . . the Hague. Their mission is playing, developing and innovating contemporary percussion music in all its forms. As well as their extensive repertoire built up since their formation in 1977 the ensemble commissions between five and eight new works each year. They collaborate with composers and artists from all disciplines to explore the limits and possibilities of organized sound and new instruments.
Last night HIIIT Invites, at the ensemble’s new home base Theater aan het Spui in the heart of The Hague, was a sampler/preview/ taster, but above all, a celebration of some of those other artists. The theatre with its two large auditoriums and huge foyer area was the ideal location for this mini-festival, being simultaneously an opera house, art gallery and night club during this eclectic and exciting event. And you got a lot for your money with it running for nearly six hours.
The evening got off to a bang (excuse the pun) with the most dramatic performance of the evening. For Geweld & Vibrato, which was billed as an opera, three HIIIT musicians were augmented by violin, cello double bass, fronted by the energetic actor and singer Xander van Vledder. Huba de Graaff’s Geweld & Vibrato was an exposé of The Netherlands’ colonial past in Indonesia. Although just as widespread, the Dutch colonial empire was smaller than that of, say, England and France, but it was just as cruel and oppressive. In Geweld & Vibrato the band, in a mish-mash of pseudo military garb, were the slaves ordered about and abused by the authoritarian Mr van Vledder who did most of the singing, although the violinist Kitty Lai had her moment in the sporlight and sang beautifully.
Geweld & Vibrato took place in Zaal 2 where we all sat in neat, conventional theatre-going rows, but most of the rest of the evening was a promenade event in the vast black box which was Zaal 1 and for which a certain amount of stamina was required, both for the ears and the feet.
Each side of the room was set up for the different performances and when we entered the central space was taken up with an array of speakers and an old bell hanging from the ceiling, a mixing desk and a six meter loop of tape running through an old recording studio tape deck. This was Battles & Silences by Poulson Sq.
This was followed by Hands by Yannis Kyriakides, performed by a team of what appeared to be students. They each had very neat gizmos on their arms which projected their movements onto a large screen and also translated them into sounds. This was followed by Inviting the Producer by JLIN and then we all adjourned to Zaal 2 to witness the première of Kate Moore’s Cassini followed by Boris Acket’s spectacular Sunrise for the Sleepers back in Zaal 1 which involved dozens of camp beds. The grand finale, Upsammy LIVE took place back in Zaal 2. There were also things happening in the Nieuwe Kerk next door, but I didn’t get that far. A long, tiring but rewarding evening. Michael Hasted 21st September 2024
