Coudenberg Sound Box Fest: Eugénie De Mey + Sofie Vanden Eynde & Didier François + Philippe Malfeyt
COUDENBERG SOUND BOX FEST 25
VOICES UNBOUND: At the crossroad of vocal traditions
Sunday 30 November 18.30 - 20.30. The Voice of the Night
- Eugénie De Mey & Sofie Vanden Eynde: female tenor & bass lute (BE)
- Didier François & Philippe Malfeyt: nyckelharpa & lute (BE)
Music by B. Britten, J. Dowland, D. François, O. de Lassus, P. Malfeyt, R. de Visée et al.
Tonight, let yourself be carried away by the enchantment of the night, in a programme that celebrates its mystical beauty and secretive depth. As the world falls silent and the day’s clamor fades, a realm opens where time seems suspended. We invite you to journey through this darkness, guided by the melancholic sounds of John Dowland, who, like no other, reveals the shadowed contours of the soul. For the melancholic soul, day and night merge like communicating vessels: what light conceals, darkness unveils. Just as light cannot exist without shadow, the seeds of life germinate in the dark, beneath the earth. The night embodies this inner chaos, a necessary force that sparks inspiration and sets the soul in motion.
Whether the Western lute and the nyckelharpa ever sounded together remains uncertain, but both appear in medieval frescoes and manuscripts such as the Codex Manesse, and are mentioned by Agricola and Praetorius. The lute was associated with courtly culture, while the nyckelharpa was linked to folk traditions. Under the Shakespearean motto “There are more things in heaven and Earth, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy”, Didier François (nyckelharpa) and Philippe Malfeyt (lute) engage in a fascinating dialogue with history. They arrange works by Johnson, de Visée, Weiss, Marais, Bach, Dowland, and Vivaldi, and improvise on dance tunes or their own compositions. Their refined sound palette offers a rich and moving experience — pure honey for the soul.
Practical information
- Doors: 18:00. End foreseen around 21:00.
- ADDRESS: Coudenberg Palace, Place Royale 10, 1000 Brussels
- TICKETS: €25 / €15 (-26) per concert
Team
- Music Curator CSBF: Dr Matteo Gemolo
- Director Coudenberg Palace: Frédérique Honoré
With the support of
- Ville de Bruxelles/ Stad Brussel
- Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
- Nationale Loterij
- Musiq 3
- Urban.brussels
- EFA
- VGC
- Playright
- Prométhéa
- Louis de waele
- Monard Law
- La Boite à Musique
- Visit.brussels
- BelArts
- Forum Opera
- JM Wallonie BXL
- La Classica
- Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel
- Ricecar Lab
- Centres d'Etudes
- Be Culture
- Théobroma’s Chocolaterie Genonceaux
- Istituto Italiano di Cultura
