‘Short as it is, it is enough to hear that the 25-year-old Wantenaar has a lot going for her, and also knows how to use the possibilities of an a cappella choir - in this case the Groot Omroepkoor - very well. The matte, yet sultry atmosphere of the text takes shape in vocal contours, which, like the words themselves, seem somewhat old-fashioned, but in which exciting contrasting tones and voicings keep the music surprising.
In the second introverted half, solo voices emphasise the poet's loneliness. Wantenaar paints a word like ‘far’ with a suddenly entering stretched and wide chord, and lets the run-up to the word ‘up’ come entirely from the depths. But surely the most original aspect of this work is the harmonic awareness it expresses.’
