This short ‘Overture for Orchestra' was commissioned by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra to complement a program including Stravinsky's Firebird.
 
This joyful concert opener flirts with the traditional orchestral repertoire. Without literal quotations, the music refers to gestures from orchestral music by Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Mahler, Stravinsky and also jazz.
In the climax, a memory of the 'Danse infernal' from Stravinsky's Firebird emerges, although no note is the same.
 
The concert season's theme ‘Power and Enchantment' inspired the work: enchantment is considered here as a weapon of power. You are drawn into a fairytale world, but before you realize it, you are caught by the inevitable dissonance. Fairy-tale like atmospheres transform into dissonant textures and refined, subtle, humorous elements lead to unpredictable accents.
 
The composition was written in full corona crisis, during a period where every day was the same and social contact was reduced to an absolute minimum. Rather than renewing myself, my primary aim while composing was to have fun and to amuse myself with every note.