“De Zuchten van Rameau” (“The Sighs of Rameau”) opus 71, a multi-media work for harpsichord, tape and slide projection, commissioned in 1995 by the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, was dedicated to Annelie de Man. The composition was inspired by “Les Soupirs” from the Suite no. 2, Pieces de Clavecin, 1724 by Jean Philippe Rameau. The French word “ le soupir” means: sigh, but also: a quarternote rest.
The harpischord itself is subject of the composition. In 1987, Annelie de Man had her instrument re-designed by Sies Bleeker, whoremoved all original baroque characteristics. In “De Zuchten van Rameau” it’s the other way around: in search of the nature of the harpsichord, Kerstens and Ter Veldhuis rediscovered baroque elements like symmetry, ornamentation, fugato structures, arpeggio’s, a basso continuo and a passacaglia. “De Zuchten van Rameau” is a composition about, on, in, around, under, above and before the harpsichord, that was sampled in every possible way, by microphone and camera. The historical distance of nearly 3 centuries evokes a lot of drama: the music is rather centrifugal, and transforms the small sound oft he harpsichord into a giant machine that threatens to explode, whereas the images are much more centripetal, still and intimate, focalizing.

Jacob Ter Veldhuis (NL), born 1951, studied composition with Willem Frederik Bon and electronic music with Luctor Ponse at the Groningen Conservatory in the Netherlands. His musical roots are found in the sixties and seventies. With a background in rock bands, he entered the Groningen conservatory, where he soon became involved with electronic music.