New concerto for cello and string orchestra ‘Die Nacht bricht mild’ by Marijn Simons will be performed at the International Week of New Music Bucharest SIMN.

Marijn Simons about Die Nacht bricht mild 

“Die Nacht bricht mild” began as a ten-minute duo for violin and violoncello. After hearing the piece several times, I realised I was dissatisfied with it and chose to withdraw it. I retained some of the ideas and decided to rework and further develop them into a concerto for violoncello and strings with the same title. 

“Die Nacht bricht mild” is a poem by Gustav Mahler. I was inspired by the poem’s general atmosphere. It portrays a lonely, existential journey through darkness and uncertainty. The content progresses from a peaceful nightfall scene in the first stanza to increasing isolation and despair. It begins with night arriving “with its thousand golden eyes” (stars) as tired people find respite in sleep. Then, it introduces a solitary traveller who has lost his way without a guiding star. The journey becomes more desperate as the traveller wonders when his suffering will end, culminating in a confrontation with a sphinx posing life-or-death riddles. Both in his musical and poetic language, Mahler captures a profound spiritual and existential anxiety—the feeling of facing life’s greatest questions alone, without guidance, where failure to find meaning could be spiritually fatal. 

One concrete link with the poem is that the solo cellist portrays the solitary traveller. The soloist moves in a sound world made out of other string instruments, which intentionally obscure the solo part more than supportingly accompanying it. The soloist weaves through the spiritual and existential themes of light and darkness, guidance and abandonment, knowledge and uncertainty. 

The concerto is through-composed in one movement but roughly follows the poem’s four stanzas. It opens with a serene and contemplative quality, quickly giving way to a sense of isolation and disorientation. The middle section evokes weariness and a yearning for rest. The final “presto” introduces tension and existential threat with the sphinx’s tormenting riddles. 

Mahler’s poem resonated deeply with me as a composer seeking to translate these emotional landscapes into musical expression. The transformation from duo to concerto allowed me to explore the poem’s rich contrasts and narrative arc more fully. By expanding the instrumentation, I could create the night’s vastness and the wanderer’s isolation through textural complexity. Rhythmic patterns often are fragmented and unpredictable, mirroring the traveller’s disorientation. The soloist occasionally plays in a different and independent tempo from the string orchestra, highlighting moments of confusion. The dialogue between soloist and ensemble embodies the existential questioning at the heart of Mahler’s poignant text. 

Program ‘The Lady of the Rings’

Livia Teodorescu-Ciocanea – The Eritrean Ring for string orchestra 

Marijn Simons – Die Nacht bricht mild (Concerto for cello and string orchestra)

Sabina Ulubeanu – Black Shirt and Blue Soap for violin and orchestra 

Diana Rotaru – Lady M. for piano and chamber orchestra – 1. Queen Mab, 2. Lady Macbeth, 3. Bloody Mary