27 November 2025. Today Opus Klassiek published a wonderful review [in Dutch] by Aart van der Wal of Rosehart, the new album by Rozalie Hirs. Below is its English translation.
Aart van der Wal: Rozalie Hirs – Rosehart
Last month I wrote about Infinity Stairs – solo and chamber works, the newest CD by composer Rozalie Hirs (1965, Gouda). You can read that review here. And in May 2018, Siebe Riedstra also devoted attention on this site to several of her works.
What immediately impresses in Hirs’s compositional oeuvre—she moves with striking naturalness between music, poetry (she is an acclaimed poet), science, and technology—is her imaginative and unwavering engagement with spectral and psychoacoustic phenomena. With computer software, frequency analysis, sum and difference tones, microtonality, and electronic resonance, she builds a sonic universe crackling with originality. Technology plays a central yet delicately articulated role, often forming the bedrock of an avant-garde dialogue between traditional instruments and state-of-the-art electronics.
This interplay generates a compelling duality in the listener: recognition intertwined with a sense of discovery. The familiar sonority of acoustic instruments is reshaped or expanded through electronic means, leaving one both grounded and intriguingly disoriented. Electronics introduce textures unattainable by purely acoustic means, opening a sound palette of unusual depth, shimmer, and nuance.
The effect is that genre boundaries dissolve. Classical, modern, and contemporary idioms mingle effortlessly. A classically minded listener may find themselves moved by electronic fusions, while someone normally untouched by classical music may be captivated precisely by these hybrid sound worlds. This is decidedly more adventurous—and more meaningful—than mere “cross-over.”
For Hirs, sound itself is the artistic point of departure. Her works often unfold as slowly shifting landscapes in which timbre matters deeply, though it does not dominate. Microtonal intervals—born from overtones that refuse to conform to the tempered scale—enrich the experience with subtle inflections. The result is a kind of sonic sculpture, an act of chiseling in air.
Such an approach carries its risks: too dense a layering of electronics might overwhelm the ear or blur acoustic detail. Yet Hirs seems to have grasped this danger early on. Her music displays a consistent, almost instinctive equilibrium between disciplines. Inspired by the acoustic and psychoacoustic properties of sound, she succeeds in masterfully bringing together worlds that would seem impossibly far apart. Precise frequency calculations matter as much as her unmistakably personal harmonic language, derived from a distinctive, self-crafted spectrum. This is music born not of melody or harmony in the traditional sense, but from the inner architecture of sound itself.
Hirs is among those rare composers who investigate what a tone truly contains—its overtones, resonances, and noise components—and who translate these insights into the visual clarity of a spectrogram. Frequencies and overtones become the structural beams of her musical architecture.
The three works on this album were commissioned by the Nederlandse Muziekdagen, ASKO|Schönberg, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and the NTR ZaterdagMatinee.
That her music consistently garners glowing reviews, I believe, stems from her singular blend of scientific exactitude, poetic imagination, and sonic inventiveness. Her spectral thinking, her deft use of electronics, and her seamless fusion with traditional instruments lift her work high above the usual avant-garde terrain. Hirs does not follow existing norms—she sets them. The result is an engrossing and often exhilarating listening experience.
It is hardly surprising, then, that Hirs is regarded as a phenomenon in the Dutch musical landscape. Her music demands much of performers, whether in solo works, chamber ensembles, or full orchestra. And she operates in a sphere resistant to any single label: spectral, electronic, poetic, interdisciplinary. A striking example is arbre généalogique (2011, revised 2025), based on her poem ‘Stamboom’ from Geluksbrenger (2008), translated into French by Henri Deluy. The sung text appears in the CD booklet. The work leads us on an intimate, resonant journey through harmony and colour, refracted through the prism of language and voice.
One often notices, in performances of contemporary music, the extraordinary commitment of the musicians. Nothing in this repertoire unfolds “effortlessly.” Even ensembles steeped in modern music encounter technical challenges that must be mastered before interpretation can begin.
Given all this effort, it is unfortunate that new works so often receive a premiere that is also a farewell performance. Such is the fate of much contemporary music; remedies are scarce.
Rozalie Hirs’s music, however, forms a welcome and heartening exception. Nearly all her works have returned to the music stands multiple times, with future performances already scheduled. New interpretations of Avatar and Bron are currently in preparation.
Read the full review [in Dutch] by Aart van der Wal on Opus Klassiek, 2025.