Cirque de Curiosités
In 2023, I was commissioned by the Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy in Rotterdam to compose an accessible piece of music for a small ensemble of wind and percussion players. The ensemble consisted of a wind orchestra without saxophones, trumpets, and trombones.
The result was a work in five interconnected movements about a circus of curiosities: Cirque de Curiosités.
The piece opens with Défilé d’Entrée, a cheerful quick march where something feels off, as if a step is being skipped here and there. This leads into Magicien Ennuyeux, a waltz depicting the dull and clumsy magician performing his tricks. Pierrot Triste captures the melancholy of the sad clown, followed by Acrobates Maladroits, where the awkward acrobats perform clumsy stunts in a very special mambo. Finally, everything culminates in Animaux Incontrôlables, where circus animals wreak havoc, tearing down the tent in a fast-paced, challenging Csárdás.
It’s typical circus music with a humorous twist, and the end result was so much fun that I couldn’t resist arranging it for full wind orchestra as well. So, here it is! Watch and listen to Cirque de Curiosités.
Update 2025: In 2020, I launched my label Dutch Wind Music Publications and opened my own digital webshop. It has been a journey full of fun, hard work, and learning to get to this point. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of providing wind bands from all over the world with sheet music of my compositions and arrangements. I am deeply grateful for the trust that all those orchestras have placed in me by choosing my music.