Music Theatre for Three Soloists, Choir & Ensemble
Identity is not a chronological sequence, but a simultaneous collision of the selves we used to be and the selves we are forced to become.
In uncut, composer Renske Vrolijk applies her “Documentary Music” methodology to the architecture of gender transition. Moving beyond the flat, biographical tropes of the “before and after” narrative, Vrolijk presents a psychological interrogation of the self. The work operates on the thesis that transition is not a line, but a polyphonic overlap where the child, the adolescent, and the adult exist in a permanent state of friction.
for performers and concert programmers
The Narrative & Text
The work features an original libretto by Wendela de Vos, which avoids sentimentalism in favor of sharp, observational dialogue and internal monologues that reflect the mechanical and emotional realities of transition.
Musical Iconography
Vrolijk utilizes vocal timbres as precise psychological markers. The Child Soprano represents the “Child”—a memory of the unbroken voice and a state of innocence prior to biological divergence. The Tenor embodies the “Adolescent,” capturing the trauma of puberty and the vocal “breaking” that signals experienced biological betrayal. The Mezzo-Soprano acts as the “Adult,” the survivor tasked with the hard labor of harmonizing these disparate timelines into a single identity.
The instrumental texture provides the “Hard Evidence” of the body. The Saxophone Quartet, Bassoon, and Double Bass generate a heavy, physical floor. This low-frequency density represents the gravity of the physical form—the biological weight that the voices must either reconcile with or escape. The Hammond Organ adds a layer of industrial persistence, grounding the struggle in a gritty, tactile reality.
The Role of the Choir
The Mixed Choir functions as a modern Greek Chorus. Rather than providing moral commentary, they represent the “Social Media Feed”—an omnipresent, intrusive collective voicing the relentless questions of the outside world. Their interventions (“Are you happy now?” “What surgeries did you have?”) serve as the Social Construct clashing against the protagonist’s Psychological Truth, simulating the exhaustion of existing under the public gaze.
‘In the touching production #uncut Renske Vrolijk lets her inner struggle echo in music.’
– De Volkskrant ★★★★★
For performers
Year:
2020/21
Duration:
87′
Instruments:
S.Mz.T
SATB
Saxophone Quartet;
bn.db; perc.org
Premiere:
24 May 2022
O. Festival
De Doelen
Rotterdam
Commission:
Netherlands
Chamber Choir
Category:
opera/
music theatre
Language:
English
Lyricist:
Wendela de Vos
Are you interested in performing this work? Please contact my publisher.
Renske’s sheet music
is published by Deuss Music.
Audio Excerpts
I am like any other & Please God, Not This
Scenes 4 and 5
Vivian is in denial of being different. Although she is functioning normally, the people around her are starting to ask questions about her background. “Psst Vivian, say something!”
Dreaming of later on & Voice Breaking
Scenes 9 and 10
The child Vivian dreams about a future in which everything will be right. When she wakes up tomorrow her hopes are that ‘she will be who she is’, and that she will always be able to sing. The cynical adolescent Vivian knows that this dream will be nothing but a nightmare, while the adult Vivian has lost her voice. She only sings with her ‘internal’ voice, for the rest she is unable to sing. We listen back with her to the moment of her voice breaking.
This Storm is not approaching from over the Sea
Scène 21
Vivian is in a hospital bed, dazed by tranquillisers. She is waiting for her Big Operation. The choir sings about her calmness, that is anything but calmness.
Nederlands Kamerkoor
BL!NDMAN [sax] saxophone quartet
ORBI – The Oscillating Revenge of the Background Instruments
Krista Audere
conductor
Eline Welle
mezzo-soprano
Vivian adult
William Knight
tenor
Vivian adolescent
Syl Bech
Amélie Knape
Irene Kortlever
child soprano
Vivian child*
*Rotating cast from the National Choirs Soloist Class (Nationale Koren)
Renske Vrolijk
idea and composition
Annechien Koerselman
concept
Wendela de Vos
libretto
SMITH
Lise Bruyneel
visuals
Tido Visser
staging/direction
Recording live performance at Muziekgebouw Amsterdam on 25 May 2022