Steven Kamperman

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Utrecht – based clarinetist and composer.
Steven Kamperman newly composed piece commissioned by Oriental Landscapes festival “The wider the vision, the narrower the phrase” on the lyrics of the great Sufi poet Al-Niffari (died in Egypt in 965) will be performed by Syrian mezzo-soprano Dima Orsho and accompanied by New European Ensemble.

Al-Niffari is a somewhat lesser known mystic Sufi poet, who died in Egypt in the year 965. His work is ‘vital’, focusing on that we are meant to be present, alive in the Real. His visions are full of paradoxes, believing that rationality or words do not form the key to really understand the miracle of our universe. The title of Steven`s composition The wider the vision, the narrower the phrase refers to one of his most famous quotes, meaning that words finally fall short. Thus we focus on the possibilities of meaning rather than fundamental understanding of the world derived from literal meaning. Many of Al-Niffari texts are abstract like Heraclitus or Parmenides and could represent any mystical tradition. The lyrics will be sung partly in English, partly in Arabic.