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Between modal mysticism and otherworldly trance-like traditional music, ‘Stained Glass Starling’ draws the Razen universe into its deepest listening mode yet Belgian formation Razen joins forces with Dutch composer and theatre musician Dick van der Harst for a new collaborative album Stained Glass Starling on VIERNULVIER Records. After their recent LP Mirages (Kraak Records, 2025) with French turntablist Guilhem All, the group continues to explore collaborations with artists and instruments from diverse musical traditions.
Building on decades of uncompromising acoustic exploration, Razen delves deeper into their practice on Stained Glass Starling with five improvisational pieces that unfold slowly in time and space. The duo’s radical core - Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour - finds in van der Harst a longtime kindred spirit, united by the impact of sound, intonation, and the sheer joy of playing.
van der Harst’s lifelong experience in improvised music and music theatre, spanning back to the 1980s, combined with a vast arsenal of rare and historical instruments, opens new tonal territories within the Razen universe. These explorations are not incidental: his family roots in the former Dutch East Indies — through his great-grandfather — provide a quiet backdrop to his enduring affinity for Asian musical traditions. Instruments such as erhu, Javanese kacapi, and others introduce timbres that bring the music its most pronounced Asian inflections to date.
Yet despite this shift in colour, the underlying ethos remains unmistakably Razen. Working from sound rather than form, the ensemble approaches music as painters approach a canvas: adding layers, contrasts and shades with care. There is no soloist’s ego here; all voices are equal, echoing principles found in gamelan traditions.
A long-standing artistic kinship lies at the heart of this project, with first encounters dating back to the early 2000s in Belgian musical improv theatre. Over the decades, Razen and Dick van der Harst have crossed paths repeatedly, notably through cult theatre productions by Belgian theatre maker Eric De Volder, including Zwarte vogels in de bomen (2002) and Huis der Verborgen Muziekjes I–II (2000–2006). Recording an album together had long been a shared aspiration — a wish that crystallised after a 2024 concert at Concertzaal Miry in Ghent, part of the Ruiskamer series by VIERNULVIER Art Centre.
