Tears of Melancholy

English music by composers such as Dowland and Purcell was a constant source of inspiration for Britten throughout his life. What Britten admired in Dowland was his ability to descend into an abyss of suffering with his music and there, amid the bittersweet melancholy, allow a glimmer of joy to be heard. Dmitry Sinkovsky and B’Rock perform Reflections on a song of Dowland along with Paul Hindemith’s Trauermusik, written in 1936 on the occasion of the death of England’s King George V. Inspired by these musical compositions and connections, the Belgian artist Anouk De Clercq has created a new video installation in which silence and stretched-out time are central themes.