Music Review: Joep Beving's Hermetism

Dutch pianist Joep Beving’s music is described as ‘simple music for complex emotion’, and Hermetism testifies to this.

Beving’s connection with the piano is evident from the first notes, with subtle lighting serving to highlight the connection between fingers and keys with an emphasis on darkness and light. That emphasis is Hermetism at play, the belief that for everything that exists, the opposite must also exist.

The stage is simple, a performer and piano the focus. The audience is captivated by Beving’s strong and commanding presence and the initial performance is delicate and intimate, drawing in the audience.

As Beving builds rapport with the audience, the music builds and the focus, gently and subtly shifts to the mesmerising lighting installation of Boris Acket. The intricately crafted light show transports the imagination, with light breaking through darkness and an ethereal dance of lights akin to cosmic fireflies.

The performance of ‘For Mark’ and ‘Lotus’ stirring emotion through sentimentality. The layering of emotion, the balance of light and dark, hope and despair are displayed beautifully throughout. The evocative melodies leave one with the feeling that hope is perhaps stronger than despair. Hermetism is a mesmerising, multi-dimensional performance, simple yet equally complex.