Bosch Requiem – Meriç Artaç

Death remains a profound mystery. Humans strive to maintain control over so much, but our final moments are elusive and shrouded in mystery. What happens in the final seconds before the greatest transition of your life? Does time slow down and expand, or does your life flash before your eyes like a film? These are questions composer Meriç Artaç poses in her latest work, Requiem for Mariza .

Her requiem composition is the ninth opus in the Bosch Requiem series. This annually commissioned piece by November Music shines a spotlight not only on our deceased loved ones but also on the visionary ideas of artist Hieronymus Bosch. The Requiem for Mariza by Turkish-Dutch composer Meriç Artaç (born 1990) is a contemporary mass, written especially for Cappella Amsterdam, New European Ensemble, and vocal soloists. In her compositions, Artaç interweaves theater, text, and music. She is making a name for herself with imaginative, expressive music theatre in which dream and reality pleasantly clash, as in her chamber operas Madam Koo (2018) and The Arrival of Mr. Z (2021), which was also shown during November Music 2021.

In Artaç’s Requiem for Mariza, we follow the adventures of its protagonist, Mariza. Throughout this musical journey, Mariza finds herself in an in-between space: she oscillates between the life she knew and an unfathomable future. Trapped in this interstitial space, and accompanied by the mysterious companion Ra, she begins her farewell: not only to the memories that shaped her life, but also to the moments she never experienced, the paths she never took, and the person she never became. She bids farewell to regrets, missed opportunities, and unrealized possibilities.

This new composition maintains the structure of a traditional requiem, interweaving existing requiem texts with newly written verses by Sarah Sluimer, reflecting on the stages of grief. Artaç combines the rich sonic palette of the New European Ensemble with electronics and the expressive tones of the kemençe (Persian string instrument), creating a soundscape resounding with Mariza’s final echoes. The singers of Cappella Amsterdam represent the community and collective story of which Mariza was once a part. During this immersive musical experience, the audience is invited to embark on a journey into the deepest unknown of our lives. The rite of passage becomes a collective journey, in which, through Mariza’s experience, the audience is invited to reflect on the complexities of life and the search for meaning.

During November Music, Meriç Artaç’s Requiem for Mariza will have its concert premiere. The staged premiere will follow in March 2026 during the Opera Forward Festival, directed by Silvia Costa.

In collaboration with Opera Forward Festival