Seasonal Quartet: Ali Smith and NEuE unite word and sound

In collaboration with Het Nationale Theater, NEuE presents a unique adaptation of Ali Smith’s acclaimed Seasonal Quartet – Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Smith is internationally praised for her original style, social engagement, and literary brilliance, and is regarded as one of the greatest writers of our time.

Together with four female composers, who each created new works specifically for this project, NEuE offers a musical response to Smith’s sharp and sparkling narratives. Each season is given its own sonic landscape, illuminating themes such as ecology, migration, solidarity, and identity. A performance where language and music amplify, challenge, and elevate one another.

Smith, often mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, explores themes in her work that define our time: ecology, migration, Brexit, and solidarity. Each season provides a different lens; each novel opens a new window onto the world. The New European Ensemble transforms these themes into a musical experience that confronts, moves, and inspires. As Smith herself puts it:

“I’m very much looking forward to working with NEuE. My favourite thing in the world is when one artform inspires another.”

The production The Seasons will premiere on 27 June at the Holland Festival and tour across the Netherlands until the end of November. Audiences are invited on a journey through the four seasons – a total experience including food and drink, going far beyond the traditional concert format.

Programme:
Kate Moore – Fall Falling (worldpremiere)
Anna Thorvaldsdottir – Spectra
Alice Yeung – Winter (worldpremiere)
Peter Maxwell Davies – A Sad Paven for These Distracted Tymes
Seung Won Oh – In Spring: Echoes of a Silent Cry (worldpremiere)
Kinan Azmeh – Essays on Solitude
Sara Zamboni – Hymn to timeless melancholy, Hymn to an English Summer (worldpremiere)

Performers:
New European Ensemble
Ali Smith – narrator

Performances:
Saturday 7 June 2025 – 8:30 PM, Amare Nieuwe Kerk, The Hague
Thursday 25 September 2025 – 8:15 PM, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam

Tickets:
Tickets are available via the websites of Amare and Muziekgebouw.

With thanks to: Fonds Podiumkunsten, Gemeente Den Haag, Kersjesfonds, and Het Nationale Theater.

Photo: Sarah Wood