Over ten years ago, conductor Reinbert de Leeuw thrust into the limelight the work of the enigmatic Canadian composer Claude Vivier, a man who predicted his own death in his final composition. Uniting the influences of his teacher Karlheinz Stockhausen, the French spectralists and the folk music of Java, Bali and Iran, his music is still considered far from mainstream even today. The NTR Saturday Matinee is focusing extensively on several of his masterpieces in which an obsession with death is perhaps the most important theme. Reza Namavar, a Dutch composer with Iranian roots, was commissioned to write a new work specially for this concert. Having composed Versnelheijdsbinderh for the Saturday Matinee in 2014, Namavar, whose work is characterised by freedom, hearty audacity and a completely open mind, was the recipient of the very first biennial Willem Breuker Prize in 2017. So, you have been warned!