In den beginne was er geen wereld = In The Beginning There Was No World, 1973 - 1994

Fire was the first image recalled in Genesis, the creation of the Great Lights, which determined the fate of all Creation, Light as the underlying nutrient of all existence. Opening the story of the Great Vigil, Huijbers drew on the melodic elements of the Great Litany [JM 156] to show the connection between the two great events of Creation and Liberation, New Creation In this rendition, Oosterhuis compares the senselessness of nothing to the meaningfulness of all that is. Easter is celebrated in the crucible of a night-long vigil. Once again, fire has returned, and light to cover the earth. Easter celebrates the birth of life! As with the Great Litany, the piece modulates throughout, either up in fourths or down in fifths, towards its climax. Huijbers scored it for a variety of instruments, including drawing in the those of the day popularized in the 1960s sounds prevalent at the time on the airwaves. As with the Great Litany, the melos was drawn from the Gregorian Eastertide anthem, Regina Caeli. -- Tony Barr