Geen zilveren Sleen = A song for winter, 1972 - 1988

Oosterhuis described the winter of Israel, as a vicious time, of military skirmishes and exile, of political coups, of seemingly endless skirmishes between God and the People of Choice. Long periods of desolation were tempered by moments of ecstatic joy through conversion. The winter of separation saw sudden outbursts of summer as the healing processes occurred. Deepest of all was the winter which placed implacable burdens on the people by those who interpreted the Law in the most legalistic ways. This was the target of Jesus' reproach of the history of his people. Love of God and love of neighbor, the heart of the Commandments, had become obscured, buried beneath the burden of obligations and countless interpretations. In this manner, Oosterhuis depicts the winter of the soul. He compares it, in the final line, to that of Vietnam, where an endess confrontation was also taking place at the time of writing. Post-colonial trade interest with Eastern Asis were paramount to the Dutch economy.

Huijbers responded to the text by writing one basic melodic formula, as a plodding journey, a remorseless tread, through the symbolism of Oosterhuis' text. Notation intervals are minimal, descending by minor thirds before ascending through major thirds. It is in a dark Aeolian mode, and undergoes a journey of key changes, modulations which effectively heighten the tension before relapsing, as though seeing no escape from the inevitable. Only in the final verse is the sun allowed to break through, in a resurrection story beyond the ravages of Vietnam. - Tony Barr