A Dutch-language oratorio from one of the pioneers of the Flemish music scene! Peter Benoit was a rarity in the predominantly French-speaking cultural landscape of Belgium, and a Dutch-language oratorio about the Scheldt River was of huge symbolic value. Depicting the river as a lifeline reflected the radical optimism of Benoit's cultural policy. He had chosen the subject well: few other European rivers had so often been the subject of cross-border conflicts, treaties, lawsuits, sieges, blockades, and battles as the Scheldt. For the libretto, Benoit collaborated with writer Emanuel Hiel, who had previously provided the libretto for Lucifer. Together they created a complex scenario, moving away from the narrative oratorio tradition, in which the river is used to depict a journey through national consciousness.

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is proud to present it's new album, Religious Tetralogy, featuring four works by the Flemish composer Peter Benoit. This recording of Noel, Messe solennelle, Te Deum, and Requiem, which Benoit thought of as components in a tetraptych of sacred pieces, continues the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra's Benoit cycle, which it launched in 2013 with a recording of the oratorio de Schelde. As an officially recognized Flemish cultural institution, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra has a remit to preserve and disseminate Flemish musical heritage, and this cycle forms part of that mission. Recording for the Religious Tetralogy started in 2015, and continued for four years at various locations in Antwerp. Messe solennelle, Te Deum and Requiem were performed in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, during the 2015 and 2016 traditional cathedral concerts. Noel was recorded a year later, in 2017, at the Church of St. Charles Borromeo in Antwerp. Each performance was led by a different conductor: Martyn Brabbins (Messe solennelle and Te Deum), Edo de Waart (Requiem) and Jan Willem de Vriend (Noel).