Sietse van Erve

LP version. One of the leading figures in Dutch experimental electronic music makes his ensemble debut.

On November 20th, 2026, ‘En de stilstaande tijd voor (elektro-)akoestisch ensemble’ (And Stationary Time for (electro-)acoustic ensemble), the new album by composer and musician Sietse van Erve, will be released. With this release, Van Erve is taking a definitive step in his artistic career: bidding farewell to his well-known pseudonym Orphax to continue under his own name from now on. As Orphax, Van Erve, who began his musical career as a drummer, has established himself over the past 25 years as one of the leading figures in Dutch experimental and beatless electronic music.

The foundations for this album were laid during a memorable live performance at the Rewire Festival 2024 in The Hague. There, Van Erve (electronics, synthesisers) presented the composition for the first time with musicians from Ensemble MAZE: Anne La Berge (flute), Gareth Davis (bass clarinet) and Dario Calderone (double bass).

Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant on the performance: “A performance by the Dutch ambient icon Sietse van Erve, alias Orphax, with the classical ensemble Maze, is incomprehensibly still and floats on a single, drone-like tone through which a flute and bass clarinet gently drift.”

Van Erve looks back on the performance with great satisfaction, despite the nerves surrounding the world premiere at the time. “My aim is for the listener, and the musicians themselves, to reach the right state of focus and surrender under the right circumstances, to lose all sense of time and space, and that worked wonderfully well. The music does have a progression; the art lies in allowing that movement to take place as subtly and almost imperceptibly as possible, so that you are briefly transported or perhaps even absorbed into a greater whole. It has almost an existential quality. The impact of the live performance left us wanting more, which is why I’m super happy that there is finally an album recording.”

The composition has its origins in a postcard of a Spanish village from the 1960s, which Van Erve bought in 2001 and which also features on the original album cover. The sense of tranquillity and the feeling that time had stood still planted a seed for Van Erve’s artistic development at the time and formed the core of the album ‘En de stilstaande tijd’, a solo work from 2020.

In this new ensemble version, the acoustic instrumentation lends that theme a completely different, organic and more human dimension. The combination of electronic and acoustic instruments creates exciting contrasts as well as a particularly pleasing synthesis. However, the transition to an ensemble brought with it new challenges. Van Erve explains: “Certain effects can be created on a synthesiser at the touch of a button, but result in parts that are almost unplayable on acoustic instruments. In situations like that, I presented the challenge to the group and we worked together to find a workable solution”.

The album also marks a personal transition. On letting go of his stage name, Van Erve says: “I was looking for the right moment and now it feels right. With this project, I’ve finally been able to do what I’ve had in mind for a very long time. I feel that I’ve achieved something and that’s why I think it’s a good time to make the name change”. The music reflects that freedom; the score has been deliberately left open to allow room for improvisation and the natural variation of the instruments.

LP limited to 300 copies.