The first idea for the music started with van Veelen's wish that her good friend and saxophone player, William Raaijman (1972-2007) would play the voice of Megumi Yokota in the film.

Soon after that William Raaijman brought composer Robin de Raaff with van Veelen in contact. De Raaff finished his composition for solo saxophone and ensemble. Which was performed by the well known DoelenEnsemble with conductor Maarten van Veen.

ROBIN DE RAAFF
Robin de Raaff studied composition at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Geert van Keulen and Theo Loevendie and graduated 'cum laude'. In addition he has taken courses with Pierre Boulez, Ferneyhough and Rihm. Beginning in 1999, Robin de Raaff studied with George Benjamin in London. He has won various prizes for his chamber music. Although De Raaff believes that in the end intuition is the guiding factor in composing, numerical relationships determine the structure of his compositions: "I really feel a need to let my intuition be guided by numbers because it forces me to investigate areas I'm not familiar with." In collaboration with Pierre Audi, artistic director of De Nederlandse Opera, De Raaff has developed an opera about the tenor Anton Raaff, who sang the title role in Mozart's Idomeneo in 1781. After a conception period of nearly ten years, RAAFF received with great success its premiere on the 23rd of June 2004.

ORIGINAL SCORE

Composer
Robin de Raaff

Conductor
Maarten van Veen

Soloist saxophone
William Raaijman

Horn
Irene Kruik

Cello
Hans Woudenberg

Contrabas
Harke Wiersma

Violin
Frank de Groot

Altviolin
Ruben Sanderse

Percussion
Wilbert Grootenboer

DOUBLE CONCERT

Composer
Robin de Raaff

Concertgebouw Amsterdam
Matinee op de vrije Zaterdag
October 1997

Performed by
Radio Chamber Orchestra

Conductor
Peter Eötvös

Clarinet
Harmen de Boer

Bass Clarinet
Harry Sparnaay