Tour de France! Claude Debussy, Germaine Tailleferre and Ernest Chausson with Geerten van de Wetering

After the successful and warmly received summer concert dedicated to Erik Satie in 2025, Ensemble Klang and organist Geerten van de Wetering return to the Waalse Kerk in The Hague for another atmospheric French summer evening. With Tour de France!, they take the audience on a musical journey through the rich sound world of France, featuring special arrangements for Ensemble Klang’s unique instrumentation, saxophones, trombone, guitar, percussion, and piano, combined with organ.

This year’s programme centres on works by Claude Debussy, Germaine Tailleferre, and the lesser-known Ernest Chausson. Each of these composers played an innovative role in the vibrant Parisian musical scene around 1900.

The programme includes arrangements from Debussy’s Petite Suite (originally written for piano four hands). Germaine Tailleferre, the only woman in Les Six, a group of Parisian composers who initially formed around Erik Satie, also composed for piano four hands (and for two pianos), as well as for solo organ. Her elegant and transparent style recalls the simplicity and charm of Satie’s music. Chausson composed beautiful, poetic songs, several of which will be heard in instrumental arrangements during this concert.

With Barcelona serving as the Grand Départ of the Tour de France this year, the programme also includes a musical nod to Spain: Maurice Ravel’s famous Boléro, presented in a brand-new arrangement for this ensemble, provides a thrilling Spanish dance to bring the evening to a close.

Experience an enchanting French summer evening in the intimate setting of the Walloon Church with Ensemble Klang and organist Geerten van de Wetering, a perfect musical prelude to the summer holidays!