Canto Ostinato featuring Taktus Duo and TorQ Percussion Quartet

Celebrating it’s 50th anniversary Canto Ostinato by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt is one of the most quietly radical works of late-20th-century minimalism. Written as a sequence of repeating musical cells, the piece unfolds through gentle harmonic shifts, pulsing rhythms, and luminous tonal clarity. Rather than prescribing a fixed form, ten Holt invites performers to shape the music in real time—deciding how often to repeat each section, when to move forward, and how to respond to one another. As a result, no two performances are ever the same.
Typically performed by multiple keyboard instruments—famed percussion ensembles Taktus Duo and TorQ Percussion are teaming up to reimagine this iconic work. Canto Ostinato creates a warm, enveloping sound world that encourages deep listening. Its steady ostinatos and consonant harmonies evoke a sense of suspension, allowing time to feel both expanded and intimate. The music resists drama in favor of gradual transformation, offering listeners space for contemplation and emotional resonance.