The Cotton Phoenix

The Cotton Phoenix is the first part of the diptych ‘Metropolis of the East’ and describes the influence of the textile industry on the development of the city of Enschede.

The composition opens with the introduction of the Enschede theme. After a great city fire, the town is rebuilt from the ground up (the reconstruction theme). The city rises from its ashes and the textile industry reaches its peak (the introduction of the textile theme).

Then the Second World War arrives; thematic material from the second part depicts the liberation. After the war, Enschede gets back on its feet, thanks in no small part to the textile industry. Mechanical looms are evoked by the percussion beneath the textile theme. The composition ends with the Enschede theme: the city in its present form.