The Zeewijk Passion

On the 7th of November 1726, the VOC ship Zeewijk left from Middelburg, Zeeland for Batavia, but on the evening of the 9th of June 1727, the Zeewijk shipwrecked on the Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. The castaway crew decided to build a boat to sail to Batavia. This boat was the first European vessel to be built in Australia, and of the 88 men who boarded this ship on the 26th of March 1728, 82 survived the journey to the colony.

However, during the time that the crew was constructing Sloeptie, two young men were accused of committing sodomy, and were sentenced to death by marooning on two separate islands that were not more than rock and sand. Their trial and deaths are the first recorded moment of European queer history on Australian soil, and also the first instance of punishment for queer behaviour in Australia.

Scored for 8 singers, viola da gamba quartet, organ and electronics, The Zeewijk Passion tells the story of these two boys. This work is a collaboration between composer Lydia Gardiner and librettist Javier Bateman. Much of the research for this piece is credited to Drew Pettifer, whose exhibition A Sorrowful Act: The Wreck of the Zeewijk (debuted 2020) first inspired me to compose this work, and whose video is used as part of this piece. A huge thank you to Bardi Jawi author and poet Bebe Oliver, whose poem the light that bleeds is used in the first movement of this work.

The Zeewijk Passion was premiered at Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam on the 1st of June 2025 conducted by Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg. Recorded 3rd of June 2025 at Franse Kerk, Voorburg by audio director Daan van Aalst and videographer Matthijs van der Moolen.

Ai Horton - Solo soprano 

Sophia Faltas - Alto 

Steijn Beekman - Solo tenor 

Andrew Hopper - Speaker & Bass 

Bram Trouwborst - Bass 

Gijsbert Westland -Tenor 

Sean Bell - Countertenor 

Rosalyn Stürzer - Soprano 

Mimoe Todo - Organ 

Lydia Gardiner - Electronics

Lyrata consort:

Mieneke van der Velden - Solo treble gamba 

Alex Baker - Solo bass gamba & treble gamba 

Stefan Woudenberg - Bass gamba 

Anna Lachegyl - Tenor gamba