November 2016. Lute player Sofie Vanden Eynde is afraid that her heart is going to give out. Her doctor spells out the diagnosis in capital letters: burnout. She's a burnt-out building. Even the music is like a rope around her neck. Its as if her strings are sticky with adrenaline, playing is killing her. So she stops - for nearly a year.
Today she's taking stock. Her strings speak differently now: the silence between the notes has taken on new meaning. The idea of losing herself in time no longer frightens her. Sofie has distilled her experiences with burnout into a recital that explores the spaces between noise and clarity, confusion and stillness, discord and harmony. The recital presents music by John Dowland, Francesco da Milano and a new work by Vladimir Gorlinsky. In a new composition, the author Annemarie Peeters explores ways to put into words Sofie's journey to the breaking-point and back. This is a unique audiobook shining light on a situation that many today will recognise: what happens when the regular beat of life falters?
