Platypus

Sophie Maria de Rijk is a Dutch violinist, composer, arranger, and teacher whose work brings together music, storytelling, and environmental awareness. As a professional musician, she creates musical theatre programs and educational performances that explore the relationship between humans and the natural world. Through her work, she seeks to inspire audiences to listen more closely – to both music and nature.

Her short audio piece “Platypus” is part of a broader series dedicated to animals facing the threat of extinction. In this composition, de Rijk draws on an interpretation of a forgotten Aboriginal song, acknowledging the deep connections between human cultural traditions and the natural environments in which they emerged. The music unfolds through strings entering at different moments in a canon-like structure, creating textures that sometimes feel unpredictable or chaotic before resolving into moments of unexpected harmony. This interplay between disorder and balance mirrors ecological processes and invites listeners to reflect on the fragile yet resilient rhythms of life.

The piece resonates with ideas of rewilding, because de Rijk links the musical structure – where apparent chaos gradually reveals coherence – to the way ecosystems can recover when given space and time. Rewilding can initially appear messy or uncontrolled, but, like the evolving layers of sound in “Platypus,” it allows natural relationships to re-emerge and new forms of balance to develop organically. By incorporating human musical heritage alongside reflections on a vulnerable species, the composition suggests that people are not separate from nature but participants within it.

Through her music, Sophie Maria de Rijk encourages listeners to embrace uncertainty, to appreciate the beauty that can arise from complexity, and to recognize the role of creativity in fostering care for the living world.