This composition was commissioned by the Province of Northern Holland on the occasion of the 15th Niedorp Festival. It musically depicts the history of the "village" through the ages. Where the "New Village" is situated today, there was an extensive lagoon thousands of years ago. Animal and vegetation sediments filled this lagoon, and eventually made the land emerge from the sea, which, however, was to become prey of the waves time and again. Later trees would grow there and deep forests so that the area was appropriately referred to as "Woodland".

Early men discovered this rich and fertile land, settled there and built their villages. However, rapacious tribes were attracted by this area too, devastating the land, and pillaging the villages. At the same time the sea remained a permanent threat. The inhabitants, however, would always rebuild their village, and this was the origin of the "New Village". In the course of time the "New Village" became very prosperous. New houses were built, schools, churches, and an active community live came into being.

The threat posed by the sea or by predatory gangs are things of the past now. Today only festivals and fairs together with the impetuosness revealed here and then on those occasions are reminiscences of the past. It therefore is not at all accidental that the pillaging hordes of the past and the abundant liveliness of present-today fairs are characterized by the same musical theme.