The prominent French composer Tristan Murail is one of the most important representatives of the spectral school of composition. Murail produces sensual sound paintings, using timbre and pitch, in his multi-part chamber music cycle, Portulan. He translates images and impressions from his own environment into music. As he holds in his hand a portolan chart (a 13^th-century primitive nautical chart) the composer takes us around the world. Het Collectief performs nine parts of the cycle in the presence of the composer.