Louis Andriessen

Louis Andriessen (born Utrecht: June 6, 1939) is considered to be the foremost Dutch composer working today. He was born into a musical family, being the son of the composer Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981) and brother of composer Jurriaan Andriessen (1925-1996).

Related Topics:
Utrecht - June 6 - 1939 - Dutch - Hendrik Andriessen - Jurriaan Andriessen

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Andriessen originally studied with his father and Kees van Baaren at Royal Conservatory of The Hague, before embarking upon two years study with Italian composer Luciano Berio in Milan and Berlin. His early works show experimentation with various contemporary trends: post war serialism (Series, 1958), pastiche (Anachronie I, 1966-67) and tape (Il Duce, 1973).

Related Topics:
Kees van Baaren - Royal Conservatory of The Hague - Luciano Berio - Milan - Berlin - Serialism - Pastiche

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However it was in his reaction to the conservatism of much of the Dutch contemporary music scene that Andriessen quickly moved towards forming a radically alternative music. Since the early 1970s he has refused to write for conventional symphony orchestras and has instead opted to write for his own idiosyncratic instrumental combinations, which often retain some traditional orchestral instruments alongside electric guitars, electric basses and congas. He helped to found the instrumental groups De Volharding and Hoketus, both of which performed, respectively, compositions of the same name. He was later to play a role in the founding of the ongoing Schoenberg and Asko ensembles.

Related Topics:
Orchestra - Electric guitar - Electric bass - Conga

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Andriessen's music is somewhat unique in contemporary European composition for being instantly recognisable as his own, both as a result of his choices of instrumentation as well as his style, which combines the strong influence of Stravinsky alongside American minimalism. His harmonic writing however eschews the often saccharine modality of much minimalism and retains the bite of post war European dissonance, crystallised into bold blocks of sound which lend much of his music an unmistakable force. Large scale pieces such as De Staat (1972-76), for example, display a relentless energy derived in part from the big band music of Count Basie and Stan Kenton, fused with Reich-esque repetitions and bright, clashing dissonances. His music is resolutely anti-Germanic and anti-Romantic, and has continued to serve as an effective alternative to post war European serialism and its offshoots. He has also played an important role in providing alternatives to traditional performance practice techniques through often specifying forceful, rhythmic articulation and amplified, strictly non-vibrato, singing.

Related Topics:
Stravinsky - Minimalism - Dissonance - Count Basie - Stan Kenton - Reich - Romantic - Articulation - Vibrato

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Other key works include Worker?s Union (1975), a melodically indeterminate piece ?for any loud sounding group of instruments?; Mausoleum (1979) for 2 baritones and large ensemble; De Tijd (1979-81) for female singers and ensemble; De Snelheid (1982-3), for 3 amplified ensembles; De Materie (1984-88) a large four part work for voices and ensemble; collaborations with filmmaker and librettist Peter Greenaway on the film M is for Man, Music, Mozart and the operas Rosa: A Horse Drama (1994) and Writing to Vermeer (1998); and the recent La Passione (2000-02) for female voice and ensemble.

Related Topics:
Indeterminate - Librettist - Peter Greenaway

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Andriessen lives and works in Amsterdam. His music is published by Donemus in the Netherlands and Boosey & Hawkes in the UK. Several of his recordings appear on the Nonesuch label.

Related Topics:
Amsterdam - Donemus - Boosey & Hawkes - Nonesuch

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