LOUIS ANDRIESSEN

Louis Andriessen

Louis Andriessen, a member of a famous family of musicians, is one of the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, not only because of the quality of his music, but also his excellence as a teacher. Andriessen’s large body of works defies any all-encompassing description, but there is a ...
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1925   Jurriaan Andriessen
1953   Cornelis de Bondt
1967   De Nationale Opera
1970   Han de Vries
1971   Diderik Wagenaar
1971   Orkest de Volharding
1972   Vera Beths
1973   Martijn Padding
1975   Joep Franssens
1976   Elmer Schönberger
1976   Gerard Bouwhuis
1976   Jan Willem van der Ham
1976   Lucas Vis
1976   Marjanne Kweksilber
1979   Charles van Tassel
1982   Huba de Graaff
1983   Ron Ford
1985   Lucas Wiegerink
1987   Peter van Onna
1988   Calliope Tsoupaki
1990   Rozalie Hirs
1990   Vanessa Lann
1992   Yannis Kyriakides
1995   Pauline Oostenrijk
1999   Ivo Janssen
2001   Bart Schneemann
2002   Monica Germino
2010   Greetje Bijma
2012   Doris Hochscheid
2012   Slagwerk Den Haag
2013   Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest
2016   Reinbert de Leeuw
2018   Tomoko Mukaiyama
2019   Ralph van Raat
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Biography Louis Andriessen

Louis Andriessen, a member of a famous family of musicians, is one of the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, not only because of the quality of his music, but also his excellence as a teacher. Andriessen’s large body of works defies any all-encompassing description, but there is a guiding thread running through it: a confrontation with tradition, which over the course of his career has increasingly had the nature of a dialogue. His oeuvre touches on nearly all musical genres and is characterised by its inclination toward theatre, literature, dance and film. From the beginning, Andriessen has worked for the renewal of musical practice and through this has been an important figure in the creation of the ensemble culture of the Netherlands.

1939

Louis Andriessen is born on June 6 in Utrecht, the youngest son of the composer Hendrik Andriessen. He receives his first musical instruction from his father and his elder brother, the composer Juriaan Andriessen.

Hendrik Andriessen Jurriaan Andriessen

1957 - 1964

Louis Andriessen studies composition with Kees van Baaren at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and from 1962 to 1964 with Luciano Berio in Milan and Berlin.

Kees van Baaren

1969

With Misha Mengelberg, Jan van Vlijmen, Peter Schat, Reinbert de Leeuw and the authors Hugo Claus and Harry Mulisch, he composes the opera 'Reconstructie'. Andriessen is one of the Notenkraker activists, who strive to reform Dutch musical life.

Jan van Vlijmen Misha Mengelberg Peter Schat Reinbert de Leeuw

1972 - 1974

Louis Andriessen composes 'De Volharding' [Perseverance], a piece for classically trained and jazz musicians. After the premiere, on May 12, the musicians decide to remain together as Orkest De Volharding. Two years later, Andriessen begins teaching instrumentation at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

Orkest de Volharding

1976 - 1978

'De Staat' is premiered on November 28, 1976, and the following year earns Andriessen both the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize and first prize at the International Rostrum of Composers, marking the beginning of his international breakthrough. “If only one post-war composition has changed Dutch music, it would have to be De Staat,” Elmer Schönberger writes in 1993. For a minimal music project at the Royal Conservatory, Andriessen composes 'Hoketus' (1977) and in 1978 he becomes a composition teacher there.

1983 - 1989

Louis Andriessen co-writes with Elmer Schönberger a book about Stravinsky: 'Het Apollonisch Uurwerk' [The Apollonian Clockwork]. In 1987, he is invited to lecture on music theory and composition at Yale University, in New Haven (US). The 1989 Holland Festival brings the premiere of 'De Materie', a four-part music theatre piece dealing mostly with Dutch historical themes, such as the art movement 'De Stijl'. The work is staged by Robert Wilson, who co-wrote the libretto with Andriessen.

Elmer Schönberger

1992 - 1993

Andriessen is awarded the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize for 'M is for Man, Music and Mozart' (a television film with Peter Greenaway), 'Facing Death', 'Lacrimosa', and 'Hout', all composed in 1991. He signs a contract with the music publisher Boosey & Hawkes in London. In 1993, he is awarded the 3M Prize.

1994 - 1997

Louis Andriessen writes the opera 'Rosa' (1994) to a libretto by the filmmaker Peter Greenaway. He is named aritistic director of the Meltdown Festival in London. In 1997, he is appointed Special Professor for Art and Culture in the Anton van Duinkerken Chair at Radboud University Nijmegen.

1999 - 2000

Working again with Greenaway, Louis Andriessen composes the opera 'Writing to Vermeer'. After the premiere in Amsterdam on December 1, the opera is performed in March 2000 at the Adelaide Festival (Australia) and in July at the Lincoln Center in New York. With the filmmaker Hal Hartley, he makes the video 'The new Math(s)'.

2001 - 2007

Andriessen is awarded the Prize of the Kerkrade World Music Competition 2001 for his contribution to wind music. In 2004, he receives a professorship in the Faculty of the Arts at the University of Leiden. The Paul Sacher Foundation (Switzerland) decides in 2007 to administer his archive.

2008

On January 28, Andriessen is awarded the Johan Wagenaar Prize for his entire oeuvre. The film opera 'La Commedia' (2007), to texts by Dante and directed by Hal Hartley, is premiered at the Holland Festival.

2009

'The Hague Hacking' (Haags Hakkûh) is premiered in Los Angeles by the piano duo Katia and Marielle Labèque and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. At a concert on his 70th birthday, Andriessen is presented the Silver Medal of the City of Amsterdam.

2010

Louis Andriessen wins the 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition from the University of Louisville for his opera 'La Commedia'. He is awarded the American prize because he crosses the traditional boundaries between music genres. The opera is performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Carnegie Hall in New York. The monodrama 'Anaïs Nin' (2010), written for Cristina Zavalloni and ensemble Nieuw Amsterdams Peil, is premiered in Siena in July and touring the Netherlands in November.

Cristina Zavalloni Nieuw Amsterdams Peil

2011

'La Girò', for violinist Monica Germino and London Sinfonietta is premiered on September 5 at MITO Settembre Musica Festival in Milan, Italy. The Clazz Ensemble brings the program 'His Master's Choice featuring Louis Andriessen' in November with the first performance of 'Monument for Robert Graetinger'.

Clazz Ensemble Monica Germino

Photos Louis Andriessen

Audio/Video Louis Andriessen

Video Louis Andriessen