Louis Andriessen

Louis Joseph Andriessen was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although his music was initially dominated by neoclassicism and serialism, his style gradually shifted to a synthesis of American minimalism, big band jazz and the expressionism of Igor Stravinsky.
Born in Utrecht into a musical family, Andriessen studied with his father, the composer Hendrik Andriessen as well as composers Kees van Baaren and Luciano Berio. Andriessen taught at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from 1974 to 2012, influencing notable composers. His opera La Commedia, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition and was selected in 2019 by critics at The Guardian as one of the most outstanding compositions of the 21st century.

Life and career

Andriessen was born in Utrecht on 6 June 1939 to a musical family, the son of the composer Hendrik Andriessen and Johanna Justina Anschütz. His father was professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and later its director. His siblings were composers Jurriaan Andriessen and Caecilia Andriessen, and he is the nephew of Willem Andriessen.
Andriessen originally studied with his father and Kees van Baaren at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, graduating in 1961 with a first prize, before embarking upon two years of study with Italian composer Luciano Berio in Milan and Berlin. His father introduced him to the works of Francis Poulenc and Eric Satie which he came to love. From 1961–65, Andriessen wrote for the daily De Volkskrant, and for De Gids magazine from 1966–69. Andriessen lived in Amsterdam starting in 1965.
In 1969, he was part of a group of protesters at a concert of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. They disrupted the concert with nutcrackers and bicycle horns, handing out leaflets on the dismal representation of Dutch new music in the orchestra's programming. The next year, he and the other "Nutcrackers" were given one-week prison sentences, and yet their protest sparked something of a social reform in the Dutch music scene.
Andriessen was internationally recognised as a composer with his 1976 De Staat which included texts from Plato's Republic. He was one of the founders of the Hague School, an avant-garde and minimalist movement from the second half of the 20th century. In later decades, he accepted commissions from major orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Andriessen was the focus of festivals in Tanglewood, London, Tokyo, Brisbane and New York. In 2008, he was elected an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary Music ISCM. He held the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall during the 2009–10 season.

Ensembles

In 1969, Andriessen co-founded Studio voor Elektro-Instrumentale Muziek STEIM in Amsterdam. In opposition to the classical orchestra, a structure seen as "hierarchical", he also helped founding the instrumental groups Orkest de Volharding and Hoketus, both of which performed compositions of the same names, formed by classical, jazz and pop musicians. He later became closely involved with the Schonberg and Asko ensembles and inspired the formation of the British ensemble Icebreaker.

Teaching

Andriessen joined the faculty of the Royal Conservatory in 1974. He taught instrumentation from 1974 to 1978 and taught composition there from 1978 to 2012, where he influenced notable students including Michel van der Aa, Richard Ayres and Steve Martland. Yale University invited him in 1987 to lecture on theory and composition, he was also guest lecturer at New York State University, Buffalo and Princeton. The arts faculty of the University of Leiden appointed him professor in 2004. One of his students was Raminta Šerkšnytė, a Lithuanian pianist and composer.

Personal life

Andriessen was married to guitarist Jeanette Yanikian. They were a couple for over 40 years, and were married in 1996. La Commedia is dedicated to Yanikian. He was married in 2012 a second time to violinist Monica Germino, for whom he wrote several works. In December 2020, she announced that Andriessen was suffering from dementia. He died on 1 July 2021 in Weesp at age 82.
Andriessen had one son, Lodewijk Torenbos-Andriessen, with dancer and theatre director Betsy Torenbos.

Style and notable works

Andriessen began in the style of an intentionally dry neoclassicism, but then turned into a strict serialist. His early works show experimentation with various contemporary trends: post-war serialism, pastiche, and tape. His reaction to what he perceived as the conservatism of much of the Dutch contemporary music scene quickly moved him to form a radically alternative musical aesthetic of his own. From the early 1970s on he refused to write for conventional symphony orchestras and instead opted to write for his own idiosyncratic instrumental combinations, which often retain some traditional orchestral instruments alongside electric guitars, electric basses, and congas. Andriessen repeatedly used his music for political confessions and messages, but he also referred to painting and philosophy. His range of inspiration was wide, including the music of Charles Ives in Anachronie I, the art of Piet Mondrian in De Stijl, the visions of Beguine mystic Hadewijch in Hadewijch, and shipbuilding and atomic theory in De Materie Part I.
Andriessen's later style is a unique blend of American sounds and European forms. His mature music combines the influences of jazz, American minimalism, and the music of Igor Stravinsky and Claude Vivier, containing minimalist-influenced polyrhythms, lyrical melodic fragments, and predominantly consonant harmonies disrupted by concentrated dissonance. Andriessen's music thus departs from post-war European serialism and its offshoots. By the 21st century he was widely regarded as Europe's most important minimalist composer.
His notable works include Workers Union, a melodically indeterminate piece "for any loud sounding group of instruments" whose score specifies rhythm and contour but not exact pitch; Mausoleum for two baritones and large ensemble; De Tijd for female singers and ensemble; De Snelheid, for three amplified ensembles; De Materie, 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 and Writing to Vermeer ; and La Passione for female voice, violin and ensemble. His 2008 opera La Commedia, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition and was selected by critics at The Guardian as one of the most outstanding classical compositions of the 21st century in 2019.

Awards and honours

1959 Gaudeamus International Composers Award
1977 Matthijs Vermeulen Award for De Staat
1977 UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris
1992 Matthijs Vermeulen Award for M. is for Man, Music and Mozart; Facing Death, Dances, Hout en Lacrimosa
1993 Edison Award
2010 Honorary doctorate from the Birmingham City University
2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for the multimedia opera La Commedia.
2016 Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music
2019 Honorary doctorate from the University of Amsterdam
Works

Andriessen's primary publishers are Boosey & Hawkes and Donemus.
Complete list of works:

Rondo Barbaro for piano
Sonata for flute and piano
Elegy for cello and piano
Elegy for double bass and piano
Nuit d'été for piano four hands
Quartet in two movements for string quartet
Séries for 2 pianos
Nocturnen for 2 sopranos, orchestra
Percosse for flute, trumpet, bassoon and percussion
Prospettive e Retrospettive for piano
Trois Pièces for piano left hand
Aanloop en sprongen for flute, oboe and clarinet in Bb
Ittrospezione I for piano 4 hands
Joli commentaire for piano 4 hands
Paintings for one flutist and one pianist
Étude pour les timbres for piano
Triplum for guitar
Canzone 3 for voice and piano
Constructions for a Ballet for orchestra, including Ondine, timbres voor orkest
Plein-chant for flute and harp
Ittrospezione II for large orchestra
Sweet for alto recorder
Registers for piano
A flower song II for oboe solo
A flower song III for violoncello solo
Ittrospezione III for 2 pianos and 3 instrumental groups
Double for clarinet and piano
Ittrospezione III – Fragment tenor saxophone ad libitum, 2 pianos
Beatles Songs for female voice and piano
Souvenirs d'enfance for piano. Including amongst others: Nocturne, Ricercare, Allegro Marcato, As you like it, Blokken, Strawinsky, Rondo opus 1, Étude pour les timbres, dotted quarter note = 70
Rage, rage against the dying of the light for 4 trombones
Anachronie I for large orchestra
The Garden of Ryoan-gi for 3 electronic organs
Worum es ging und worum es geht for orchestra
Contra tempus for large ensemble
Choralvorspiele for barrel organ
Anachronie II for oboe, small orchestra
Hoe het is for 52 strings and live electronics
Sonate op. 2 nr. 1 for piano with interruptions from string quartet
Morality opera for soloists, 3 mixed choruses, orchestra, live electronics
De negen symfonieën van Beethoven for ice cream bell, orchestra
Spektakel for improvisational ensemble, small orchestra
Vergeet mij niet for oboe
Le voile du bonheur for violin and piano
een, twee for organ, 10 instrumentalists and piano
In Memoriam for tape
Volkslied for an unlimited number and kinds of instruments
De Volharding for piano and wind instruments
Dat gebeurt in Vietnam for wind ensemble
Arrangement of Solidaritätslied by Hanns Eisler for wind ensemble
Arrangement of Streikslied by Hanns Eisler for wind ensemble
Arrangement of In C by Terry Riley for wind ensemble
Arrangement of Bereits sprach der Welt by Hanns Eisler for wind ensemble
Arrangement of Tango by Igor Stravinsky for wind ensemble
Arrangement of La création du monde by Darius Milhaud for wind ensemble
Thanh Hoa for voice and piano
Canzone 3: Utinam for soprano, piano, 1962; Thanh Hoa, voice, piano
On Jimmy Yancey for 9 winds, piano and double bass
Voor Sater for wind ensemble
Amsterdam Vrij for wind ensemble
Il Duce for tape
The family for ensemble
Melodie for alto recorder and piano
Arrangement of Ipanema and Gavea from Saudades do Brasil by Darius Milhaud for wind ensemble
Il Principe for 2 mixed choruses, 8 winds, 3 horns, tuba, bass guitar, piano
Wals for piano
Symfonieën der Nederlanden for 2 or more symphonic bands
Nederland, let op uw schoonheyt for symphonic band
Workers Union for any loud-sounding group of instruments
De Staat for 2 sopranos, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 4 oboes, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, bass trombone, 2 harps, 2 electric guitars, 4 violas, bass guitar, 2 pianos
Mattheus passie Music theatre work for 8 mixed voices, 2 oboes, Hammond organ, string quartet, double bass
Hoketus for 2 panpipes, 2 alto saxophones ad libitum, 2 bass guitars, 2 pianos, 2 electric pianos, 2 congas
Orpheus Music theatre work for 8 mixed voices, lyricon, electric guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, percussion
Symphonie voor losse snaren for 12 strings
Laat toch vrij die straat for voice and piano
Hymn to the Memory of Darius Milhaud
Felicitatie for 3 trumpets
Toespraak for speaker who also plays trombone
Mausoleum for 2 high baritones, orchestra
Music for the film The Alien
George Sand Music theatre work for 8 mixed voices, 4 pianos
Un beau baiser for mixed chorus
Messe des pauvres by Erik Satie, arrangement by Louis Andriessen for choir, 15 solo strings, accordion, contrabass clarinet and harp
Ende for 2 alto recorders
Anfang for sopranino recorder and piano
De Tijd for female chorus, percussion ensemble, orchestra
Commentaar for voice and piano
La voce for cello and voice
Disco for violin and piano
Overture to Orpheus for harpsichord
De Snelheid for 3 amplified ensembles
Y después for voice and piano
Menuet voor Marianne for piano
Trepidus for piano
Doctor Nero Music theatre work
Berceuse voor Annie van Os for piano
De Lijn for 3 flutes
Dubbelspoor Ballet music for piano, harpsichord, celesta, glockenspiel
De Materie . Music theatre work for soprano, tenor, 2 female speakers, 8 amplified mixed voices, amplified orchestra for carillon
Nietzsche redet for speaker, alto flute, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, 2 celli, double bass, 2 pianos
Flora Tristan for mixed choir a cappella
Facing Death for amplified string quartet
Facing Death for saxophone quartet
Dances For soprano, small orchestra. May be performed as a concert work.
M is for Man, Music, Mozart for female jazz voice, flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, horn, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, double bass, piano
Lacrimosa for 2 bassoons
Lacrimosa for 2 flutes
Hout for tenor saxophone, electric guitar, piano and marimba
Romance voor Caecilia for piano
Nadir en Zenit improvisations on poems by Sybren Polet for voice and piano
...not being sundered for soprano, flute, cello
Song Lines for 3–6 saxophones
Deuxième chorale for music box
The Memory of Roses for piano
Chorale for piano
M is Muziek, Monoloog en Moord Music theatre work
Lied for piano
Rosa – A Horse Drama: The Death of a Composer Opera for 2 sopranos, tenor, 2 baritones, female speaker, 8 mixed voices, orchestra.
Een lied van de zee for female voice
Zilver for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, vibraphone and marimba
Base for piano left hand
Odysseus' Women for 2 sopranos, 2 altos, sampler
De komst van Willibrord for carillon
To Pauline O for oboe
Machmes Wos for voice, piano
Trilogie van de Laatste Dag The Last Day for boy soprano, 4 male voices, orchestra; TAO for 4 female voices, piano , small orchestra ; Dancing on the Bones
De herauten for 3 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani
Not an Anfang for piano
De eerste minnaar for boy soprano, organ, 1998
Tuin van Zink for viola and live electronics
Writing to Vermeer Opera for 2 children's voices, 2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, female chorus, orchestra, CD
Woodpecker for percussion
Image de Moreau for piano
Dirck Sweelinck Missed the Prince for harpsichord
Passeggiata in tram in America e ritorno for female Italian voice, violin and piano
What Shall I Buy You, Son? for voice, piano
Boodschappenlijstje van een gifmengster for vocalist, voice for mezzo-soprano, piccolo, oboe, violin, piano, 2 percussion ensembles
The New Math for soprano, transverse flute, violin, marimba, CD, 2000
Feli-citazione for piano
Passeggiata in tram in America e ritorno for female Italian voice, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, electric guitar, electric violin, double bass, piano, percussion, 1998 for voice, piano
Fanfare om te beginnen for 6 groups of horns
La Passione for female jazz voice, violin, small orchestra
Very Sharp Trumpet Sonata for trumpet
Tuin van Eros for string quartet
Klokken voor Haarlem for piano, celesta, synthesizer, vibraphone
Pupazzetti by Alfredo Casella, arranged by Louis Andriessen for ensemble in 2002–2003
Inanna for 4 voices, 3 actors, mixed chorus, contrabass clarinet, 4 saxophones, violin, film
Letter from Cathy for female jazz voice, harp, violin, double bass, piano, percussion
Tuin van Eros for violin and piano
RUTTMANN Opus II, III, IV for flute, 3 saxophones, horn, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, double bass, piano
Haags Hakkûh for 2 pianos. Renamed to Haags Hakkûh Stukje in 2008.
Racconto dall'inferno for female jazz voice, small orchestra. Part II of La Commedia.
De Opening for ensemble
Vermeer Pictures concert suite for orchestra from Writing to Vermeer
XENIA for violin
Hymn to the memory of Darius Milhaud for ensemble
Hellende Fanfare for voice and ensemble
Raadsels for solo violin
Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude in b minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier BWV 866, arranged for string quartet with the first six bars augmented with a viola part by Igor Stravinsky, completed by Louis Andriessen
..miserere... for string quartet
The City of Dis or: The Ship of Fools for voices and ensemble. Part I of La Commedia.
La Commedia. Film opera in five parts
Haags Hakkûh for two pianos and large ensemble
Christiaan Andriessens uitzicht op de Amstel for ensemble
Life for ensemble, with film by Marijke van Warmerdam
Anaïs Nin for singer, ensemble and film
La Girò, for violin solo and ensemble
Mysteriën, for orchestra
Tapdance, concerto for percussion and large ensemble
Two way ticket, for piano
Theatre of the World, a 'grotesque stagework' in nine scenes
Mach's mit mir, Gott , for organ
Signs and Symbols, for wind ensemble and percussion
Ahania Weeping, for mixed chorus
De goddelijke routine , for organ
Rimsky or La Monte Young, for piano
Agamemnon, for speaker and large orchestra
Searching for unison , for piano
The Only One, song cycle for female jazz singer and large ensemble, dedicated to Nora Fischer, who premiered the work at The Proms 2019
May, for choir and orchestra