Louis Andriessen |

Louis Andriessen

Louis Andriessen was born in Utrecht (Netherlands) in 1939 into a family of musicians. His father Hendrik and brother Jurrian were also famous composers. Louis studied composition with his father and with Kees van Baaren at the Hague Conservatory, and in 1962-1964. continued his studies in Milan and Berlin with Luciano Berio. Since 1974, he has been combining the work of a composer and pianist with teaching.

Having started his career as a composer with compositions in the style of jazz and avant-garde, Andriessen soon evolved towards the use of simple, sometimes elementary melodic, harmonic and rhythmic means and absolutely transparent instrumentation, in which every timbre is clearly audible. His music combines progressive energy, laconism of expressive means and clarity of musical fabric, in which piquant, spicy harmonies of woodwinds and brass, piano or electric guitars prevail.

Andreessen is now widely recognized as the leading contemporary composer in the Netherlands and one of the world’s leading and most influential composers. The range of sources of inspiration for the composer is very wide: from the music of Charles Ives in Anachronie I, the painting of Piet Mondrian in De Stijl, medieval poetic “visions” in Hadewijch – to works on shipbuilding and the theory of the atom in De Materie Part I. One of his idols in music is Igor Stravinsky.

Andriessen boldly takes on complex creative projects, exploring the relationship between music and politics in De Staat (The State, 1972-1976), the nature of time and speed in works of the same name (De Tijd, 1980-1981, and De Snelheid, 1983), questions of death and frailty of everything earthly in the Trilogy of The Last Day (“Trilogy of the Last Day”, 1996 – 1997).

Andriessen’s compositions attract many of today’s leading artists, including two Dutch ensembles named after his works: De Volharding and Hoketus. Among other eminent performers of his music in his homeland are the ensembles ASKO | Schoenberg, Nieuw Amsterdams Peil, Schoenberg Quartet, pianists Gerard Bowhuis and Kees van Zeeland, conductors Reinbert de Leeuw and Lukas Vis. His compositions have been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, the Kronos Quartet, the London Symphonyette, Ensemble Modern, MusikFabrik, Icebreaker and Bang on a Can All Stars. Many of these groups commissioned compositions from Andriessen.

The composer’s work in other areas of art includes a series of dance projects, a full-scale production of De Materie for the Netherlands Opera (directed by Robert Wilson), three collaborations with Peter Greenaway – the film M is for Man, Music, Mozart (“Man, Music, Mozart begin with M ”) and performances at the Netherlands Opera: ROSA Death of a Composer (“Death of a Composer: Rose”, 1994) and Writing to Vermeer (“Message to Vermeer”, 1999). In collaboration with director Hal Hartley, he creates The New Math(s) (2000) and La Commedia, an opera production based on Dante for the Netherlands Opera, which premiered at the Holland Festival in 2008. The series was released by Nonesuch Records Andriessen’s recordings, including the full version of De Materie, ROSA Death of a Composer and Writing to Vermeer.

Andreessen’s recent projects include, in particular, the musical-theatrical composition Anaïs Nin for singer Christina Zavalloni and 8 musicians; it premiered in 2010, followed by a DVD and CD recording by the Nieuw Amsterdams Peil Ensemble and the London Sinfonietta. Another project of recent years is La Girò for the violinist Monica Germino and a large ensemble (premiered at the MITO SettembreMusica festival in Italy in 2011). In the 2013/14 season, compositions by Mysteriën for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons and Tapdance for percussion and large ensemble with renowned Scottish percussionist Colin Currie are scheduled to premiere in a series of Saturday morning concerts in Amsterdam.

Louis Andriessen is the recipient of the prestigious Grawemeier Prize (awarded for excellence in academic music composition) for his opera La Commedia, which was released on Nonesuch recording in autumn 2013.

Louis Andriessen’s writings are copyrighted by Boosey & Hawkes.

Source: meloman.ru