Louis Andriessen

Short Biography
Louis Andriessen (1939-2021) is widely regarded as the leading Dutch composer of his generation who played a pivotal role in the international new music scene. From a background of jazz and avant-garde composition, Andriessen evolved a style employing elemental harmonic, melodic and rhythmic materials, heard in totally distinctive instrumentation. His range of inspiration was wide, from the music of Charles Ives in Anachronie I, the art of Mondriaan in De Stijl, and medieval poetic visions in Hadewijch, to writings on shipbuilding and atomic theory in De Materie Part I.

Andriessen’s compositions attracted many leading exponents of contemporary music, including the two Dutch groups named after his works De Volharding and Hoketus. Other eminent ensembles who commissioned or performed his works include Asko|Schoenberg, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, London Sinfonietta, and the Bang on a Can All Stars.

Collaborative cross-discipline works included the theatre piece De Materie, created with Robert Wilson for the Netherlands Opera; three works created with Peter Greenaway (the film M is for Man, Music, Mozart, and the stage works ROSA Death of a Composer and Writing to Vermeer); and collaborations with filmmaker Hal Hartley, including The New Math(s) and La Commedia, an operatic setting of Dante.

Commissions in the last decade before Andriessen's death in 2021 included Mysteriën, premiered by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Mariss Jansons; Agamemnon for the New York Philharmonic, premiered in 2018; and The only one for Los Angeles Philharmonic, premiered in 2019. His final opera, Theatre of the World, about the 17th-century polymath Athanasius Kircher, received first performances in Los Angeles and Amsterdam in 2016, and was released on disc by Nonesuch in 2017. His last work was May, for choir and orchestra, a tribute to Frans Brüggen which set texts from the classic Dutch impressionist poem by Herman Gorter and was premiered in the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series at the Concertgebouw in 2020.

Louis Andriessen held the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall, and was awarded Composer of the Year Award by Musical America in 2010. He won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his opera La Commedia and in 2016 was awarded the Kravis Prize for New Music including the commission of his orchestral work Agamemnon.

This biography can be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with the following credit: Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes

Long Biography
Louis Andriessen was born in Utrecht in 1939 into a musical family: his father Hendrik, and his brother Jurriaan were established composers in their own right. Andriessen studied with his father and Kees van Baaren at the Hague Conservatory, and between 1962 and 1964 undertook further studies in Milan and Berlin with Luciano Berio. From 1974 he combined teaching with his work as a composer and pianist. He is now widely regarded as the leading Dutch composer of his generation who played a pivotal role in the international new music scene.

From a background of jazz and avant-garde composition, Andriessen evolved a style employing elemental harmonic, melodic and rhythmic materials, heard in totally distinctive instrumentation. His acknowledged admiration for Stravinsky was illustrated by a parallel vigour, clarity of expression, and acute ear for colour. The range of Andriessen's inspiration was wide, from the music of Charles Ives in Anachronie I, the art of Mondriaan in De Stijl, and medieval poetic visions in Hadewijch, to writings on shipbuilding and atomic theory in De Materie Part I. He tackled complex creative issues, exploring the relation between music and politics in De Staat, the nature of time and velocity in De Tijd and De Snelheid, and questions of mortality in Trilogy of the Last Day.

Andriessen's compositions attracted many leading exponents of contemporary music, including the two Dutch groups named after his works De Volharding and Hoketus. Other eminent Dutch performers included Asko|Schoenberg, Nieuw Amsterdams Peil, the Schoenberg Quartet, pianists Gerard Bouwhuis and Cees van Zeeland, and conductors Reinbert de Leeuw and Lucas Vis. Groups outside the Netherlands who commissioned or performed his works include the San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, MusikFabrik, Icebreaker and the Bang on a Can All Stars.

Collaborative works with other artists included a series of dance projects, the full length theatre piece De Materie created with Robert Wilson for the Netherlands Opera, and three works created with Peter Greenaway: the film M is for Man, Music, Mozart, and the stage works ROSA Death of a Composer and Writing to Vermeer, premiered at the Netherlands Opera in 1994 and 1999 respectively. Collaborations with film maker Hal Hartley included The New Math(s) in 2000 and La Commedia, an operatic setting of Dante for Netherlands Opera premiered at the Holland Festival in 2008. Nonesuch Records released a series of recordings of Andriessen's major works, including the complete De Materie, ROSA Death of a Composer, Writing to Vermeer and La Commedia.

Commissions in the last decade before Andriessen's death in 2021 included the music theatre piece Anaïs Nin for singer Cristina Zavalloni and 8 musicians and La Girò for violinist Monica Germino and large ensemble premiered at MITO SettembreMusica in 2011. The 2013/14 season brought premieres of Mysteriën by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons and Tapdance for percussion and large ensemble with Colin Currie in the ZaterdagMatinee series in Amsterdam. His final opera, Theatre of the World, explored the questing knowledge of the 17th century polymath Athanasius Kircher, receiving first performances in Los Angeles and Amsterdam in 2016 and was released on disc by Nonesuch in 2017. His last work was May, for choir and orchestra, a tribute to Frans Brüggen which set texts from the classic Dutch impressionist poem by Herman Gorter and was premiered in the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series at the Concertgebouw in 2020.

Louis Andriessen held the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall, New York, and was awarded Composer of the Year Award by Musical America in 2010. He won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his opera La Commedia and in 2016 was awarded the Kravis Prize for New Music including the commission of his orchestral work Agamemnon.

Louis Andriessen is published by Boosey & Hawkes.