Jan van Vlijmen

Jan van Vlijmen (1987)

Jan van Vlijmen (born October 11, 1935 in Rotterdam , † December 24, 2004 in Réveillon , France) was a Dutch composer .

Life

Van Vlijmen, who was influenced by the music of Arnold Schönberg , composed chamber music works for orchestra and operas . He studied piano and organ at the Conservatory in Utrecht and composition with Kees van Baaren . In 1961 he became director of the "Amersfoortse muziekschool" and stayed there until 1965. He then went back to the Conservatory in Utrecht and became a teacher there. On September 1, 1967, he was sent to the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag . There he took over as director after the death of Kees van Baaren in 1970. 1984 to 1987 he was artistic director of the Dutch opera. He was then director of the Dutch music and theater festival from 1990 to 1997.

He became known beyond the borders of the Netherlands for his Quaterni cycle, which premiered in 1984. In the Netherlands, he made a name for himself as a "music education innovator" after publishing plans to modernize it. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his work. His last opera “Thyestes” was commissioned by the Monnaie Oper Brussels and the Dutch National Reisopera , which he completed in 2004 shortly before his death.

Stage works

• "Reconstructie" (libretto Hugo Claus and Harry Mulisch ), morality in 2 parts (June 29, 1969 Amsterdam, Muziektheater) (together with Louis Andriessen , Reinbert de Leeuw , Peter Schat and Misha Mengelberg )
• "Axel" (libretto, Harry Mulisch), opera in 3 acts (June 10, 1977 in Scheveningen) (with Reinbert de Leeuw)
• "Un malheureux vêtu de noir" (Libretto, Johan Thielemans ), opera in 3 acts (November 16, 1990 Amsterdam)
• "Thyeste" (Libretto, Hugo Claus), Opera (September 27, 2005 Brussels)

literature

• Vermeulen, Ernst, 'Jan van Vlijmen', in: Pay-Uun Hiu and Jolande van de Klis: Het HonderdComponistenBoek (Bloemendaal 1997), pages 349-351.