Composer Louis Andriessen died Thursday at the age of 82 in a nursing home in the Dutch town of Weesp. He had been ill for some time.
Louis Andriessen (Utrecht, °1939) is considered the leading composer of his generation. Iconic for his stubborn openness, averse to complacency and narrow-mindedness, all expressed in a quintessentially Dutch manner.
He is primarily known for his outspoken views on the relationship between music and social environment. The collective memory holds the Aktie Notenkraker (1969). Andriessen and fellow artists disrupted a performance by the Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of Bernard Haitink. They found the repertoire choices of the time too elitist. Since then, he had a difficult relationship with the composition of the traditional symphony orchestra. In addition to strict limitation of the number of strings, he added parts from every corner of the instrumental world: electric guitar, bass guitar, Hammond organ, saxophone, marimba and heavy percussion became Andriessen's trademarks.
A classic is De Staat, in which the relationship between music and politics occupies a central place. This work marked his international breakthrough. In 1977 he received both the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize and the first prize of the International Rostrum of Composers. But that was not enough. Resistance to the petty-bourgeoisie of the previous century also manifested itself in his openness to other non-musical influences such as Mondriaan (De Stijl) and Dante (La Commedia).
Furthermore, Andriessen played an important role in importing the minimalist style from the United States. Of course, he added a personal variant to it. This was less sensitive than that of Steve Reich and Terry Riley – Andriessen served a generous helping of Dutch directness. This provoked much controversy. After the American premiere of De Materie in 2004, Anglo-Saxon critics accused him of wanting to strip away the elegance of American minimalism. Others, on the other hand, felt seized by the throat.
Open spirit
Andriessen grew up in Utrecht and was brought up with music from childhood. Father Hendrik, brother Jurriaan and uncle Wim composed, the sisters played piano and flute. But his compositional foundation he found with Kees van Baaren (Den Haag) and Luciano Berio (Milan). That basis led him to classical sources of inspiration such as Stravinsky (rhythm) and Johann Sebastian Bach (precision). For Andriessen, it was then but a small step to open himself to Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Motown and Chaka Khan.
His last composition May, based on the poem Mei by Herman Gorter, premiered in December last year. In March of this year his song cycle The Only One was released on CD, a synthesis of Andriessen's compositional journey. He shares the rebellious spirit with Flemish poet Delphine Lecompte, musical and theatrical stunts with soprano Nora Fischer, reflection and contemplation he keeps for himself, albeit cautiously. This work too is innovative and consistent in that.
At the end of 2019 it became known that he suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Yet he sat at the piano every day to improvise. With this, Louis Andriessen underscored that he is 'the only one' and will remain so.