Jan George Bertelman (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, January 21, 1782 - January 25, 1854), was a Dutch

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and music teacher.

Life and work

Bertelman was born in Amsterdam,

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

, in 1782. He was the son of Henry Joost Bertelman and Johanna Shock. When Bertelman was nine years old, his father died. He studied with Daniel Bracht Huyser (1769), a blind organist who worked at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. In addition to his musical studies, Bertelman provided for his mother and himself through working other jobs. In Amsterdam, Bertelman was a composer, organist and music teacher. His pupils included John Bree, Richard Hol and Hermina Maria Dijk. Bertelman was an honorary member of four organizations: the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, the Society for Utilities General, the Society for the Promotion of Musical Arts, and the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1842, he was appointed Knight of the

Order of the Dutch Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion was until recently awar ...

. Bertelman married Dorothea Christina Kathman in Amsterdam on April 28, 1820. He died in January 1854 at the age of 72 in Amsterdam. His son, Johannes Jacobus Bertelman, was a painter and later became the co-founder of th
Museum Gouda
Bertelman was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, Bertelmanstraat (Bertelman Street) and Bertelmanplein (Bertelman Square) are named after him. Bertelman is regarded as a competent music theorist who contributed to the development of

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

theory for musical instruments and as one of the first Dutch composers who realized the importance of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

. As a composer he is considered a good but conservative artist.

Selected compositions

* ''De slag bij Nieuwpoort'' ("The Battle of Nieuwpoort", a cantata) * ''Het vijftigjarig bestaan der Maatschappij Felix Meritis'' ("The fiftieth anniversary of the Felix Meritis Society") * Several songs in the children's songbook ''Kinderliederen'' (1843) by J.P. Heije, including ''Lammetje, loop je zoo eenzaam te blâten / Over de heî! Over de heî'' ("Lamb, you walk so lonely to bleat / Over the heath!") * ''Requiem'' for three-part choir and orchestra (1808) * ''Missa'', a mass. * Other assorted cantatas, overtures, concertos, salon pieces for piano (including variations on the cavatina ''Di tanti palpiti'' by

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

), songs, and choral works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertelman, Jan George 1782 births 1854 deaths 18th-century composers 18th-century male musicians 19th-century composers 19th-century Dutch male musicians Burials at the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam Dutch composers Dutch male composers Musicians from Amsterdam