Kees van Baaren (; 22 October 1906 – 2 September 1970) was a Dutch composer and teacher.
Early years
Van Baaren was born in
Enschede
Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...
. His early studies (1924–29) were in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
with Rudolph Breithaupt (piano) and Friedrich Koch (composition) at the
Stern conservatory. After returning to the Netherlands in 1929, he studied with
Willem Pijper
Willem Frederik Johannes Pijper (; 8 September 189418 March 1947) was a Dutch composer, music critic and music teacher. Pijper is considered to be among the most important Dutch composers of the first half of the 20th century.
Life
Pijper was b ...
. He adopted Pijper's "germ cell technique" in his compositions from about 1934 onward. While composing some works in an accessible, tonal style, in other pieces he developed a
serial technique, which emerged fully with the Septet for five winds, violin, and double bass (1952).
Career
In 1948 Van Baaren became director of the Conservatoire of the Amsterdam Muzieklyceum Society (later merged into the Conservatoire of Amsterdam). In 1953 he was appointed director of the
Utrechts Conservatorium. In 1958 he became director of the
Royal Conservatory of The Hague. His students included many of the leading composers and performers of the next generation, including
Louis Andriessen,
Reinbert de Leeuw,
Misha Mengelberg,
Peter Schat, and
Jan van Vlijmen. He died in
Oegstgeest
Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in .
Etymology
The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the Geest, geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeent ...
.
Selected works
* Concertino for piano and orchestra (1934)
* Sonatina ''in memoriam Willem Pijper'', for piano (1948)
* ''The Hollow Men'', cantata for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra, text by
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
(1948, rev.1955-56)
* Septet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, and contrabass (1952)
* Symphony (1956)
* Variations for orchestra (1959)
* Music for Orchestra
* Partita for wind band (1961)
* String Quartet (1962)
* Wind Quintet (1963)
* Music for
Carillon
A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...
(1964)
* Concerto for piano and orchestra (1964)
Notes
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baaren, Kees Van
1906 births
1970 deaths
20th-century Dutch classical composers
20th-century Dutch male musicians
Composers for carillon
Dutch male classical composers
People from Enschede
Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague
Twelve-tone and serial composers