Peter-Jan Wagemans (

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, September 7, 1952) is 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 ...

. Wagemans studied organ (diploma 1974),

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

with

Jan van Vlijmen Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

(diploma 1975) and

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

(diploma 1977) at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire (, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherlands. Since September 2021, t ...

. After his studies he also worked with

Klaus Huber Klaus Huber (30 November 1924 – 2 October 2017) was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saaria ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. According to Wagemans' philosophy, music is shaped in the observation of the listener. Therefore, Wagemans tries to focus on ways a work can be recognised, rather than on its fundamental structure. He generally makes use of what he prefers to call ''musical archetypes'', unifying ambivalent elements. Peter-Jan Wagemans is one of the founders of the Rotterdam School. He teaches composition and music theory at the

Rotterdam Conservatory Codarts University for the Arts () is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000. History Codarts can trace its origins to the Rotterdams Conservatorium voo ...

since 1984. Wagemans founded the Dutch Doelen Ensemble and for some years was also the artistic director of the

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 ...

-based

Holland Symfonia Het Balletorkest (literal translation, ''The Ballet Orchestra'') is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, affiliated with Het Nationale Ballet and the Nederlands Dans Theater. History In 1965, the ''Nederlands Balletorkest'' ...

Selected Composition

Operas

Legende (opera) ''Legende'' is a Dutch-language 2006 opera in 3 acts by Peter-Jan Wagemans which premiered in 2011 at Dutch National Opera. The opera is based on the illustrated book '' Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois'' (known in Dutch as ''Meester Prikkebeen'' and in ...

(2004-2006) *Andreas weent (Andreas weeps) opera (2012)

Orchestral works

*Muziek I (1974) *Muziek II (1977, rev. 1979) *Muziek III (1986, rev. 1987) *Muziek IV (1988) *Requiem (1992/1994) *

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

no. 6,

Panthalassa Panthalassa, also known as the Panthalassic Ocean or Panthalassan Ocean (from Greek "all" and "sea"), was the vast superocean that encompassed planet Earth and surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea, the latest in a series of supercontinent ...

(1994) *The City and the Angel (1996/1997) *

no. 7 (1998/1999) *Moloch (2000)

Chamber music

*Het landschap - for piano solo (1989/90) *Concerto - for 2 pianos (1993) *Ewig - for piano and percussion (1993) *

String Quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

(1997/1998) *Frage: worauf hoffen? - for 2 celli (1999) *Het V-de Boek (2001/2002)

Discography

*1993 Einstein on the Beach (Elektra Nonesuch) *1995 Highlights ( Composers' Voice) *1997 Het landschap ( Attacca Babel) *2001 Portrait (

Cybele Records Cybele Records is a German record label based in Düsseldorf, specializing in classical music, namely contemporary music. Founded in 1994, their motto is "Klassik der Zukunft" (Classics of the future), focused on contemporary composers and advan ...

)

External links

Website Peter-Jan WagemansWagemans at DonemusCDs by Wagemans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagemans, Peter-Jan 1952 births Living people 20th-century Dutch classical composers 21st-century Dutch classical composers Dutch male classical composers Musicians from The Hague Codarts University for the Arts alumni Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni 20th-century Dutch male musicians 21st-century Dutch male musicians