Willem Jeths (born 31 August 1959) is a Dutch classical composer.

Early life

Jeths was born in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

. He started his musical career as a child with piano 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, ...

lessons in the Music School of

with Paul Seeling. He originally studied in the Sweelinck Conservatory in

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 ...

, from 1980 to 1982. He continued with

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 ...

in the Conservatory of Utrecht with Hans Cox and

Tristan Keuris Tristan Keuris (3 October 1946 in Amersfoort – 15 December 1996 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch composer. Life and career Keuris initially studied with Jan van Vlijmen in Amersfoort. At the age of 15 he started his studies with Ton de Leeuw at the Utr ...

. He finished his studies with Keuris in 1988. Parallel to composition Jeths studied

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. He completed his studies with a doctoral dissertation about

Elisabeth Kuyper Elisabeth Johanna Lamina Kuyper (13 September 1877 – 26 February 1953) was a Dutch Romantic composer and conductor. Life Elisabeth Kuyper was born in Amsterdam, the eldest of three children. At the age of twelve, she began the formal study of ...

(1877–1953), which was later published in the book ''Zes vrouwelijke componisten''.

Activities

Jeths is composition teacher at the Conservatory of Amsterdam since 2007. He was composition teacher at the Fontys Conservatory in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

from 2003 to 2007. In the 2004–2005 season Jeths was ''composer-in-residence'' with ''Het Gelders Orkest'' and the Brabant Orchestra, and during the 2006–2007 season with the Orkest van het Oosten. In the year 2000 there was a three-day ''Willem Jeths Festival'' in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. In November 2014 he was appointed by copyright organization

BUMA/STEMRA BUMA/STEMRA are two private organisations in the Netherlands, the Buma Association (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Vereniging Buma'') and the Stemra Foundation (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Stichting Stemra'') that operate as one single company that acts as ...

as the first "Componist des Vaderlands" of The Netherlands.

Compositions

Jeths has written many works for

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

but he is mainly focused on works for orchestra. Some of his compositions are: * '' Ritratto (opera)'', premiered 2020 by the Dutch National - for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, and vocal ensemble. Opera, with costumes by

Jan Taminiau Jan Taminiau (born 14 September 1975) is a Dutch clothes designer who launched his own fashion label bearing his name (written as one word) in 2003. He designed a dress worn by Princess Maxima during the opening of the Mode Biennale exhibition ...

. * ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' (2017) – for soprano and symphony orchestra (based upon a story by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

) * ''Symfonie Nr. 1'' (2012) – for orchestra and

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

, commissioned by ''Zaterdag Matinee concert series'' from the

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

in Amsterdam. * ''Metanoia'' (2012) – for

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, commissioned by the

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'' ...

. * ''Scale -le tombeau de Mahler-'' (2010) – written for the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

. * ''Monument to a universal marriage'' (2011) – for string quartet,

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and two voices, commissioned by

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. * '' Hôtel de Pékin – Dreams for a Dragon Queen'' (2008) – an opera with libretto by Friso Haverkamp. The premiere was in 2008 to celebrate the opening of the new opera theater 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 ...

. * ''MEME'' (2006) – for two

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

s and ensemble. * ''Intus Trepidare'' (2003) – his 3rd

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 ...

commissioned by

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

. * ''Flügelhorn Concerto'' (2002) – commissioned by

. * ''Chiasmos'' (2000) – a

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

commissioned by the Osiris Trio. * ''Vertooning'' (1997) – for harp solo, written for harpist Godelieve Schrama, who received the ''Philip Morris Finest Selection'' for music in 1994. * ''Fas/Nefas'' (1997) – a piano concerto commissioned by the symphony orchestra of

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan. * ''Throb'' (1995) – written for the

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (RPhO; ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orchestras of international standing, s ...

and where the B-A-C-H theme is used. * ''A bout de souffle'' (1993) – for the

Asko Ensemble Asko or ASKO may refer to: * Asko (name), a male given name common in Finland and Estonia * Askø, a Danish island * Asko Cylinda or Asko Appliances AB, a Swedish company producing household appliances * AskoSchönberg, a Dutch chamber orchestra * ...

. * ''Arcate'' (1990) – for the Raphaël String Quartet, a commission from the VARA-Matinee.

Prizes and awards

Jeths won the Composition price from the Conservatory of Utrecht in 1988. His composition ''Novelette'' for violin and piano (1986) was selected for the

ISCM World Music Days The ISCM World Music Days is an annual contemporary music festival organized by the International Society for Contemporary Music, originally created in 1923 as the ISCM Festival as a means to support the most advanced composition tendencies.

in 1990 in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. During the ''Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Wettbewerb für Streichquartettkompositionen'' in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in 1991, Jeths received a distinction award for his string quartet ''Arcate'' (1990). The following year Jeths received another distinction for the same work, but in the

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

version, part of the ''Music for string compositions competition'' from the Oare String Orchestra in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. His work ''Novelette'' was chosen by listeners of the radio program ''concertzender'' as the second prize for a competition celebrating 80 years of the existence of BUMA in 1993. In 1996, Jeths received the third prize in the ''Internationaler Wiener Kompositionswettbewerb'' for his violin concerto ''Glenz'' (1993).

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeths, Willem Dutch male classical composers 1959 births Living people People from Amersfoort 20th-century Dutch classical composers 20th-century Dutch male musicians 21st-century Dutch classical composers 21st-century Dutch male musicians Utrecht School of the Arts alumni University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam