Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
– 12 November 1980 in
Leidschendam
Leidschendam () is a town and former municipality in the province of South Holland of the Netherlands. Along with Voorburg and Stompwijk, it is part of the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg.
History
The town's name has been in use for centurie ...
) was a Dutch composer.
Education
He was born as the son of Rotterdam chief of police Willem Voormolen and studied
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
. His classmates included
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 ...
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in 1915 at the invitation of conductor Rhené-Bâton, where he studied with
Albert Roussel
Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...
and met
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
. For a long time, he was a music reviewer at the ''
Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant
''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands.
History
''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on ...
Voormolen was initially mainly influenced by French impressionism. Later, more Dutch influences were noticeable, for instance in his compositions ''Tableaux des Pays-Bas'', two "children's books" (1920 and 1924), both ''Baron Hop suites'' (1924 and 1931, inspired by 18th-century court life in The Hague) and the ''Pastorale'' for oboe and string orchestra (1940). Voormolen was an admirer of Louis Couperus. He composed a number of orchestral works inspired by Couperus, such as ''Eline'' (1957) and the ''Kleine Haagse suite'' (1939). The ''Canzone'' from the oboe concert was used as a tune for Dutch TV show ''De kleine zielen'', based on Couperus' novel. Finally, the influence of
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...
and
Anton Bruckner
Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...
can be heard in later works, such as the ''Sinfonia Concertante'' (1951) and the ''Ciacona e fuga'' (1958).
He dedicated his ''Manchmal geschieht es in tiefer Nacht'' (poem by
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...
In 1932, Voormolen received the Muziekprijs ("Music Prize") from the municipality of The Hague for his ''Air Willem V''. In 1961, he received the Johan Wagenaarprijs for his entire oeuvre, and the Visser Neerlandiaprijs for ''Three songs on British verse'' (1948). In 1976, he received the Penning van de Rotte from the municipality of
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
. In 1978, he was awarded the honorary membership of the
Haagse Kunstkring
The Haagse Kunstkring (English The Hague Art Circle) is an association in The Hague for artists and art lovers. Among the members are visual artists, architects, writers, recitation artists, photographers, musicians and designers.
The association ...
Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland
The ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland'' (BWN) is a Dutch biographical dictionary, in which short biographies of well-known and less well-known but still notable Dutch people are listed.
The BWN is the successor to the ''Nieuw Nederlandsch ...
Netherlands Music Institute
The Netherlands Music Institute (Nederlands Muziek Instituut, NMI) is the central institution for the preservation of the musical heritage of the Netherlands.
History of the institute
The NMI has existed as a foundation since 1996; it became full ...