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David Gijsbert van der Linden (22 June 1915 – 30 January 1999), known as Dolf van der Linden, was a Dutch conductor of popular music with a reputation which extended beyond the borders of the Netherlands.


Biography

David Gijsbert van der Linden, the son of a salesman of musical instruments, was born in
Vlaardingen Vlaardingen () is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas river at the confluence with the Oude Maas. The municipality administers an area of , of which is land, with residents in . Geogr ...
, near
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 ...
. Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he played in some different bands as a pianist and tried his hand at arranging music for these bands. His colleagues started calling him "Dolf", because he reminded them of a former colleague with that name. In 1945, he was asked by Dutch authorities who had arrived back from their exile in London to form an orchestra for light music. Picking musicians he knew from all over the Netherlands, he thus managed to create the
Metropole Orchestra The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...
. Famous names from these early years were Benny Behr, Sem Nijveen (both violinists), Kees Verschoor (clarinetist) and Manny Oets (pianist). In 1957, van der Linden conducted the winning Dutch entry to the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, "Net als toen", sung by
Corry Brokken Cornelia Maria "Corry" Brokken (3 December 1932 – 31 May 2016) was a Dutch singer, television presenter and jurist. In 1957, she won the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Net als toen", representing the Netherlands. ...
. In the year after, he and his orchestra accompanied the Eurovision Song Contest which was organised by Dutch TV in Hilversum. Afterwards, he was asked by, amongst others, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
to do some work for them. All in all, between 1957 and 1971, van der Linden conducted 13 Dutch Eurovision entries, amongst which two winners (in 1957 and 1959 - the latter song, "Een beetje", written by the pianist of his orchestra, Dick Schallies). In 1969 he refused to go to the Eurovision Song Contest in Spain, claiming that
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
reminded him too much of his experiences in World War II.
Frans de Kok Frans de Kok (18 January 1924 – 4 May 2011) was a Dutch musician. He taught himself to play the piano, the accordion and the bass. In the 1940s and 1950s, he played and arranged music for the Joe Andy Orchestra, which toured the Netherlands, Wes ...
stepped in and was lucky enough to accompany what turned out to be another winning entry, "De troubadour" by
Lenny Kuhr Helena Hubertina Johanna "Lenny" Kuhr (born 22 February 1950) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Career In 1967, she started a singing career in the Netherlands, performing songs in the French chanson tradition. In 1969, she represented the Neth ...
. In the 1970 contest in Amsterdam, van der Linden was asked by
RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
to step in and conduct "
All Kinds of Everything "All Kinds of Everything" is a song written by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith; as performed by Dana Rosemary Scallon, Dana, it won the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 representing . "All Kinds of Everything" marked a return to the ballad (music), ...
" by Dana, another winner. In the 1970s, Dolf van der Linden tried to rejuvenate and modernise his orchestra. In 1980, he retired and his successor as chief conductor of the Metropole Orchestra was
Rogier van Otterloo Willem Rogier van Otterloo (11 December 1941 – 29 January 1988) was a Dutch composer and conductor. Biography Van Otterloo was the eldest son of the conductor Willem van Otterloo, in Bilthoven, Netherlands. He composed several soundtracks for ...
. In 1995 he was awarded a Golden Harp for his outstanding achievements for entertainment music in the Netherlands; at the ceremony, he conducted the Metropole Orchestra for the last time. In 1999, van der Linden died in
Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
.Henk van Gelder, "Metropole Orkest 60 jaar", Amsterdam, 2005 On 22 June 2015, which would have been van der Linden's 100th birthday, the Metropole Orchestra played a concert of his compositions and arrangements. At this occasion, the first copy of van der Linden's biography, written by Bas Tukker, was presented to Dolf's younger brother Rob.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linden, Dolf van der 1915 births 1999 deaths Dutch conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Eurovision Song Contest conductors People from Vlaardingen 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Dutch male musicians