Henk Badings (hĕngk bä'dĭngz) (17 January 190726 June 1987) was an Indo-Dutch composer.

Early life

Born in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

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Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, as the son of Herman Louis Johan Badings, an officer in the Dutch East Indies army, Hendrik Herman Badings became an orphan at an early age. Having returned to the Netherlands, his family tried to dissuade him from studying music, and he enrolled at the

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

Polytechnical Institute (later the Technical University). He worked as a mining engineer and

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

until 1937, after which he dedicated his life entirely to music. Though largely self-taught, he did receive some advice from

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 ...

, the doyen of Dutch composers at the time, but their musical views differed widely and after Pijper had attempted to discourage Badings from continuing as a composer, Badings broke off contact.

Music career

In 1930 Badings had his initial big musical success when his first cello concerto (he eventually wrote a second) was performed at the

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Champions of his work included such eminent conductors as

Eduard van Beinum Eduard Alexander van Beinum (; 3 September 1900 – 13 April 1959, Amsterdam) was a Dutch conductor. Biography Van Beinum was born in Arnhem, Netherlands, where he received his first violin and piano lessons at an early age. He joined the A ...

and

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest s ...

. He held numerous teaching positions; e.g., at the

Musikhochschule Stuttgart The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. History The school was f ...

and the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. Accused after the

Second World War 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 ...

of collaboration with the Nazi occupation forces,in April 5, 1942 he was briefly cancelled from professional musical activity, but by June 3, 1947 he had been reinstated. Badings used unusual musical scales and harmonies (e.g., the

octatonic scale An octatonic scale is any eight- note musical scale. However, the term most often refers to the symmetric scale composed of alternating whole and half steps, as shown at right. In classical theory (in contrast to jazz theory), this symmetric ...

); he also used the harmonic series scale from the eighth to the fifteenth overtone. An exceptionally prolific artist, he had produced over a thousand pieces at the time of his death in

Maarheeze Maarheeze is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Cranendonck, about 15 km southeast of Eindhoven, near the Belgian and the German borders. History The village was first mentioned in 1223 ...

in 1987. Compositions by Badings include fifteen numbered symphonies, at least four string quartets, several concertos, other orchestral works including a "Symphonietta : speelmuziek voor klein symphonie-orkest",which was recorded on LP. other chamber music works, piano works, and incidental music. In the 21st century, interest in Badings' music has grown. The German label CPO has committed itself to recording Badings' entire orchestral œuvre, and a Badings Festival was held in

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 ...

during October 2007.

Compositions

Orchestral

*Symphony No. 1 (for 16 solo instruments) (1932) *Symphony No. 2 (1932) *Symphony No. 3 (1934) (dedicated to Willem Mengelberg) *Symphony No. 4 (1943) *Symphony No. 5 (1949) (dedicated to the Concertgebouw) *Symphony No. 6 ''Psalmensymphonie'' (1953) *Symphonic Scherzo, for orchestra (1953) *Symphony No. 7 ''Louisville'' (1954) *Symphony No. 8 (1956) *Symphonic Variations on a South African Theme (1960) *Symphony No. 9 for string orchestra (1960) *Symphony No. 10 (1961) *Symphony No. 11 ''Sinfonia Giocosa'' (1964) *Symphony No. 12 ''Symphonische Klangfiguren'' (1964) *Pittsburgh Concerto for wind and brass (1965) *Symphony No. 13 for wind instruments (1966) *Symphony No. 14 ''Symphonic Triptych'' (1968) *Symphonietta for small orchestra (1971) *Concerto for Orchestra (1982) *Symphony No. 15 ''Conflicts and Confluences'' for symphonic band (1983)

Concertante

*Piano Concerto (1940) *Double Piano Concerto (1964) *Violin Concerto No. 2 (1935) *Violin Concerto No. 3 (1944) *Violin Concerto No. 4 (1947) *Double Violin Concerto No. 1 (1954) *Double Violin Concerto No. 2 (1969) *Concerto for Violin, Viola and orchestra (1965) *Concerto for Viola and string orchestra (1965) *Cello Concerto No. 1 (1930) *Cello Concerto No. 2 (1939) *Flute Concerto No. 1 (1956) *Flute Concerto No. 2 for flute and wind instruments (1963) *Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and orchestra (1981) *Concerto for Bassoon, Contrabassoon and wind orchestra (1964) *Saxophone Concerto (1951) *Concerto for Four Saxophones and Orchestra (1984) *Concerto for Harp and small orchestra or wind orchestra (1967) *Organ Concerto No. 1 (1952) *Organ Concerto No. 2 (1966)

Early life

Music career

Compositions

Orchestral

Concertante

Notes

Further reading