Hendrik Franciscus Andriessen (17 September 1892 – 12 April 1981) was 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 Defi ...

and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. He is remembered most of all for his

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

at the organ and for the renewal of Catholic liturgical music in the Netherlands. Andriessen composed in a musical idiom that revealed strong French influences. He was the brother of pianist and composer

Willem Andriessen Willem Andriessen (Haarlem, October 25, 1887 – Amsterdam, March 29, 1964) was a Dutch pianist and composer. His compositional output was small due to the demands of performance and teaching, but he was nonetheless awarded a number of composition ...

and the father of the composers Jurriaan Andriessen and

Louis Andriessen Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...

and of the flautist Heleen Andriessen.

Life and career

Andriessen was born in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, the son of Gezina Johanna (Vester), a painter, and Nicolaas Hendrik Andriessen, a church organist. He studied

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 v ...

with Bernard Zweers and organ with at the

Conservatorium van Amsterdam The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...

. As the organist at St. Catherine's Cathedral, Utrecht, he became well known for his improvisation abilities. From 1926 to 1954, he lectured in composition and

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

at the Amsterdam Conservatory while also teaching at the Institute for Catholic Church Music in Utrecht between 1930 and 1949. He was the director of the Utrecht Conservatory from 1937 to 1949. During World War II, Andriessen refused to join the "Cultural House" (''Kultuurkamer'') and was thus barred from public functions by the Nazi occupiers. The only musical activities he was allowed were to give lessons and to accompany church services. He was held hostage by German occupiers from 13 July until 18 December 1942, when he was released. In 1949, he was appointed director of the Royal Conservatory 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 ...

, a post he held until 1957. Between 1954 and 1962, he was appointed an Extraordinary Professor of Musicology at the

Catholic University of Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

. Andriessen's works included, besides eight

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

es, a setting of the

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

, four

symphonies 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 com ...

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...

for

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: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er for voice and orchestra,

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

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

s for

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

and for

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 ...

, and works for solo

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

. He died in Haarlem.

Selected works

Orchestra

* Symphony No. 1 (1930) * ''Variations and Fugue on a Theme of

Johann Kuhnau Johann Kuhnau (; 6 April 16605 June 1722) was a German polymath, known primarily as a composer today. He was also active as a novelist, translator, lawyer, and music theorist, and was able to combine these activities with his duties in his offi ...

'', for string orchestra (1935) * Symphony No. 2 (1937) * ''Variations on a Theme by Couperin'' for solo flute, string orchestra, and harp (1944) * Symphony No. 3 (1946) * Ricercare (1949) (also arranged for wind orchestra, 1977) * ''

Wilhelmus "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe", usually known just as "Wilhelmus" ( nl, Het Wilhelmus, italic=no; ; English translation: "The William"), is the national anthem of both the Netherlands and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572 ...

Rhapsody'' (1950) * Concerto for Organ and Orchestra (1950) * ''Symphonic Etude'' (1952) * ''Libertas venit'' – Rhapsody (1954) * Symphony No. 4 (1954) * Symphonie Concertante for Violin, Viola & Orchestra (1962) * ''Mascherata'' (1962) * Violin Concerto (1969) * Cello Concertino (1970) * Oboe Concertino (1970) * ''Chromatic Variations'' (1970) * Canzone for Cello & Strings (1971) * ''Chantecler Overture'' (1972) * ''Hymnus in Pentecostem'' (1976)

Wind orchestra

*Ricercare (1977) (rev. from 1949 orchestral work)

Chamber

* 1914 Sonata, for violin and piano (lost) * 1924 Sonatina, for viola and piano * 1926 Sonata, for cello and piano = Sonate pour violoncelle et piano Thomas Canivez* 1932 Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano * 1937 ''Drie Inventionen'' for violin & cello * 1938 Sérénade, for flute/violin, violin/oboe en cello/bassoon * 1939 Piano Trio * 1950 Intermezzo for flute & harp * 1950 Suite for violin and piano I. Preludio, II. Fuguetta, III. Air Varié, IV. Finale * 1951 Quintet, for Woodwind Quintet * 1952 Ballade for oboe & piano * 1957 ''Quartetto in stile antico'' for String Quartet * 1961 ''Il pensiero'' for string quartet * 1967 ''Tre Pezzi'', for flute and harp * 1967 Sonata for viola & piano * 1969 ''L'Indifferent'', for String Quartet * 1970 Serenade for flute, horn, and piano * 1972 ''Divertimento a cinque'', for flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello * 1973 ''Choral Varié'', for 3 trumpets and 3 trombones

Organ

* Aria (1944) * Chorals (Premier: 1913), (Deuxième: 1916, rev. 1965), (Troisième: 1920), (Quatrième: 1921, rev. 1951) * Toccata (1917) * ''Fête-Dieu'' (1918) * ''Fuga a 5 voici c kl. terts'' (1916) * Sonata 'Da Pacem, Domine' (1913), Previously lost, the manuscript was found in 2021 by American organist Gregory D'Agostino and Dutch historian Jort Fokkens. * Sonata da chiesa (1927) * Passacaglia (1929) * Theme with Variations (1949) * ''In dulci jubilo'' (1961) * Interlude (1957) * Interludium (1968) * Intermezzi: 24 pieces in two books (1935 and 1943–46) * Intermezzo (1950) * ''Meditation on the Hymn "O Lord with Wondrous Mystery"'' (1960) * ''O filii et filiae'' (1961) * ''O sacred head'' (1962) * ''Offertorium'' (1962) * Prelude and Fugue in D minor * ''Preghiera'' (1962) * ''Quattro studi per organo'' (1953) * Sinfonia (1939) * Suite (1968) * ''Veni Creator Spiritus'' (1961)

Piano

*Sonata (1934) *Pavane (1937) *Passepied (1942) *Menuet (1944) *Sérénade (1950)

Opera

*''Philomela'' (1948–1949), in 3 acts; libretto by Jan Engelman *''De Spiegel uit Venetië'' (The Mirror from Venice; Der Spiegel von Venedig) (1963–1964), chamber opera in 1 act; libretto by

Oratorio

*''L'histoire de l'enfant de Dieu'', libretto by

Pierre Kemp Pierre Kemp (1 December 1886 – 21 July 1967) was a Dutch poet and painter, the recipient of the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 1956 and the P. C. Hooft Award in 1958. His younger brother was the writer Mathias Kemp. Kemp was born in Maastricht ...

, for soprano, tenor, choir and orchestra (1920)

Choir

*''Sonnet de Pierre Ronsard'' (1917) *''Missa in honorem Sacratissimi Cordis'', with organ (1919) *''Missa in festo assumptionis'' with organ (1925) *''Missa sponsa Christi'' with organ (1928) *''Missa Simplex'', a cappella (1928) *''De veertien stonden'' with organ & strings (1928) *''Missa diatonica'' (1935) *''Magnificat'', with organ (1936) *''Missa Christus Rex'' (1938) *''Te Deum'', with organ (1943) *''Laudes vespertinae'' with organ (1944) *''Missa solemnis'', with organ (1946) *''Ommagio a Marenzio'' (1965) *''Te Deum'', with orchestra (1968)

Lieder

*''Magna res est amor'', with organ (1919, orchestrated 1919) *''Fiat domine'', with organ (1920, orchestrated 1930) *''Miroir de peine'' (set of five songs on texts by French poet

Henri Ghéon Henri Ghéon (15 March 1875 – 13 June 1944), born Henri Vangeon in Bray-sur-Seine, Seine-et-Marne, was a French playwright, novelist, poet and critic. Biography Brought up by a devout Roman Catholic mother, he lost his faith in his early teens ...

, 1875–1944) (1923, orchestrated 1933) *''Trois pastorales'' (1935)

Books and other writings

*''César Franck'' (1941) *''Over muziek'' (1950) *''Muziek en muzikaliteit'' (1952)

References

Sources *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Andriessen, Hendrik 1892 births 1981 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Dutch composers Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni Cathedral organists Classical composers of church music Dutch classical organists Male classical organists Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers Dutch music educators Organ improvisers People from Haarlem 20th-century organists 20th-century Dutch male musicians