Peter Ane Schat (5 June 1935, in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

– 3 February 2003, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

) was a Dutch composer. Schat studied composition with

Kees van Baaren Kees van Baaren (;In isolation, ''van'' is pronounced . 22 October 1906 – 2 September 1970) was a Dutch composer and teacher. Early years Van Baaren was born in Enschede. His early studies (1924–29) were in Berlin with Rudolph Breithaup ...

at the Utrecht Conservatoire and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from 1952 until 1958, and then went on to study in London with

Mátyás Seiber Mátyás György Seiber (; 4 May 190524 September 1960) was a Hungarian-born British composer who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1935 onwards. His work linked many diverse musical influences, from the Hungarian tradition of Bartó ...

in 1959 and with Pierre Boulez in

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

in 1960–61. His early training with van Baaren and Seiber disposed him toward

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

, and his earliest compositions, such as the ''Introductie en adagio in oude stijl'' (1954) and the Septet (1957), combine traditional forms with dodecaphony. Boulez, however, led him to a more radical, strict form of serialism, and he was regarded in the Netherlands as one of the outstanding representatives of the avant garde. While still a student he created his opus 1, Passacaglia and Fugue for organ (1954), and Septet (1957). In 1957 he also won the

Gaudeamus International Composers Award The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is made by the Gaudeamus Foundation. The prize is awarded yearly, to a young composer at Dutch music concert, ''Gaudeamus Muziekweek''. The Gaudeamus Foundation had held an annual music week of Dutch c ...

. In the late sixties Schat became associated with the

Provo (movement) Provo was a Dutch counterculture movement in the mid-1960s that focused on provoking violent responses from authorities using non-violent bait. It was preceded by the nozem movement and followed by the hippie movement. Provo was founded, on 2 ...

; their publications were printed in his cellar. He was involved in the notorious 1969 "notenkrakersactie" (Nutcracker Action) in which a group of activists interrupted a concert by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, demanding an open discussion of music policy. That same year, Schat contributed, together with the composers

Reinbert de Leeuw Reinbert de Leeuw (8 September 1938 – 14 February 2020) was a Dutch conductor, pianist and composer. Life Lambertus Reinier de Leeuw's mother and father were both psychiatrists: Cornelis Homme 'Kees' de Leeuw (1905-1953) and Adriana Judina ...

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 ...

, Jan van Vlijmen, and

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

, and the writers

Harry Mulisch Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch ( ; 29 July 1927 – 30 October 2010) was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into over thirty languages. Along with Wi ...

and

Hugo Claus Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian literature, Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, a ...

, in ''Reconstructie'', a sort of opera, or "morality" theatre work, about the conflict between American imperialism and liberation. In February 1969 he co-founded the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM) in Amsterdam. Among his most widely noted works are ''Thema'' (from 1970) and ''To You'' (from 1972). ''To You'' was performed at the

Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and archit ...

. The 1970s also brought Schat's most distinctive contribution to 20th-century music theory, the "tone clock". It lends its name to a translation of his collected essays, ''The Tone Clock (Contemporary Music Studies)'' (1993, Taylor and Francis Verlag, ). Schat died in 2003 from cancer.

Composition

;Symphonies *Symphony No. 1 (1978, rev 1979) *Symphony No. 2 (1983, rev. 1984) *Symphony No. 3 (1998-2003) ;Chamber music *Octet (1958) *''Improvisations and symphonies'' (1960) *''Signalement'' (1961) *''First Essay on Electrocution'' (1966) *''Hypothema'' (1969) ;Choir music *''The Fall'' (1960) *''The Fifth Season'' (1973) *''Breath'' (1984) *''An Indian Requiem'' (1995) ;Opera and music theater *''Labyrint'' (1966) *''Reconstructie'' (1969) *''Houdini'' (1977) *''Aap verslaat de knekelgeest'' (1980) *''Symposion'' (1989) ;Piano music *Variations (1956) *''Inscriptions'' (1959) *''Anathema'' (1969) *Polonaise (1981) ;Other *Passacaglia and Fugue for organ (1954) *''Clockwise and Anti-Clockwise'' for 16 wind instruments (1967) *''Thema'' (1970) *''To you'' (1972) *''Canto General'' *''Kind en Kraai'' *''De Hemel'' (1990)

Sources

* * * * * *

Footnotes

External links

Official website
* http://www.peterschat.nl/composition.html (in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schat, Peter 1935 births 2003 deaths Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers Dutch opera composers Twelve-tone and serial composers Musicians from Utrecht (city) Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands Gaudeamus Composition Competition prize-winners 20th-century Dutch male musicians