Theo Bruins (25 November 1929, in Arnhem – 8 January 1993, 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 ...

) was a Dutch

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

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 ...

Life and career

Bruins' earliest piano lessons were with his mother. His professional piano studies commenced in 1946 with Jaap Spaanderman at the Conservatoire of the Amsterdam Muzieklyceum Foundation (merged into the Amsterdam Conservatoire). Starting in 1948 he studied with

Yves Nat Yves Philippe Avit Nat (29 December 1890 – 31 August 1956) was a French pianist and composer. Biography Nat was born in Béziers and showed an early aptitude for both piano and composition. By the age of seven he was allowed to improvise eac ...

and from 1951 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 Breithaupt ...

. In the meanwhile he had started a successful career as a performing concert pianist, which took him to

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and

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, and throughout

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, as well as to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Amongst others he played as a soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. For a recital in London he received the

Harriet Cohen Harriet(t) may refer to: * Harriet (name), a female name ''(includes list of people with the name)'' Places *Harriet, Queensland, rural locality in Australia * Harriet, Arkansas, unincorporated community in the United States * Harriett, Texas, ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Medal in 1959. He taught at the Royal Conservatoire of

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 ...

. Among his students are

Bart Berman Bart Berman ( he, ברט ברמן; born 29 December 1938) is a Dutch-Israeli pianist and composer, best known as an interpreter of Franz Schubert and 20th-century music. Career Bart Berman studied piano with Jaap Spaanderman at a predecessor ...

, Maarten Bon, Loek van der Leeden, and Fred Oldenburg. Bruins' compositions are few in number, but nevertheless well noted. All his works were published by

Donemus Donemus (compounded from Documentatiecentrum nederlandse muziek) is the Dutch institute dealing with the documentation of contemporary music composed in the Netherlands. Originally a publisher of scores, between 1960 and 2000 Donemus also publis ...

and collected on one album by the Q Disc label. His ''Syncope for

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

'' (1992) appears also on a collection by NM Music.

Complete list of works

* Six pièces brèves (1950) * Concerto per pianoforte ed orchestra (1952) * Sonate per pianoforte (1955) * Sei Studi (1963) * Quartet '84 for piano solo (1984) * Tremani for two pianos (1991/1992) * Syncope for harpsichord (1992)

Biography

* Emanuel Overbeeke: ''Moeizame componeerarbeid'' ( Dutch: ''Difficult Composition Labor''). '' Mens en Melodie'', February 1997.

References

External links

Theo Bruins' page at Donemus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruins, Theo 1929 births 1993 deaths Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers Dutch classical pianists People from Arnhem 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists Male classical pianists 20th-century Dutch male musicians Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni