Bernard Hélène Joseph van Dieren (27 December 188724 April 1936) was a Dutch composer, critic, author, and writer on music, much of whose working life was spent in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Biography

Van Dieren was the last of five children of a Dutch

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 ''"Ne ...

wine merchant, Bernard Joseph van Dieren, and his French second wife, Julie Françoise Adelle Labbé. Details of his education are unknown but it seems that his early training was as a scientist, as a research assistant in a laboratory. Gifted in science, extremely intelligent and with a phenomenal memory, he was also well-versed in literature as well as an able violinist and amateur artist. His career as composer began when he was twenty when some of his early works were published in the Netherlands. In 1909 he relocated to London as a correspondent for the '' Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant'' with his wife-to-be, Frida Kindler (1879–1964), a very gifted concert pianist whom he married on 1 January 1910. By this time he had decided to study music seriously. A son, Hans Jean Jules Maximilian Navarre Benvenuto Bernard van Dieren (1910–74), was born the same year. In the same year, he took British nationality. He was largely self-taught, though he spent 1912 in Europe where he met the composers

Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary f ...

and Schoenberg. His early contact with the music world was as a musical correspondent for several European newspapers and periodicals. During the First World War he was for a short time involved in secret service in the Netherlands, as a cypher expert in the Intelligence Department. He suffered most of his life from ill health and had numerous operations for kidney-related complaints. To relieve the recurring pain, morphine was prescribed, and it is thought that in later life he became addicted to the drug. Because of these frequent bouts of illness, his wife, a former pupil of Busoni, supported the family by teaching the piano and by giving recitals. They also relied on financial support from a group of admirers and friends, which included notable personalities such as

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

Osbert Osbert is a male given name and a surname. It may refer to: Osbert , a novel by R.A. Currier Given name *Osbert or Osberht of Northumbria (died 867), King of Northumbria *Osbert or Osbeorn Bulax (died c. 1054), son of Siward, Earl of Northumbr ...

and

Sacheverell Sitwell Sir Sacheverell Reresby Sitwell, 6th Baronet, (; 15 November 1897 – 1 October 1988) was an English writer, best known as an art critic, music critic (his books on Mozart, Liszt, and Domenico Scarlatti are still consulted), and writer on a ...

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (born Leon Dudley Sorabji; 14 August 1892 – 15 October 1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer whose music, written over a period of seventy years, ranges from sets of miniatures to wor ...

, Philip Heseltine (the composer Peter Warlock) and Cecil Gray. The latter two were especially drawn by his charismatic and powerful personality and gave untiring support for his cause by prompting performances and publication of his works. However, this sometimes over enthusiastic support generated a backlash from non-believers.

Eric Coates Eric Francis Harrison Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and, early in his career, a leading viola, violist. Coates was born into a musical family, but, despite his wishes and obvious talent, ...

, who played viola in the under-rehearsed premiere of ''Diaphony'' (1916), witnessed the contempt of the musical establishment - Parry, Stanford and others - towards van Dieren. Heseltine made van Dieren his heir in his will, inspiring claims by Heseltine's son

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English language, English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walte ...

that van Dieren had murdered Heseltine. In 1925 van Dieren worked for the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

electrical company but recurring illness forced him to resign the following year. Some of his works were published in 1927 and in the same year his Fourth String Quartet was performed at the Frankfurt Festival. In 1930 he completed his comic opera ''The Tailor'' (begun in 1916 at Heseltine and Gray's request). He also wrote a book on Epstein (1920) and published a collection of controversial essays entitled ''Down Among the Dead Men'' (1935). In his writings van Dieren championed composers such as Alkan, Bellini, Busoni,

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and

Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le d ...

. Eventually two of his more important works were broadcast by the BBC: ''Diaphony'' in 1934 and the ''Chinese Symphony'' in 1935. He died on 24 April 1936 in London, and is buried on the edge of the graveyard of St Lawrence's Church,

West Wycombe West Wycombe is a small village famed for its manor houses and its hills. It is three miles west of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The historic village is largely a National Trust property and receives a large annual influx of touri ...

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

, who conducted the first public performance of the ''Chinese Symphony'' from BBC Broadcasting House on 15 March 1935, claimed that the theme for the opening movement, "Palindromic Prelude", from his 1938 ballet '' Horoscope'', was dictated from beyond the grave by van Dieren.

Musical style

The music of van Dieren is harmonically chromatic, rhythmically fluid and freely polyphonic, tonally anarchic rather than atonal and often notated without barlines. At the same time melody, particularly the importance of the singing line, is central.

Wilfrid Mellers Wilfrid Howard Mellers (26 April 1914 – 17 May 2008) was an English music critic, musicologist and composer. Early life Born in Leamington, Warwickshire, Mellers was educated at the local Leamington College and later won a scholarship to Dow ...

rated him "a great melodist". This is most evident in the songs, championed by the baritone John Goss and the soprano Megan Foster in the 1920s and 1930s. He set some German texts (particularly Heine), but mostly chose from the English Romantic poets, including Shelley,

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculos ...

, Beddoes and

Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor (30 January 177517 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose ''Imaginary Conversations,'' and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contempora ...

. According to Stephen Banfield, van Dieren, “if he belongs anywhere”, is best positioned as part of the inter-war lyrical tradition. In his chamber music the influence of Schoenberg can be detected, along with “a textual complexity (comparable with

) which engages the imagination”. The six quartets gained immediate attention from leading performers of the day: for instance the Second String Quartet was premiered by the Amar Quartet, with

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

on viola, at the

Donaueschingen Festival The Donaueschingen Festival (german: Donaueschinger Musiktage, links=no) is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen in south-western Germany. Founded in 1921, it is considered the oldest festiva ...

in 1922. The Fourth Quartet is written for the unorthodox combination of two violins, viola and double bass. The fifth quartet, composed in 1925, was originally written for violin, viola, cello and double bass, but in 1931 van Dieren re-scored it for conventional quartet. The composer

Ronald Stevenson Ronald James Stevenson (6 March 1928 – 28 March 2015) was a Scottish composer, pianist, and writer about music. Biography The son of a Scottish father and Welsh mother, Stevenson was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1928. He studied at the ...

later transcribed it for solo piano "as a piano sonata (which B. v. D. never composed)". The piano music illustrates van Dieren's shifts in style, from the atonal and terse ''Six Sketches'' (1910-11) to the more approachable, lyrical and tonally oriented style of the ''Three Studies'' (early 1920s) and ''Tema Con Variazione'' (1927). Many of these pieces were premiered by the composer's wife Frida, but they have also been performed over the years by Kathleen Long, Robert Collet (1905-1993)

Erik Chisholm Erik William Chisholm (4 January 1904 – 8 June 1965) was a Scottish composer, pianist, organist and conductor sometimes known as "Scotland's forgotten composer". According to his biographer, Chisholm "was the first composer to absorb Celtic ...

, Eiluned Davies and (most recently) Christopher Guild. The ''Chinese Symphony'' (1912–14) shows the characteristic style of the songs and chamber work could be applied to large forces: it is scored for five soloists, chorus and orchestra. The text uses German translations by Hans Bethge of Chinese poetry, also used by

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

in ''

Das Lied von der Erde ''Das Lied von der Erde'' ("The Song of the Earth") is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six songs for two singers who alte ...

'' a few years earlier. Along with Schoenberg and Busoni, the rhapsodic and lyrical style of Delius can often be heard in the ''Chinese Symphony'' and other orchestral works, such as the ''Elegy'' for cello and orchestra. Although

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(under Hubert Foss) published some scores from 1925 onward, much of van Dieren's work remained in manuscript and hard to find for many years after his death, until work of reconstructing missing scores and instrumental parts was carried out by

Denis ApIvor Denis ApIvor (14 April 191627 May 2004) was a British composer, best known for his ballet score ''Blood Wedding''. He had a parallel career as a consultant anaesthetist.Leach, Gerald. ''British Composer Profiles'' (3rd. Ed, 2012), p. 10 Biograph ...

and Alastair Chisholm in the 1970s. More recently, Barry Ould of Bardic Edition has been making previously unpublished scores available again.

Major works

Discography

* Chinese Symphony: Symphony No.1 ''Chinese'' Op.6, ''Intriot'', ''Elegy'' for cello and orchestra. BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, conducted by William Boughton, Raphael Wallfisch (cello), Lyrita, 2016. * The Bernard van Dieren Collection: ''Songs for High Voice and String Quartet'', ''Heine Songs'', ''Song from The Cenci'', ''Rhapsodia'', Sonata for solo violin, ''Sonatina Tyroica'', ''Estemporales'' for harp. Ludmilla Andrew, Philip Thomas, Emperor String Quartet etc., British Music Society BML 001 (1992). * Piano Music Volumes 1 and 2: ''Six Sketches, Toccata, Tema con Variazione, Three Studies, Piccolo Pralinudettino Fridato, Adagio Cantando, Netherlands Melodies'', Eiluned Davies (piano), British Music Society BMS 402 (1983) and BMS 405 (1986). * String Quartets from the Twenties: String Quartet No 6. Utrecht String Quartet, NM Classics (2000). * Ronald Stevenson, Piano Music Vol. Five: Transcription of String Quartet No 5 for piano. Christopher Guild (piano)
Toccata Classics TOCC0606
(2021) * Complete Piano Music: (also includes ''Ballad de Villon''). Christopher Guild

There are also a dozen or so recordings on YouTube that haven't been commercially released, including songs, piano works and the String Quartets Nos 1, 4 and 5.

References

External links

*

Bernard van Dieren, by Dr Erik Chisholm
*

* McMaster University Library: ttps://archives.mcmaster.ca/index.php/denis-apivor-collection-of-christian-darnton-and-bernard-van-dieren The Denis ApIvor collection of Christian Darnton and Bernard Van Dieren
Portrait of Frida Kindler, by Jacob Epstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dieren, Bernard van 1887 births 1936 deaths Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers English male classical composers 20th-century classical composers Musicians from Rotterdam Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch music critics Writers about music Philips English music critics English classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians