Jozef van Wissem
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jozef van Wissem (born 22 November 1962) is a
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
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
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
player based in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. In 2013 Van Wissem won the Cannes Soundtrack Award for the score of ''
Only Lovers Left Alive ''Only Lovers Left Alive'' is a 2013 fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi and John Hurt. An international co-producti ...
'' at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
.


Career

Jozef van Wissem was born in
Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
. An incessantly touring musician, Van Wissem studied lute in New York with Patrick O'Brien in 1990s. Jozef van Wissem's solo albums, ''It Is All That Is Made'' (2009) and ''Ex Patris'' (2010), were released on Important Records. He released ''The Joy That Never Ends'', an album with Jim Jarmusch on the label in 2011. He wrote a score for the video game ''
The Sims Medieval ''The Sims Medieval'' is a life simulation video game that was released in March 2011 by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, and on September 22, 2011 for iOS, as part of ''The Sims'' series. It was also made available for Windo ...
''. Van Wissem has earned much critical acclaim for his work, the ‘liberation of the lute’ as he calls it. According to Steve Dollar for the Washington Post,
For him the lute is utterly contemporary. “I want to update it and also make it sexy again. It’s not interesting to a lot of people because it comes with all this baggage, this set of rules that these academics gave the instrument, that keeps it in a museum.” To that end, Van Wissem often performs in rock venues and could easily pass for a Nordic metal overlord, with thigh-high black leather boots and long, dirty-blond hair. Van Wissem can captivate a room on his own, as unafraid of spare beauty as he is of experimental gambits. When he plays the melody’s delicate glimmer freezes the moment, begging the listener to come closer as he steps away from the microphone. Van Wissem holds the instrument in front of his chest as the natural sound resonates inside the lute’s boat-like cavity. He’s not only liberating the lute, as he suggests later, but also asking his audience to liberate themselves from accustomed approaches to music.
According to ''The New York Times'' "Van Wissem is both an avant-garde composer and a baroque lutenist, and thus no stranger to dichotomy". According to Richard Foster in
The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...
, "Van Wissem is possibly the best known lute player in the Western world." In his review of the 2016 album ''When Shall This Bright Day Begin'', Foster said that "To get into Van Wissem’s world is to surrender to the inevitability – and timelessness – of a strange music created at its own pace, in a manner wholly of its creator’s making." ''
Concerning the Entrance into Eternity ''Concerning the Entrance into Eternity'' is the first collaborative album by Jozef van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch. It was released on Important Records in 2012. A music video was created for the track "The Sun of the Natural World Is Pure Fire." ...
'', his first collaborative album with Jim Jarmusch, was released on Important Records in early 2012. ''
The Mystery of Heaven ''The Mystery of Heaven'' is the second collaborative album by Jozef van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch. It was released on Sacred Bones Records in 2012. The track "The More She Burns the More Beautifully She Glows" features a guest appearance from actr ...
'', his second collaborative album with Jarmusch, was released on
Sacred Bones Records Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Blanck Mass, Crystal Stilts, Maris ...
later that year. ''The More She Burns the More Beautifully She Glows'', a track off the album, featured a guest appearance from
Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
. Van Wissem scored Jarmusch's 2013 film ''
Only Lovers Left Alive ''Only Lovers Left Alive'' is a 2013 fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi and John Hurt. An international co-producti ...
'' . ''When Shall This Bright Day Begin'', featuring guest vocals by
Zola Jesus Nika Roza Danilova (born Nicole Rose Hummel; April 11, 1989), known professionally by her stage name Zola Jesus, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her music has been noted for combining elements of electronic, industrial, ...
, was released by Consouling Sounds in 2016. The same label released ''Nobody Living Can Ever Make Me Turn Back'' in 2017. Van Wissem reactivated Incunabulum for his 2017 release New Lute Music for Film. His third Consouling Sounds release, ''We Adore You, You Have No Name'', followed in 2018. In 2019, Van Wissem and Jarmusch returned to Sacred Bones with the full-length ''An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil''. In 2022 his new solo lute and electronics record “ Behold ! I Make All Things New " was announced. Louderthanwar announced his upcoming tour and wrote, Jozef van Wissem is a Dutch lute player who vamps the instrument into the now. His spellbinding atmospheric music has a haunting resonance.  "Behold! I Make All Things New “ is all instrumental and consists of sparse works for lute and electronics. There are no vocals this time. It is more a return to the minimal neo-classical style of his early work. It was written and recorded in lockdown in Warsaw and Rotterdam between 2019 and 2021.”


Style and influences

According to
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's ''
All Songs Considered ''All Songs Considered'' is a weekly online multimedia program started in January 2000 by NPR's ''All Things Considered'' director Bob Boilen. At first, the show featured information and streaming audio about the songs used as bumper music on '' ...
'' "his compositions are heavy and set in hypnotic darkness". When Van Wissem " started to think about new compositions for lute he made the decision to perform the classical lute repertoire backwards. From this mirror image writing followed the idea to compose in layered palindromes only and repeat them over elongated periods of time. The challenges are the minimalist idea of using only a few chords, one or two tunings, one instrument and then to be interesting within these limits and constraints. And to come up with a simple melody" In December 2017, Van Wissem was commissioned by the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg to perform the piece "You Know That I Love You' depicted by Caravaggio in his painting The Lute Player (1596) for the event for the final restoration of the painting. Confronted with the sound system, acoustics of the museum, and the number of people in the hall, Van Wissem decided to do a more fluent drone version instead of the classical version" In January 2020 Van Wissem performed in Aalborg, Denmark "in the magnificent baroque interior of the medieval Budolfi church. His pizzicato looks so effortless that the ancient lute with three pegboxes at first seems to be a prop. Occasionally giving a piercing look towards the audience, the musician skillfully steers the course between the past and now. One of the time-travel themes is You Know That I Love You, a 16th-century madrigal by the Renaissance composer Jacques Arcadelt. Three years ago Van Wissem was commissioned to perform this piece at St Petersburg’s Hermitage museum which displays Caravaggio’s The Lute Player which also depicts a young man reading the notes of the same madrigal... The further this lute player travels, the more intense these shamanic charms are. Having performed a few minimalist instrumentals, Van Wissem starts singing. The effect of these enchanting loops is enhanced by the mantra-sounding lines “Do you feel like you want to? Do you ever feel like you want to?”. Later, for the encore, he plays another piece including all-the-more hypnotising lyrics “Love destroys all Evil and frees us” multiplied and intensified.” In February 2021 Van Wissem premiered a new black Baroque lute on Dutch National TV. The instrument had the Latin words “Ex Mortis” inscribed in the neck. Humo Magazine wrote, “Eight minutes of Jozef van Wissem: the Dutch lute player from New York, who presents his art as a kind of mix between a medieval monk and a Satanist Rasputin. Music that is as cool as it is educative, aired on a Sunday evening at prime time, quite special.“ On March 24, 2022, the New York Times wrote about Van Wissem's score for the Nosferatu horror film. "In May, Jozef van Wissem, a Dutch composer and avant-garde lute player known for his collaborations with the film director Jim Jarmusch, will perform a live score at a “Nosferatu” screening at a large church in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Beginning with a solo played on the lute, his performance will incorporate electric guitar and distorted recordings of extinct birds, graduating from subtlety to gothic horror. “My soundtrack goes from silence to noise over the course of 90 minutes,” he said, culminating in “dense, slow death metal.”. Later that year it was announced the soundtrack entitled " Nosferatu, The Call Of The Deathbird " was to be self- released on Halloween 2022 on Incunabulum records.”


Discography


Solo albums

* ''Retrograde: A Classical Deconstruction'' (2000, Persephone) * ''Narcissus Drowning'' (2002, Persephone) * ''Simulacrum'' (2003, BVHaast) * ''Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear'' (2005, BVHaast) * ''A Rose by Any Other Name: Anonymous Lute Solos of the Golden Age'' (2006, Incunabulum) * ''Stations of the Cross'' (2007, Incunabulum) * ''A Priori'' (2008, Incunabulum) * ''It Is All That Is Made'' (2009, Important Records) * ''Ex Patris'' (2010, Important Records) * ''The Joy That Never Ends'' (2011, Important Records) * ''Arcana Coelestia'' (2012, The Spring Press) * ''Nihil Obstat'' (2013, Important Records) * ''It Is Time For You To Return'' (2014, Crammed Discs) * ''Partir to Live'' (2015, Sacred Bones) * ''When Shall This Bright Day Begin'' (2016, Consouling Sounds) * ''New Lute Music For Film'' (2017, Incunabulum) * ''Nobody Living Can Ever Make Me Turn Back'' (2017, Consouling Sounds) * ''We Adore You, You Have No Name'' (2018, Consouling Sounds) * ''Ex Mortis '' (2020, Consouling Sounds) * ''Behold, I Make All Things New ''(2022, Incunabulum) * ''Nosferatu, The Call Of The Deathbird ''(2022, Incunabulum)


Singles

* ''The day is coming - live in Rouen 2015'' Phonographic Cylinder (2017, Disordered) - private press


Collaborative albums

* ''Diplopia'' (2003, BVHaast) with
Gary Lucas Gary Lucas (born June 20, 1952) is an American guitarist/songwriter/composer who was a member of Captain Beefheart's band. He formed the band Gods and Monsters in 1989. Lucas has released more than 50 albums to date as a solo artist or band l ...
* ''Proletarian Drift'' (2004, BVHaast) with
Tetuzi Akiyama Tetuzi Akiyama (Akiyama Tetsuji) (born 13 April 1964) is a Japanese guitarist, violinist, and instrument-maker. Akiyama formed the improvisation group Madhar in 1987, and the classical ensemble Hikyo String Quintet in 1994 (which also included T ...
* ''The Universe of Absence'' (2004, BVHaast) with Gary Lucas * ''Das Platinzeitalter'' (2007, Incunabulum) with
Maurizio Bianchi Maurizio Bianchi (born 4 December 1955 in Pomponesco in the Province of Mantua) is an Italian pioneer of industrial music, originating from Milan. Biography 1979–1983 Bianchi was inspired by the music of Tangerine Dream, Conrad Schnitzler an ...
* ''Hymn for a Fallen Angel'' (2007, Incunabulum) with Tetuzi Akiyama * ''All Things Are from Him, Through Him and in Him'' (2008, Audiomer) as Brethren of the Free Spirit * ''The Wolf Also Shall Dwell with the Lamb'' (2008, Important Records) as Brethren of the Free Spirit * ''Suite the Hen's Teeth'' (2010, Incunabulum) with Smegma * ''Downland'' (2010, Incunabulum) with United Bible Studies * ''A Prayer for Light'' (2010, Incunabulum) with Heresy of the Free Spirit * ''
Concerning the Entrance into Eternity ''Concerning the Entrance into Eternity'' is the first collaborative album by Jozef van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch. It was released on Important Records in 2012. A music video was created for the track "The Sun of the Natural World Is Pure Fire." ...
'' (2012, Important Records) with Jim Jarmusch * ''
The Mystery of Heaven ''The Mystery of Heaven'' is the second collaborative album by Jozef van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch. It was released on Sacred Bones Records in 2012. The track "The More She Burns the More Beautifully She Glows" features a guest appearance from actr ...
'' (2012,
Sacred Bones Records Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Blanck Mass, Crystal Stilts, Maris ...
) with Jim Jarmusch and
Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
* ''Apokatastasis'' (2012, Incunabulum) featuring Jim Jarmusch * ''Only Lovers Left Alive'' (2014, Atp Recordings) with
Zola Jesus Nika Roza Danilova (born Nicole Rose Hummel; April 11, 1989), known professionally by her stage name Zola Jesus, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her music has been noted for combining elements of electronic, industrial, ...
and
Sqürl James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...
* ''An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil'' (2019, Sacred Bones Records) with Jim Jarmusch


Compilation appearances

* "The Mirror of Eternal Light" on ''The Garden of Forking Paths'' (2007, Important Records) * "This Is How We Sing" on ''New Music for Old Instruments'' (2012, Incunabulum) with Jon Mueller and Robbie Lee * "Prayer Of Quiet" on ''New Music For Old Instruments'' (2012, Incunabulum) with
Keiji Haino Keiji Haino ( ''Haino Keiji''; born May 3, 1952) is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise music, percussion, psychedelic music, minimalism and drone music. He has been active since the ...
* "The Mystery Of Heaven" on ''Todo Muere Volume 3 '' (2013, Sacred Bones Records) with Jim Jarmusch * "The Call Of The First Æthyr" on "Black Magic " (2021, Cleopatra Records) with
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wissem, Jozef van 1962 births Living people Composers for lute Dutch composers Dutch lutenists Musicians from Maastricht Important Records artists