Thijs van Leer (pronounced: ; born 31 March 1948) is a Dutch singer and keyboardist, best known as the founding member of the rock band

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

as its primary vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist. Born and raised in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

among a musical family, van Leer took up the piano and flute as a child and pursued them at university and music academies. From 1967 to 1969, van Leer performed in a theatre cabaret act headed by

Ramses Shaffy Ramses Shaffy (29 August 1933 – 1 December 2009) was a Dutch-French singer and actor who became popular during the 1960s. His most famous songs include "Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder", "We zullen doorgaan", "Pastorale", "Samm ...

as his backing vocalist and musician, recorded singles as a solo artist, and produced, arranged, and conducted music for Bojoura. He formed Trio Thijs van Leer, a three-piece rock band which evolved into Focus in late 1969 following the addition of guitarist

Jan Akkerman Jan Akkerman (born 24 December 1946) is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus (band), Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding ja ...

. Focus achieved international success following the release of '' Moving Waves'' (1971) and its lead single, " Hocus Pocus", which features van Leer's yodelling and whistling. After several albums with various line-ups, van Leer disbanded Focus in 1978; he reformed the band in 2002. Van Leer achieved success as a solo artist in the Netherlands. His first two solo albums featuring classical flute, ''

Introspection Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's s ...

'' (1972) and ''Introspection 2'' (1975), sold an estimated 1.2 million copies. He has collaborated with various artists, and continues to release albums and perform in various capacities. In 2008, van Leer was made a Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

for special services to music.

Early life

Van Leer was born on 31 March 1948 in

. His father Ed, a Jewish refugee from the Netherlands, was a classically trained flautist and businessman; his mother Mary was a singer and involved in the

Sufi Movement Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

. Van Leer began playing the piano at age three, taught by his mother, and later received lessons from famed pianists Maria Stroo (later Marja Bon) and Gerard Hengeveld. When he was six, van Leer wrote his first composition "Uncle Willy", a tribute to family friend and keyboard teacher Willy Buard who helped pay for his father's flute studies at the

Conservatoire de Musique de Genève A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. At eleven, van Leer was given a flute by his father who began teaching his son two years later after he discovered van Leer wished to instead pursue jazz music after he discovered the genre particularly through

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

albums. He said, "I suppose I wanted to reject what I was brought up on. But then I thought the combination of jazz and classical music could be used in rock." With his parents and two brothers, eldest Frank and youngest Maarten, who played the bassoon and piano and flute, respectively, the family would often play music at home together. Van Leer also took up painting, modelling, and performing in plays. Van Leer attended

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

Grammar School where he learned English, French, German, Latin and Ancient Greek. His father was the conductor of the school orchestra, for which van Leer played the harpsichord. He joined the Raoul Angenot Quintet, and at eighteen, won an award at inter-school contests for playing '' Andante in C Major'' by Mozart on flute, singing an original love poem to " Stella by Starlight" by Davis, a drama improvisation featuring his own poetry, and an original piano composition titled "Nooit Zal Ik Vergeten (De Nachten Samen met Jou)" ("Never Shall I Forget (The Nights Together with You)". He then joined the Bob de Lat Quartet, who once came fifth in the annual Hilversum jazz contest. After graduating, van Leer did not feel confident enough to attend a music school, so he studied art history at

Amsterdam University The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

which he found "very dry". He then learned harmony and counterpoint 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 ...

, but disliked the lessons and left early. This was followed by a degree in the flute and composition at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève. Van Leer also received tutoring on the piano, orchestration and arrangement with composer and conductor

Rogier van Otterloo Willem Rogier van Otterloo (11 December 1941 – 29 January 1988) was a Dutch composer and conductor. Biography Van Otterloo was the eldest son of the conductor Willem van Otterloo, in Bilthoven, Netherlands. He composed several soundtracks fo ...

, and organ with Anthon van der Horst. During his time studying, van Leer participated in plays including those by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

. Van Leer has cited

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

, and

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

as musical influences who helped inspired him to pursue rock music, with

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

and

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

among his favourite composers.

Career

With Ramses Shaffy

Around 1967, van Leer recorded "Nooit Zal Ik Vergeten" which

Phonogram Records Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens A.G. of Germany. Phonogram was the nam ...

released as a

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

which received little attention. In December 1967, during his first year at Amsterdam University, van Leer, unhappy with the course, landed a leading role in the Webster play ''

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, ...

''. At one rehearsal, he learned from radio and television presenter

Willem Duys Willem Duys (17 August 1928 – 2 June 2011) was a Dutch radio and television presenter, commentator, tennis player and music producer. Duys was born in Bussum. He first started a career as a tennis player. Having made the final NK Older Youth ...

that singer and actor

was in the process of hiring a final member to his four-piece backing band and vocal group for his upcoming theatre act, ''Shaffy Chantant''. Van Leer had seen Shaffy's performances before and enjoyed the singing and jazz-oriented songs. After he called Shaffy and insisted he was suitable for the part, van Leer got an audition within the hour and secretly took his mother's car to get there. Had the audition failed, van Leer later said he would have pursued an acting career. With a performance of "Nooit Zal Ik Vergeten" at the piano, Shaffy was impressed and added van Leer to the cast which included singer

Liesbeth List Elisabeth Dorathea List, generally known as Liesbeth List (December 12, 1941 – March 25, 2020) was a Dutch singer, stage actress and television personality. She became popular during the 1960s and frequently collaborated with Ramses Shaffy. Sh ...

and pianist

Louis van Dijk Louis van Dijk, also spelled Louis van Dyke (27 November 1941 – 12 April 2020), was a beloved Dutch pianist. Born as Arnold Ludwig van Dijk in Amsterdam, he studied solo piano at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. Louis van Dijk became well-known fo ...

. ''Shaffy Chantant'' ran for almost one year from February 1968 for six nights a week, and van Leer was paid 114

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

a week. A recording of the act was released in 1968 by

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...

; van Leer learned from Shaffy years later that the track "Jij Bent Nu Daarbinnen" ("You Are Now Within") was about him. In 1968, during his time with Shaffy, van Leer recorded his second solo single on Philips, "Zolang de Wereld Nog Draait" ("As Long As the World Still Turns"), a Dutch-language version of "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" by Engelbert Humperdinck. This landed him an invitation from drummer Hans Cleuver in September 1968 to play the flute with bassist Martijn Dresden and himself on ''Jazz and Poetry'', a program on the Catholic radio station

KRO KRO, or (Catholic Radio Broadcasting), was a Dutch public broadcasting organization founded on 23 April 1925. Broadly Catholic in its spiritual outlook, KRO broadcast the bulk of its television output on the NPO 1 channel. KRO was also responsi ...

. For several months they performed on the station with van Leer on the piano, organ, and the addition of "strange" vocals. Van Leer stayed with Shaffy for his next play ''Shaffy Verkeerd'', which opened in January 1969 and featured singer

Anneke Grönloh Louise Johanna "Anneke" Grönloh (; 7 June 1942 – 14 September 2018) was an Indonesian-born Dutch singer. She had a successful career starting in 1959 that lasted throughout the 1960s, and scored a hit with " Brandend zand", one of the best-sell ...

and performances of "

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and later designated ...

" by

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...

and "

I Shall Be Released "I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan. Dylan recorded two primary versions. The first recording was made in collaboration with the Band during the Basement Tapes sessions in 1967, and released on '' The Bootleg Series Volu ...

" by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, two songs that influenced van Leer as it "Opened my eyes to the use of lyrics. Before that I only really concentrated on instrumental music". Van Leer's final show with Shaffy was ''Sunset Sunkiss'', which received an album release in 1969 on the Philips label with Cleuver and Dresden in the band. This was followed by several performances from the group at some large venues, including shows 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 archite ...

backed by the

Metropole Orchestra The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

, the

Carré Theatre Carré is a French language, French word, which means "wikt:square, square". ''Carré'' may also refer to: People *Carré (surname) *Carré Otis, American model and actress Places *Fort Carré, sixteenth-century fort in France *French Quarter, ...

, and the RAI Centre.

Focus and collaborations

After van Leer left Shaffy's theatre group in mid-1969, he formed a three-piece rock band with Cleuver and Dresden, playing local gigs with a set of covers by

and their own material under the early names of Trio Thijs van Leer and Thijs van Leer and the Rebaptised. They also recorded several radio and television commercials. In November 1969 they were joined by guitarist

, who had performed with the three on ''Sunset Sunkiss'', and settled on the name

, thus completing the first line-up of the band. From December 1969 to June 1970, the four were members of the pit band for the Dutch performance of the rock musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

''. Focus released their first album, ''

Focus Plays Focus ''Focus Plays Focus'' is the first studio album by Dutch rock band Focus, released in September 1970 on Imperial Records. It is the only album recorded by the group's original line-up consisting of organist and vocalist Thijs van Leer, bassist Ma ...

'', better known as its international title ''In and Out of Focus'', in August 1970. Van Leer became a prominent figure in the group, writing the majority of their songs and singing English lyrics. After a line-up change, the band released '' Moving Waves'' (1971) that included their international hit single " Hocus Pocus" which featured van Leer's distinct vocals, yodelling, whistling, and

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

. His influence from the Sufi movement through his mother is displayed in "Moving Waves", a piano and vocal composition he wrote when he was sixteen and quotes a teaching from its creator,

Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his ...

. The album closes with "Eruption", a 22-minute track that is "based on a musical idea" by van Leer who gained inspiration from the operas ''

Orfeo ed Euridice ' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the ''azione teatrale'', mea ...

'' by

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

and ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' ( SV 318) (), sometimes called ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance/early Baroque ''favola in musica'', or opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and ...

'' by

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

, combining rock, jazz and classical influences. ''

Focus 3 ''Focus 3'' or ''Focus III'' is the third studio album by Dutch rock band Focus, released as a double album in November 1972 on Imperial Records. Recorded after touring in support of their previous album, '' Moving Waves'' (1971), the album saw t ...

'' (1972) includes the band's second hit single " Sylvia" and includes van Leer's organ and operatic vocals. Van Leer's classical background is evident on the van Leer/Akkerman penned title track on ''

Hamburger Concerto ''Hamburger Concerto'' is the fourth studio album by the Dutch progressive rock band Focus, released in April 1974. It peaked at #20 on the UK charts. The title track is based on ''Variations on a Theme by Haydn'' by Johannes Brahms. The composi ...

'' from 1974, based on ''

Variations on a Theme by Haydn The ''Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn'' (german: Variationen über ein Thema von Jos. Haydn), now also called the ''Saint Anthony Variations'', is a work in the form of a theme and variations, composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 187 ...

'' by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

. The miniature "Delitiae Musicae" equally belongs to Monteverdi. In 1969, van Leer played the flute on ''Love Me or Leave Me'' (1969) by Dutch singer Rita Hovink. The following year, van Leer wrote, arranged and conducted music for singer Bojoura for her third album, ''The Beauty of Bojoura'' (1970). She had previously worked with van Leer's trio with Shaffy, singing a cover of "Frank Mills" from ''Hair''. Robin Lent used van Leer to play piano and flute on ''Scarecrow's Journey'' (1971), and arranged and played the flute on the Dutch cast production album of ''

Oh! Calcutta! ''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risque theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in Lond ...

'' (1971). Van Leer headed Focus through several line-up changes, and by early 1976 he was the only remaining original member; the group disbanded in 1978. In 2002, van Leer reformed Focus which has since released the albums '' Focus 8'', '' Focus 9 / New Skin'', "Live In Europe", '' Focus X,'', '' Golden Oldies'', '' Focus 8.5 / Beyond the Horizon'', '' The Focus Family Album'', '' Focus 11'' and '' Focus 50''.

Solo career and other projects

In mid-1972, after securing a solo recording deal with CBS Records, van Leer released his first solo album, ''

''. It features a selection of classical pieces by Bach and

Gabriel Faure In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

, Focus songs, and original compositions arranged for flute and orchestra by van Otterloo, and

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

vocals by Letty de Jong. ''Introspection'' was a commercial success in the Netherlands, reaching number one for three weeks in early 1973 and earning a gold certification. In late 1975, van Leer released ''Introspection 2'' which spent one week at number one in the Netherlands during a 19-week stay in the top 10. Van Leer continued the album series with ''Introspection 3'', in 1977. After Focus split in 1978, van Leer continued with his solo career and took part in various projects. He formed the rock band Conxi, featuring Dutch and Senegalese musicians, and a rock group Van Leer with an American singer. In the early 1980s, van Leer worked and toured with Spanish singer

Miguel Ríos Miguel Ríos Campaña (born 7 June 1944) is a Spanish singer, composer, actor. He is one of the pioneers of rock and roll in Spain. Biography Ríos was born in La Cartuja, a neighborhood of Granada. The youngest of seven children, he went to wo ...

playing keyboards and flute on his albums ''Extraños en el escaparate'' (1981), ''Rock & Ríos'' (1982) and ''El rock de una noche de verano'' (1983). In 1981, van Leer formed the multi-national band Pedal Point with musicians Tato Gomez and from Chile and Paul Shigihara from Japan. They recorded a double album, ''Dona Nobis Pacem'', based on a composition van Leer had written that he later cited as "one of the most important compositions of mine", and a high point of his career in an artistic sense. In 1985, van Leer reunited with Akkerman and together recorded '' Focus: Jan Akkerman & Thijs van Leer'' (1985). Van Leer was one of the artists who recorded the song ''Shalom from Holland'' (written by

Simon Hammelburg Simon Hammelburg (Amsterdam, February 28, 1952 – Marbella, June 15, 2022) was a Dutch entertainer, songwriter, journalist, and Holocaust educator. He died in Marbella 15 June 2022. Prior to the first Gulf War (1991) Hammelburg produced th ...

and Ron Klipstein) as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991. He also appeared as a guest musician on the album, ''

Into the Electric Castle ''Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera'' is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double a ...

'', by

Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as the ...

's musical project

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electro ...

. In 2008, Explore Multimedia released van Leer's first solo album in almost a decade, ''The Home Concert''. The album features recordings made in his living room as he played material for ''Focus 9''. The album is exclusively available online. On 13 September 2008, van Leer was made a Knight of the

for "special services to music." In 2010, van Leer performed at a concert with Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno to celebrate 40 years of imaginative music (7 November 2010).

Personal life

On 15 May 1972, van Leer married Rosalie Peters. Together they had two children: daughter Bella and son Banten. The marriage ended in divorce by the early 1980s. He subsequently married Thea van der Kaay, ex-wife of Ruud Jacobs, but after twenty years they divorced too. Together they had three children: Eva and Berenice and son Ruben. Presently van Leer lives in

Lathum Lathum is a village in the municipality of Zevenaar in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. The village was first mentioned between 1294 and 1295 as Latheym, and means "settlement of Laeta (lit: serf)". Lathum developed near the Castle Bah ...

, the Netherlands with his third wife, Annelies Lommen.

Discography

Solo albums *''

'' (1972) *''O My Love'' (1975) *''Introspection 2'' (1975) *''Musica per la Notte di Natale'' (1976) *''Introspection 3'' (1977) *''Nice to Have Met You'' (1978) - Recorded in 1977. *''Introspection 4'' (1979) *''Collage'' (1980) *''Pedal Point: Dona Nobis Pacem (1981) *''Reflections'' (1981) *''Focus (Jan Akkerman & Thijs van Leer album)'' (1985) - Recorded in 1984. *''Renaissance'' (1986) *'' I Hate Myself (For Loving You)'' (1987) *''Introspection '92'' (1992) *''Musical Melody'' (1994) *''Bolero'' (1996; CD version of the ''Reflections'' with two extra tracks) *''Summertime'' (1996) *''Joy to the World'' (1996) *''Instrumental Hymns'' (1997) *''The Glorious Album'' (1999; reissued in 2000 as ''12 Mooiste Liederen (12 Most Beautiful Songs)'') *''Bach for a New Age'' (1999) *''Etudes Sans Gêne'' (2006; limited edition DVD) - Recorded in 2001. *''The Home Concert'' (2008) - Recorded in 2005. *''Sir Thijs van Leer: Live at Trading Boundaries'' (2015) - Recorded in 2014. ;with Thomas Blug Band *''Guitar From The Heart/Live'' (2005; DVD) *''Guitar From The Heart – Live in Raalte, NL'' (2005) *''Soul & Pepper'' (2009)

References

;Sources *

External links

* * * * Discography: http://www.mpq.com.br/focus/solos/solos1.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Leer, Thijs van 1948 births Living people Musicians from Amsterdam Jewish rock musicians Dutch people of Jewish descent Dutch flautists Dutch keyboardists Progressive rock keyboardists Progressive rock organists Dutch organists Male organists Dutch male singer-songwriters Singers with a four-octave vocal range Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau 21st-century organists 21st-century Dutch male singers 21st-century Dutch singers Focus (band) members 20th-century Dutch male singers 20th-century flautists 21st-century flautists