User:Hutchies/Andriessen

Hmm... only just started working on this - extremely draft-like I'm afraid, but feel free to fill in the gaps!

Louis Andriessen (born in Utrecht, June 6, 1939) is a Dutch composer, son of the composer Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981) and brother of composer Jurriaan Andriessen (1925-1996). Highly influential both as a composer and a teacher, his music is coloured by his own strong political views (particularly in his rejection of the symphony orchestra with its 'bourgeois' overtones).

Biography
mention early works, what he learned from Berio, involvement in political activist group, rejection of orchestra, formation of De Volharding

Music
Andriessen's music is influenced by the multi-faceted work of Igor Stravinsky and by minimalism. Nonetheless, his work possesses a quite unique sound-world, partly due to his anti-traditional orchestration and high-energy chord]-based [[musical texture|textures.

Techniques
The techniques of medieval music are often an influence for Andriessen: he has made much use of hocket and canon in his works (in particular, in the works Hoketus and Hout respectively). His common technique of using a pre-existing work as a structural 'model' could also be traced to the medieval technique of cantus firmus, although Andriessen also uses non-musical materials as structural models (Hadewijch, the second part of his large-scale work De Materie, is modelled on the structure of Rheims Cathedral).

In addition, Andriessen has drawn some technical influences from the American minimalists, in particular with his acceptance of repetition and the reinstatement of rhythm as something (at least notionally) regular and audible. However, his fondness for rich, dissonant chordal harmonies is a world away from the minimalists' emphasis on consonance and 'beauty'.

Themes
Also central to Andriessen’s output is the tackling of major philosophical topics, frequently by setting philosophical texts wholesale, in their original languages. De Staat, for example, sets sections of Plato’s Republic (Plato dialogue) examining music’s function in society, while De Materie discusses the relationship between mind and matter. An important feature of these works is the avoidance of traditional musical word-setting; like Stravinsky, Andriessen presents the texts in a very ‘straight’ manner, with little or no repetition or emphasis, allowing the audience to make up their own minds as to their meaning. This also allows him, in some situations, to set up a dialectical argument, allowing both sides of a view to be stated so the audience can make up their own minds.

Sound-world
These quite rigid and 'pure' approaches to structure and text-setting are counterbalanced by a jubilantly eclectic stylistic vocabulary and free use of quotation in his work. Andriessen is quite comfortable, as in De Stijl (part four of ‘’De Materie’’), setting Mondrian’s texts on the nature of the straight line to an exhilarating, funk-influenced bass-line; his predilection for saxophones and bass guitar in his orchestras create a sound reminiscent of jazz, in particular big-band, although the chords they play are far more dissonant, and their employment often more varied. Similarly, his vocal writing is distinctive in its lack of vibrato, creating a very direct, somewhat disconcerting sound.

In recent years, Andriessen has turned to writing opera[??, somewhat surprising for one who had previously concurred with Pierre Boulez’s desire to burn opera houses down??]. However, his operas, produced in collaboration with Peter Greenaway, are about as far from the standard mould as it is possible to get, with genuinely challenging, convoluted storylines and varied structural techniques.

Influence
This could go in the biography section - Andriessen's influence as a teacher, on political composers such as the 'Bang on a Can' composers

External link

 * LondonSinfonietta.org: An Andriessen Glossary

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