Kees van Baaren

In thisDutch name,thesurnameisvan Baaren,notBaaren.

Kees van Baaren(Dutch pronunciation:[ˈkeːsfɑmˈbaːrə(n)];22 October 1906 – 2 September 1970) was a Dutch composer and teacher.

Early years

Van Baaren was born inEnschede.His early studies (1924–29) were inBerlinwith Rudolph Breithaupt (piano) and Friedrich Koch (composition) at theStern conservatory.After returning to the Netherlands in 1929, he studied withWillem Pijper.He adopted Pijper's "germ cell technique" in his compositions from about 1934 onward. While composing some works in an accessible, tonal style, in other pieces he developed toward aserialtechnique, which emerged fully with the Septet for five winds, violin, and double bass (1952).

Career

In 1948 Van Baaren became director of the Conservatoire of the Amsterdam Muzieklyceum Society (later merged into the Conservatoire of Amsterdam). In 1953 he was appointed director of theUtrechts Conservatorium.In 1958 he became director of theRoyal Conservatory of The Hague.His students included many of the leading composers and performers of the next generation, includingLouis Andriessen,Reinbert de Leeuw,Misha Mengelberg,Peter Schat,andJan van Vlijmen.He died inOegstgeest.See:List of music students by teacher: A to B#Kees van Baaren.

Selected works

• Concertino for piano and orchestra (1934)
• Sonatinain memoriam Willem Pijper,for piano (1948)
• The Hollow Men,cantata for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra, text byT. S. Eliot(1948, rev.1955-56)
• Septet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, and contrabass (1952)
• Symphony (1956)
• Variations for orchestra (1959)
• Music for Orchestra
• Partita for wind band (1961)
• String Quartet (1962)
• Wind Quintet (1963)
• Music forCarillon(1964)
• Concerto for piano and orchestra (1964)

Sources

• Hill, Jackson. 1970. "The Music of Kees van Baaren: A Study of Transition in the Music of the Netherlands in the Second Third of the Twentieth Century". DMA diss. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina.
• Kien, Hein. 1976. ‘The Composer Kees van Baaren: Towards a Revaluation of Sound Material’,Key Notes4:4–18.
• Vermeulen, E. 1992. "Kees van Baaren's Antischool",Key Notes26, no. 1:14–17.
• Wouters Jos. 1971. "Kees van Baaren". InNegen portretten van Nederlandse componisten,Dutch Composers' Gallery, 71–87. Amsterdam: Stichting Donemus.
• Wouters, Jos, and André Jurres (eds.) 1962. "Conversations with Dutch Composers: Kees van Baaren and Hans Henkemans". InFifteen years Donemus, 1947–1962: Conversations with Dutch Composers / Gespräche mit niederländischen Komponisten,edited by Jos Wouters and André Jurres, translated by Ian F. Finlay (English) and Elisabeth Meter-Plaut (German), 50–59. Amsterdam: Stichting Donemus.