Jurriaan Andriessen (1925 - 1996) was a Dutch composer, pianist, and conductor of the 20th century. He was born into a musical family, many of whom had successful careers as musicians or composers, including his father, Hendrik, his uncle Willem, his sister Caecilia, and his brother, Louis. Jurriaan studied with his father at the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands and went on to take lessons with Olivier Messiaen while studying film music in Paris. He would later work with Serge Koussevitzky at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and with companies such as Deutsche Oper, Netherlands Opera, and for many years with Haagse Comedie.

Jurriaan’s most notable musical contributions come in the form of his incidental music, both for stage and screen. It is in this music that we see his vast influences, from the ballet music of Aaron Copland and the neoclassicism of Igor Stravinsky to American film music, folk music, and serialism. This diversity of style can be found throughout his incidental music as well as his chamber music, which totals over 100 works.

Chamber music was a constant in Jurriaan’s life, a genre he composed for well until his final years. He frequently sought to write these pieces to be playable by amateurs or enthusiasts, rather than strictly reserved for professional musicians. By doing so, Jurriaan was able to compose with his all-encompassing style but in an accessible way, allowing more musicians to perform and enjoy his works. As a result, the instrumentation and form of his chamber music are equally as diverse as his style, with Jurriaan frequently composing for uncommon combinations of instruments and creating unique textures. Each work has a different flavor than the next, and though it can be difficult to discern a specific “Jurriaan style,” his mastery of eclectic approaches is distinctive yet consistently approachable.

– notes by Andreas Oeste