Music of the Netherlands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For Renaissance music from the Low Countries, see Franco-Flemish School.
The Netherlands has multiple musical traditions, mostly related to nearby German and Belgian forms. Immigrants from Africa and the Middle East have also had a profound effect. Much more so than most non-English speaking European countries, the Netherlands has remained closely in tune with American and British trends.
In the early 19th century, rural Dutch folk began moving to cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, bringing with them folk traditions. Many of their songs and dances, however, began to dwindle in popularity. In the early part of the 20th century, however, a number of urban intellectuals travelled to the countrysides to record with local musicians, a process paralleled in other European countries, such as Spain.
In the 1970s, the Netherlands underwent a roots revival, led by artists like Gerard van Maasakkers, Jos Koning, Dommelvolk and RK Veulpoepers BV, Fungus and Wolverloi. Many of the folk songs performed by these musicians was collected by Cobi Schreijer and Ate Doornbosch, the latter of whom broadcast them on his radio program Onder de groene linde (Under the green lime).
It was in about 1974 that the Dutch folk revival peaked, a year marked by the first recording of Fungus and the birth of Wargaren from the band Pitchwheel.
The mainstream popularity of the Dutch roots revival was short-lived, but it continued in Friesland, where a handful of groups, starting with Irolt in the mid-1970s, sang in Frisian language. Frisian folk music has survived thus, aided in part by the Aaipop Festival in Nylân and annual festival in Joure. At Joure's festival, established in 1955, participants dress in 19th century-style clothes and perform traditional music and dance like the skotsploech ensembles.
Modern revivalists include the Groningen band Törf, Folkcorn, Pekel and Twee Violen en een Bas, Lirio, Dubius, Mus, Matzko and Wè-nun Henk.
Moluccan-Dutch musicians like Tala Mena Siwa and the Moluccan Moods Orchestra have had some success with pop-based Moluccan music, while kaseko, a style from the former Dutch colony of Surinam, has also seen mainstream popularity, primarily due to musicians like William Souvenir and Carlo Jones.
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[edit] Rock
Pioneers of Dutch rock were the so-called Indo-Rock bands from the late 1950s, like The Tielman Brothers. They played rock guitar instrumentals when most of the Netherlands's youth had hardly heard of rock 'n' roll. They stemmed from the Indonesian community in The Hague and were pivotal in earning that city the title of Beatstad ('Beat city') in later years. With 60s bands like Golden Earring and Shocking Blue, and Kane and Anouk in the 90s, The Hague became synonymous for main stream rock.
More progressive music emerged in the 1960s in Amsterdam. In 1964 (see 1964 in music), The Outsiders were the first Dutch psychedelic rock band to become successful.
George Baker acquired international fame with the songs Little Green Bag (1969), and "Una Paloma Blanca" (1975).
Other groups from this era are Cuby & the Blizzards, Shocking Blue, who topped the US charts in 1970 with Venus, Focus, the Golden Earring, The Nits and Blue Diamonds.
From the late 1960s the post war generation gained political influence. Many state subsidised rock venues opened all over the country. These clubs, like Amsterdam's Paradiso and Melkweg, were stepping stones for many alternative rock bands on their first European tour and the Dutch crowd stayed well informed about new British and American acts.
Boudewijn de Groot is a singer/songwriter who has enjoyed popularity throughout the last several decades in the Netherlands.
In the 1980s, owing to the success of Doe Maar and Het Goede Doel, Dutch language pop music (Nederpop) boomed.
Urban Dance Squad's minor American success proved to be influential. Their crossover between rock, funk and rap (rapcore) influenced bands like Rage against the machine.
Meanwhile painter and singer Herman Brood, a former member of Cuby & the Blizzards, became the epitome of the "rock'n'roll junkie", drawing constant media interest up until his death in 2001.
[edit] Rap
Several Dutch groups have played an important role in the development of rap and hiphop in the Netherlands. The Urban Dance Squad, led by Rude Boy (who later also played with Junkie XL), produced an original mix of rock and rap, laying the foundation for the nu-metal hype of the late 90's and early 00's. The Osdorp Posse were the founders of Dutch rap or nederhop. Their frontman, Def P (Pascal Griffioen), switched from English to Dutch in 1988, which made him the first to rap in Dutch. That year, Def P, IJsblok, King and Seda formed the Osdorp Posse. Over the years, they explored all sides of hiphop, from poetic hiphop to politically engaged hiphop. They introduced several Anglicisms in the Dutch language, such as moederneuker ("motherfucker"). Other important Dutch rappers are Extince (Peter Kops), Brainpower (Gert-Jan Mulder), Opgezwolle, Spookrijders, Moordgasten, D-Men, Polderkartel, Ali B (Ali Bouali) and Def Rhymz (Dennis Bouman). Currently, Nicolay is one of the leading hip hop producers to come out of the region.
[edit] Punk
Ivy Green was among the first punk bands, originating from Hazerswoude.
Tedje en de flikkers, a group of homosexuals from Nijmegen, was without doubt the most infamous punk formation of the Netherlands. They sprang from the left wing and gay movements that thrived in Nijmegen during the 70's and 80's. Their provocative performances (politically more than musically) often literally resulted in orgies of sex, drugs and noise. They existed only for three years (1977-1980).
The Ex is an Amsterdam group of musicians making something that could be called punk. De Heideroosjes is also a well-known Dutch punk rock group.
[edit] Jazz
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Famous Dutch jazz musicians include Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink, Willem Breuker, Hans Dulfer and his daughter Candy Dulfer.
The North Sea Jazz Festival attracts artists from international acclaim.
[edit] Electronic music
In the early 90's, Dutch DJ's developed a style of techno music called gabber. The style was developed in reaction to the commercialization of house music. The DJ's stripped the music of what they perceived as excess sounds, Songs were reduced to a high-speed monotonous beat, of sometimes over 260 beats per minute. One of the tracks often cited as the first gabber track is "Amsterdam, waar lech dat dan?" ("Where the Fuck Is Amsterdam?") by the Rotterdam-based group Euromasters. Important gabber groups and DJ's are the Rotterdam Terror Corps, the Dark Raver and Neophyte. Gabbers distinguish themselves through hair (bald heads) and clothes (Australian and Cavello). Many gabbers (but certainly not all) have far-right political tendencies. Nowadays, gabber is usually called hardcore. Gabber also spawned happy hardcore, a commercial offshoot of gabber. Important groups and DJ's in happy hardcore include Charly Lownoise and Mental Theo, Party Animals and Flamman & Abraxas.
The Netherlands has also spawned many Eurodance acts, such as 2 Unlimited, Alice Deejay, the Venga Boys, the Two Brothers on the 4th Floor and Twenty Four Seven. Many of the world's top trance DJ's are Dutch, such as DJ Tiësto, Ferry Corsten and Armin van Buuren. Many foreign DJ's live in and operate from the Netherlands. Drum and bass is also popular in the Netherlands, artists including Noisia and Black Sun Empire.
[edit] Metal
The Netherlands are also known for symphonic metal and gothic metal bands such as Within Temptation, The Gathering, After Forever and Epica. They became successful in the late 90's and in the beginning of the new millennium.
Similar, in the last decade of the previous century a more extreme variety of metal, death metal, have had some success. Bands like Pestilence, Asphyx and Sinister were well-known both in and outside Europe. At the present, bands like God Dethroned, 'Pyaemia' and 'Severe Torture' enjoy a similar status.
[edit] Dutch language
Many Dutch artists have become popular by singings songs in their own language. Especially male folksingers have become popular, such as Jan Smit, André Hazes, Frans Bauer, Gordon, Gerard Joling, René Froger and Koos Alberts.
Marco Borsato is one of the most popular singers in the Netherlands, with several number 1-hits to his name.
Some bands that use the Dutch language in their songs are Acda en de Munnik, Bløf, Van Dik Hout and De Dijk.
[edit] Classical and contemporary classical music
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (April or May, 1562–October 16, 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. Sweelinck was a master improviser, and acquired the informal title of the "Orpheus of Amsterdam." Over 70 keyboard works of his have survived, and many of them may be similar to the improvisations that residents of Amsterdam around 1600 were likely to have heard. Even his vocal music, which is more conservative than his keyboard writing, shows a striking rhythmic complexity and an unusual richness of contrapuntal devices.
His influence was international. Some of his music appears in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, which otherwise mainly contains the work of English composers. Sweelinck wrote variations on John Dowland's internationally famous Lachrimae Pavane, and John Bull, the English keyboard composer, wrote a set of variations on a theme of Sweelinck, indicating the close connection between the different schools of composition across the English Channel.
Alphons Diepenbrock (September 2, 1862 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands - April 5, 1921). He created a musical idiom which, in a highly personal manner, combined 16th-century polyphony with Wagnerian chromaticism, to which in later years was added the impressionistic refinement that he encountered in Debussy's music.
Willem Pijper (1894–1947) is generally considered one of the most important figure in modern Dutch music. Between 1918 and 1922 he grew into one of the more advanced composers in Europe. In each successive work he went a step further and, from 1919, Pijper's music can be described as atonal. However, Pijper remained a composer of strong emotional character, to which his Third Symphony (1926) bears witness. In Pijper's later works the harmonic expression seems at times to approach monotonality. As a teacher Pijper had a great influence on modern Dutch music, teaching many prominent Dutch composers of the 1950's, '60's, and '70's. He was senior master of instrumentation in the Amsterdam Conservatoire, and from 1930 until his death in 1947 he was Head of the Rotterdam Conservatoire.
Ton de Leeuw (born Rotterdam, 16 November 1926 - died Paris, 31 May 1996) is known for his experiments with microtonality. He wrote one opera, Antigone (1990-1991).
Louis Andriessen (born Utrecht: June 6, 1939) is a composer whose early works show experimentation with various contemporary trends: post war serialism (Series, 1958), pastiche (Anachronie I, 1966-67), and tape (Il Duce, 1973). Andriessen's mature music combines the influences of Stravinsky and American minimalism. His harmonic writing eschews the consonant modality of much minimalism, preferring post war European dissonance, often crystallised into large blocks of sound. Large scale pieces such as De Staat [‘Republic’] (1972-76), for example, are influenced by the energy of the big band music of Count Basie and Stan Kenton and the repetitive procedures of Steve Reich, both combined with bright, clashing dissonances. Andriessen's music is thus anti-Germanic and anti-Romantic, and marks a departure from post war European serialism and its offshoots. He has also played a role in providing alternatives to traditional performance practice techniques, often specifying forceful, rhythmic articulations, and amplified, non-vibrato, singing.
Other notable works include Workers Union (1975), a melodically indeterminate piece "for any loud sounding group of instruments"; Mausoleum (1979) for 2 baritones and large ensemble; De Tijd [‘Time’] (1979-81) for female singers and ensemble; De Snelheid [‘Velocity’] (1982-3), for 3 amplified ensembles; De Materie [‘Matter’] (1984-88) a large four part work for voices and ensemble; collaborations with filmmaker and librettist Peter Greenaway on the film M is for Man, Music, Mozart and the operas Rosa: A Horse Drama (1994) and Writing to Vermeer (1998); and the recent La Passione (2000-02) for female voice and ensemble.
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[edit] References
- Bloemendaal, Wim. "Tilting at Windmills". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 207-210. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
