Jurriaan Andriessen (composer)

Jurriaan Hendrik Andriessen (15 November 1925, Haarlem - 23 August 1996, The Hague) was a Dutch composer. Andriessen studied composition with his father Hendrik at the Utrecht Conservatory before moving to Paris where he studied with Olivier Messiaen. His brother Louis Andriessen (1939-2021) was also a composer and pianist, as well as his uncle Willem (1887-1964). Career The bulk of Andriessen’s output is for the stage; his study in Paris was primarily in writing film music. He had a variety of musical influences which he drew upon, including American film music, Aaron Copland’s ballets, folk music of various cultures, neoclassicism, and serialism; this eclecticism combined with his compositional skill made his writing well-suited to scoring dramatic works. His first stage composition was incidental music for “The Miraculous Hour”, a play premiered at the celebration of the 50th year of Queen Wilhelmina’s reign, in 1948. In 1954 the Haagse Comedie (now the Nationaal Toneel, or “National Theatre”) appointed him resident composer, where he wrote scores for Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, among numerous others. His stay