Louis Andriessen

Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although his music was initially dominated by neoclassicism and serialism, his style gradually shifted to a synthesis of American minimalism, big band jazz and the expressionism of Igor Stravinsky. Born in Utrecht into a musical family, Andriessen studied composition under his father Hendrik Andriessen as well as Kees van Baaren and Luciano Berio. Andriessen taught at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from 1974 to 2012, influencing notable composers. His opera La Commedia, based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition and was selected in 2019 by critics at The Guardian as one of the most outstanding compositions of the 21st century. Life and career Andriessen was born in Utrecht on 6 June 1939 to a musical family, His father was professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and later its director. His siblings were composers Jurriaan Andriessen (1925–1996) and Caecilia Andriessen (1931–2019),