Peter-Jan Wagemans
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
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Wagemans studied organ (diploma 1974), composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
with Jan van Vlijmen (diploma 1975) and music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
(diploma 1977) at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. After his studies he also worked with Klaus Huber
Klaus Huber
Klaus Huber is a Swiss composer.Huber was born in Bern, Switzerland. One of the leading figures of his generation in Europe, he has written extensively for chamber ensembles, choirs, soloists and the orchestra as well as the theater...
in Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
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According to Wagemans' philosophy, music is shaped in the observation of the listener. Therefore Wagemans tries to focus on ways a work can be recognised, rather than on its fundamental structure. He generally makes use of what he prefers to call musical archetypes, unifying ambivalent elements.
Peter-Jan Wagemans is one of the founders of the Rotterdam School
Rotterdam School
The term Rotterdam School is used to refer to a group of composers related to the city of Rotterdam.What started in the final decade of the twentieth century within a small circle of composition students at the Rotterdam Conservatory with a manifesto by Rotterdam composer Oscar van Dillen, has been...
. He teaches composition and music theory at the Rotterdam Conservatory since 1984.
Wagemans founded the Dutch Doelen Ensemble and for some years was also the artistic director of the Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
-based Holland Symfonia
Holland Symfonia
The Holland Symfonia is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based in Haarlem, The Netherlands. The term "Symfonia" derives from an amalgam of the Dutch word symfonie and the Italian word sinfonia...
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Orchestral works
- Muziek I (1974)
- Muziek II (1977, rev. 1979)
- Muziek III (1986, rev. 1987)
- Muziek IV (1988)
- Muziek V
- SymphonySymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
nr.6, PanthalassaPanthalassaPanthalassa , also known as the Panthalassic Ocean, was the vast global ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea, during the late Paleozoic and the early Mesozoic years. It included the Pacific Ocean to the west and north and the Tethys Ocean to the southeast...
(1994) - The City and the Angel (1996/1997)
- SymphonySymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
nr.7 (1998/1999) - Moloch (2000)
Chamber music
- Het landschap - for piano solo (1989/90)
- Concerto - for 2 pianos (1993)
- Ewig - for piano and percussion (1993)
- String QuartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
(1997/1998) - Frage: worauf hoffen? - for 2 celli (1999)
Discography
- 1995 Highlights (Composers' VoiceDonemusDonemus is the Dutch institute dealing with the documentation of contemporary music composed in the Netherlands....
) - 1997 Het landschap (Attacca Babel)
- 2001 Portrait (Cybele Records)