Theo Verbey - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Biography

Theo Verbey first achieved recognition for his orchestral arrangement of Alban Berg

Alban Berg

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...

's Piano Sonata, Op. 1

Piano sonata (Berg)

Alban Berg's Piano sonata , Op. 1, was published in 1910, but the exact date of composition is unknown; sources suggest that it was written in 1909. The Sonata is Berg's only piano work to which he gave an opus number.-History:...

, a piece he orchestrated in 1984 while still a student. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague

Royal Conservatory of The Hague

The Royal Conservatory of The Hague is a conservatorium of music, providing higher education in music and dance, it is located in The Hague, Netherlands.-The Conservatory:...

where he graduated in 1986. His principle composition teachers were Peter Schat

Peter Schat

Peter Schat was a Dutch composer.Schat studied composition with Kees van Baaren at the conservatories in Utrecht and The Hague from 1952 until 1958, and then went on to study in London with Mátyás Seiber in 1959 and with Pierre Boulez in Basle in 1960–61...

and Jan van Vlijmen. Upon completing his studies Verbey rapidly became one of the most performed of living Dutch composers. In 1987 he was awarded the Amsterdam Arts Fund's incentive award for young composers, and has since received commissions from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...

, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the London Sinfonietta

London Sinfonietta

The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...

, the Residentie Orchestra

Residentie Orchestra

Het Residentie Orkest is a Dutch orchestra based in The Hague. Its primary venue is the Dr. Anton Philipszaal....

, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra, Klangforum Wien

Klangforum Wien

The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music.Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no official principal conductor. Sylvain Cambreling is...

, the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Deutsche Oper Berlin

The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...

and many others. Theo Verbey teaches at both the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam

Conservatorium van Amsterdam

The Conservatorium van Amsterdam is a Dutch academy of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, the city's vocational university of arts...

, as well as having been on the composition jury for the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition

The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions has been, since its foundation, considered the world over to be one of the most prestigious and most difficult. It is devoted to violin , piano , to composition and to singing...

in Brussels in 1992 and 1997. His work shows a high regard for structure, beauty, and a great historical awareness, as well as a special regard for instrumental color and subtle harmonies.

Works

Recently Theo Verbey completed his second commission for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra: LIED, for Trombone and Orchestra, with Jörgen van Rijen

Jörgen van Rijen

Jörgen van Rijen is Principal Trombone at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam...

as soloist. This piece has since been performed by the Czech Philharmonic in Prague. His Fractal Symphony was chosen by choreographer Regina van Berkel as music to accompany her ballet Memory of a Shape performed by Ballet Mainz in 2009. Van Berkel has now completed a second ballet based on Verbey’s music which was performanced by the ballet company of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

The Deutsche Oper am Rhein is an opera company based in Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The opera also has an associated classical ballet company....

in February/March 2011 under the title Frozen Echo. In November 2010, Theo Verbey's piece Bandersnatch

Bandersnatch

A Bandersnatch is a fictional creature from Lewis Carroll's 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass and 1874 poem "The Hunting of the Snark". Although neither poem describes the appearance of a Bandersnatch in great detail, in "The Hunting of the Snark" it has a long neck and snapping jaws, and both...

for cello and pianola was premiered by Larissa Groeneveld as part of the Amsterdam Cello Biënnale. It was Mr. Verbey's second commission for the Biënnale.

In 2009/2010, Theo Verbey was Composer-in-Residence of the Brabant Philharmonic Orchestra, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In celebration of that orchestra’s 60th jubilee, Verbey was commissioned to compose Orchestral Variations which showcases each section of the orchestra both individually and within the ensemble.

Theo Verbey is currently working on a live music score to accompany the 1919 silent film Die Teufelskirche. The score for large ensemble will make use of the pianola. This is not Theo Verbey's first contact with the medium of film: in 1994, film maker Alejandro Agresti

Alejandro Agresti

Alejandro Agresti is an Argentine film director and producer. He has become increasingly influential in the United States and directed The Lake House with top Hollywood actors Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in 2006....

used Verbey's piece TEGENBEWEGING as the basis of his short film which formed a segment of Hexagon, a film progect made for the Holland Festival

Holland Festival

The Holland Festival is The Netherlands' oldest and largest performing arts festival, and takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theater, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and architecture were added to the festival roster...

.

Orchestrations
In addition to composing his own works, Theo Verbey has earned high regard for his orchestrations. One of his earliest successes, Alban Berg

Alban Berg

's Piano Sonata, Op. 1

Piano sonata (Berg)

, has been performed many times by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others. More recent orchestrations have included an arrangement of Leoš Janáček

Leoš Janácek

Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...

’s piano sonata 1. X. 1905
1. X. 1905
1. X. 1905, also known as Piano Sonata 1.X.1905, is a two-movement piano composition which Leoš Janáček composed in 1905...

. In 2006 Theo Verbey was asked by Amsterdam Sinfonietta to arrange the three remaining movements of Alban Berg

Alban Berg

's Lyric Suite for string orchestra. At the invitation of ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) this version of the Lyric Suite was included in Amsterdam Sinfonietta's successful 2011 tour of six major European cities. Mr. Verbey was granted permission by the heirs of Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

to complete the orchestration of the unfinished 1919 version of Les noces
Les Noces
Les noces by Igor Stravinsky, is a dance cantata, or ballet with vocalists.-History:The ballet was premiered on June 13, 1923 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, by the Ballets Russes with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska...

for voices, pianola, 2 cimbaloms, harmonium and percussion. This version has been so successful that Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Beatrix of the Netherlands

Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...

chose it for her annual Queen’s Day Concert in her palace in The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

External links

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