Tristan Keuris was a Dutch

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...

.

Keuris initially studied with Jan van Vlijmen in Amersfoort. At the age of 15 he started his studies with Ton de Leeuw

Ton De Leeuw

Antonius Wilhelmus Adrianus de Leeuw was a Dutch composer. He was known for his experiments with microtonality....

 at the Utrecht Conservatory. Upon graduating from the conservatory he received the 'Prijs voor compositie' (1969). He strongly admired composers like Mahler, Webern and Stravinsky. He taught composition at the conservatories in Hilversum

Hilversum

is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

, Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

 and 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...

. He also taught at masterclasses and gave lectures in the United States, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom. Keuris received international recognition with the symphonic work Sinfonia (1972/74), first performance in 1976. Many of Tristan Keuris works were written on commission, like the Saxophone Quartet Concerto (1986) on commission from the Dutch Government

Cabinet of the Netherlands

The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Rutte cabinet.-Composition and role:...

, Catena (1988), for the 100th anniversary of 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...

, Symphonic transformations (1987) for the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Concerto for two cellos (1992) for the BBC (Manchester Cello Festival).

Awards

• 1975 Matthijs Vermeulenprijs (for 'Sinfonia')
• 1982 Cultuurprijs van Hilversum
• 1995 Koussevitzky Foundation Award

Works

• 3 preludes for piano (1959, manuscript)
• Baldur en de bosnymph - symfonisch gedicht (1960, manuscript)
• Wind quintet (after Schönberg, 1962, lost)
• String quartet (1963)
• Songs on texts by Guillaume de Machaut (1964, lost?)
• Quartet for Orchestra (1967)
• Libra for clarinet and piano (1967?)
• Quartet no.2 for orchestra (1969, published by Donemus, withdrawn before its 1st public performance)
• Piano sonata (1970)
• Altosaxophone concerto (1971)
• Music for clarinet, violin and piano (1973)
• Sinfonia (1972-'74)
• Serenade for oboe and orchestra (1976)
• Fantasia for flute solo (1976)
• piano concerto for Theo Bruins (1976, not identical with the 1980 concerto, unfinished short score)
• Violin sonata (1977)
• Concertino (1977 rev '78)
• Capriccio (1978)
• Piano concerto (1980)
• 8 Miniatures (1980)
• Movements for orchestra (1981)
• Divertimento (1982)
• String quartet no.1 (1982)
• 7 Pieces for orchestra with bassclarinet (1983)
• Clarinet quartet (1983)
• Violin Concerto no.1 (1984)
• Pianotrio (1984)
• String quartet nr.2 (1985)
• Variations for Strings (1985)
• Aria for flute and piano (1985, premiered November 27th 1985 in Wageningen)
• Concerto for Saxophone quartet and orchestra (1986)
• Music for Saxophones (Saxophone quartet no.2) (1986)
• Aria for flute and orchestra (1987) (for the Scheveningen Muziek Concours 1988)
• Symphonic Ttansformations (1987)
• To Brooklyn Bridge (1987)
• Intermezzi for winds (1988)
• Catena (1988)
• Quintet for Clarinet and Strings (1988)
• 3 Sonnets for altosaxophone and orchestra (1989)
• Canzone (1990)
• Passegiate for 4 recorders (1990)
• L'Infinito (1990)
• Michelangelo Songs (1990)
• Antologia for Orchestra (1991)
• Concerto for 2 'cellos and orchestra (1991/92)
• Concerto for organ and orchestra (1993)
• Laudi - a symphony for soloists, choir and orchestra (1993)
• 3 Preludes for Orchestra (1994)
• String sextet (1994)
• Chamber concerto (1995)
• Symphony in D (1995)
• Arcade - 6 more preludes for orchestra (1995)
• violin concerto no.2 (1995)
• Songs on German texts (1996, short score only, unfinished)
• Work for 8-part female chorus (1996, sketches)
• clarinet concerto (1996, sketches)

Keuris also composed music for television and radio commercials (1970s) and filmscores for "De Mannetjesmaker" and "Oeroeg"

Discography

On the Emergo Classics label:

• To Brooklyn Bridge (1988) for 24 voices and ensemble
• Intermezzi (1989) for wind ensemble
• L'infinito (1990) for vocal quintet and ensemble
• Violin concerto 2 (1995)
• Symphony in D (1995)
• Laudi (1992/93) A symphony for mezzo soprano, baritone, two mixed choirs and orchestra
• Arcade (1995) Six preludes for orchestra
• String quartet No.1 (1982)
• String quartet no.2 (1985)
• Clarinet quartet (1988) for clarinet and string quartet
• Concertino for string quartet and bass clarinet (1976/77, revision 1979)

On the Challenge Records International label: Complete Works (2010)