Sem Dresden
Encyclopedia
Samuel Dresden was born in Amsterdam
, April 20, 1881, and died at The Hague
, July 30, 1957). He was a Dutch
conductor, composer and teacher.
. On the strength of a promising piano piece, he was sent to study composition and conducting under Hans Pfitzner
at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin
between 1903-5 and was there encouraged to take an interest in Impressionist music
. After returning to the Netherlands, he was until 1914 a choral conductor, as choirmaster at Laren
, Amsterdam and Tiel
. It was during this period that he married the noted alto Jacoba Dhont, by whom he was to have two sons. Then until 1926 he directed the nine-member Madrigal Society, which earned an international reputation for its painstaking performances of Renaissance, Baroque and contemporary choral music, and afterwards, from 1928 to 1940, a larger chamber choir in Haarlem. To the repertoire of all of these he contributed compositions and arrangements of his own.
From 1915 he lectured on musical subjects, both in Holland and in Belgium. In 1918, with Daniel Ruyneman and Henri Zagwijn, he founded the Society of Modern Dutch Composers (which, however, had ceased to exist by 1924). He began teaching composition at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 1919, achieving the post of director in 1924. From 1937-41 he served as director of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, a post he was forced to leave after the Nazi take-over, and then again from 1945-49. Among his pupils were the composers Leo Smit, Willem van Otterloo
, Jan Mul
and Cor de Groot
and the conductor Eduard van Beinum
. After retiring from teaching in 1949, he devoted himself fully to composition and many of his better-known works were composed very late in his life. Dresden also wrote criticism for the newspaper De Telegraaf
(1918–27) and wrote two books on modern music. Shortly before his death he converted to Roman Catholicism.
's St Antoine (written for the 1953 international congress of church music in Augsburg), Psalm 84 (1954) and St Joris (1955), Dresden emerged as his country’s leading twentieth-century composer of oratorios and festive choral music. The Chorus symphonicus, his most monumental composition, was largely written during his internment in World War II
. It contrasts with the operetta Toto (1945), written after his liberation, which is about a little dog concealed from the licensing authorities and a humorous representation of his own existence during the Occupation.
Dresden’s last composition was the one-act opera François Villon, that his pupil Jan Mul orchestrated after his death, and the work was first performed during the 1958 Holland Festival.
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...
, April 20, 1881, and died at 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...
, July 30, 1957). He 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...
conductor, composer and teacher.
Life
Dresden was born into a Jewish diamond-broking family and initially studied musical theory with Fred Roeske and composition with Bernard ZweersBernard Zweers
Bernard Zweers was a Dutch composer and music teacher.-Life:Bernard Zweers was born in 1854 as the son of an Amsterdam book- and music shopkeeper...
. On the strength of a promising piano piece, he was sent to study composition and conducting under Hans Pfitzner
Hans Pfitzner
Hans Erich Pfitzner was a German composer and self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera Palestrina, loosely based on the life of the great sixteenth-century composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.-Biography:Pfitzner was born in Moscow, Russia, where his...
at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
between 1903-5 and was there encouraged to take an interest in Impressionist music
Impressionist music
Impressionism in music was a tendency in European classical music, mainly in France, which appeared in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Similarly to its precursor in the visual arts, musical impressionism focuses on a suggestion and an atmosphere...
. After returning to the Netherlands, he was until 1914 a choral conductor, as choirmaster at Laren
Laren
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 oldest town in that area. It is one of the richest towns in the Netherlands, along with its neighbour Blaricum...
, Amsterdam and Tiel
Tiel
' is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands.The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river on the south and the north side, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal on the east side. The city was founded in the 5th century AD....
. It was during this period that he married the noted alto Jacoba Dhont, by whom he was to have two sons. Then until 1926 he directed the nine-member Madrigal Society, which earned an international reputation for its painstaking performances of Renaissance, Baroque and contemporary choral music, and afterwards, from 1928 to 1940, a larger chamber choir in Haarlem. To the repertoire of all of these he contributed compositions and arrangements of his own.
From 1915 he lectured on musical subjects, both in Holland and in Belgium. In 1918, with Daniel Ruyneman and Henri Zagwijn, he founded the Society of Modern Dutch Composers (which, however, had ceased to exist by 1924). He began teaching composition at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 1919, achieving the post of director in 1924. From 1937-41 he served as director of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, a post he was forced to leave after the Nazi take-over, and then again from 1945-49. Among his pupils were the composers Leo Smit, Willem van Otterloo
Willem van Otterloo
Jan Willem van Otterloo was a Dutch conductor, cellist and composer.-Biography:Van Otterloo was born in Winterswijk, Gelderland, in the Netherlands, the son of William Frederik van Otterloo, a railway inspector, and his wife Anna Catharina Enderlé...
, Jan Mul
Jan Mul
Jan Mul was a Dutch composer, mainly of church music. He studied with Sem Dresden at the Amsterdam Conservatory, and orchestrated the latter's opera Francois Villon after his death....
and Cor de Groot
Cor de Groot
Cor de Groot was a renowned Dutch pianist and composer.He was born in Amsterdam. He studied piano with Egbert Veen and Ulferts Schults, and composition and conducting under Sem Dresden. In 1932 he graduated with highest honours, playing a piano concerto written by himself...
and the conductor Eduard van Beinum
Eduard van Beinum
Eduard van Beinum was a Dutch conductor.-Biography:Beinum was born in Arnhem, Netherlands, where he received his first violin and piano lessons at an early age. He joined the Arnhem Orchestra as a violinist in 1918. His grandfather was conductor of a military band...
. After retiring from teaching in 1949, he devoted himself fully to composition and many of his better-known works were composed very late in his life. Dresden also wrote criticism for the newspaper De Telegraaf
De Telegraaf
De Telegraaf is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper, with a daily circulation of approximately . De Telegraaf is based in Amsterdam...
(1918–27) and wrote two books on modern music. Shortly before his death he converted to Roman Catholicism.
Music
The compositions written after Dresden returned from Berlin show largely French influences, as in the four suites for wind and piano composed for the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Sextet (1912-14) and the Sonata for Flute and Harp (1918). His later music is essentially tonal, but with variations of his own; it also shows the influence of his long involvement with Renaissance polyphony. Through his choral experience he became fascinated with traditional Dutch songs, of which he made many popular arrangements. In addition, he used these tunes to generate themes in original compositions. In the Chorus tragicus (1927), to a text by Vondel concerning the fall of Jerusalem, the Chorus symphonicus (based on Biblical psalms, 1943-56), the oratorio based on Gustave FlaubertGustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...
's St Antoine (written for the 1953 international congress of church music in Augsburg), Psalm 84 (1954) and St Joris (1955), Dresden emerged as his country’s leading twentieth-century composer of oratorios and festive choral music. The Chorus symphonicus, his most monumental composition, was largely written during his internment in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It contrasts with the operetta Toto (1945), written after his liberation, which is about a little dog concealed from the licensing authorities and a humorous representation of his own existence during the Occupation.
Dresden’s last composition was the one-act opera François Villon, that his pupil Jan Mul orchestrated after his death, and the work was first performed during the 1958 Holland Festival.
Works
- Sonata for violin and piano, 1905 (Amsterdam with Carl FleschCarl FleschCarl Flesch was a violinist and teacher.Carl Flesch was born in Moson in Hungary in 1873. He began playing the violin at seven years of age. At 10, he was taken to Vienna, and began to study with Jakob Grün. At 17, he left for Paris, and joined the Paris Conservatoire...
) - Sextet for strings and pianoforte (June 1911, Amsterdam)
- Three Sextets for wind instruments and pianoforte (1912, 1914, Amsterdam)
- Trio for two oboes and cor anglais (1912, Amsterdam)
- Duo for two pianofortes (31 January 1914, Amsterdam, Sisters Roll)
- Suites for Piano and Violin, No. 1-3, 1911-20
- Theme and Variations, orchestral, 1913
- Sonata for cello and piano, (January 14 1918, Arnhem, Thomas Canivez and composer)
- Sonata for flute and harp (6 November 1918, The Hague, Rosa Spier and Klasen)
- Wachterlied, unaccompanied chorus (27 August 1919, Amsterdam, Madrigaalvereenigung)
- Chorus Tragicus, 1927
- Violin Concerto No. 1 (1936)
- Symphonietta, clarinet and orchestra, 1938
- O Kerstnacht, 1939
- Oboe Concerto, 1939
- Violin Concerto No. 2 (1942)
- Piano Concerto (1942)
- Assumpta est Maria, 1943
- Sonata for Solo Violin, 1943
- Suite for Solo Cello, 1943-47
- Chorus symphonicus 1943-56
- Toto, operetta, 1945
- Gelukkig is het land (Happy is the Land by Bertus AafjesBertus Aafjes' , known as ', was a Dutch poet whose work is marked by his devout Catholicism. was born in Amsterdam. He wrote poems on the resistance to the German occupation during the World War II...
), 1948; - Flute Concerto, 1949
- Hor ai dolor, piano, 1950
- Psalm 94, 1950;
- Beatus vir, male chorus, 1951;
- Dansflitsen, orchestral suite, 1951
- Organ Concerto, 1952-3
- Den aap en de katte (The Monkey and the Cat by Joost van den VondelJoost van den VondelJoost van den Vondel was a Dutch writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most frequently performed, and his epic Joannes de Boetgezant , on the life of John the Baptist, has...
), a capella male chorus, 1953; - Saint Antoine, oratorio, 1953
- 3 Vocalises, 1954;
- Psalm 84, 1954;
- Carnavals Cantate, for male choir and orchestra, 1954–5;
- Symfonie concertante, 1956
- Rembrandt's Saul and David, for soprano and orchestra, 1956
- Francois Villon, opera, 1956-57; orch. Jan MulJan MulJan Mul was a Dutch composer, mainly of church music. He studied with Sem Dresden at the Amsterdam Conservatory, and orchestrated the latter's opera Francois Villon after his death....