Frans Brüggen facts for kids

Frans Brüggen (1969)]] Frans Brüggen (born October 30, 1934 – died August 13, 2014) was a famous Dutch musician. He was known for being a conductor, a recorder player, and a flute player, especially of baroque music (music from the 1600s and 1700s).

Frans Brüggen's Life Story

Frans Brüggen was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was the youngest of nine children. His father owned a textile factory, and his mother enjoyed singing.

Frans studied the recorder and flute at a music school in Amsterdam. He also studied musicology (the study of music) at the University of Amsterdam. When he was just 21 years old, in 1955, he became a professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

Becoming a Music Star

Frans Brüggen first became famous as a very skilled player of the recorder and baroque flute. He even asked composers to write new pieces just for the recorder, like Gesti by Luciano Berio in 1965. In 1972, he helped start an experimental recorder group called Sour Cream with Kees Boeke and Walter van Hauwe.

Frans Brüggen played the recorder in a new and exciting way. He made the sound and rhythm more flexible, which was new for playing old music. For example, he would slightly change notes in slow parts to make them sound more emotional. He also changed the speed of the music to add feeling. At first, some people didn't agree with his new style, but because of him, these ways of playing old music became more common.

Leading Orchestras

In 1981, Frans Brüggen helped create the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. This orchestra played music from the 1700s using instruments from that time. Even though he didn't have a special title, he was the main conductor of this orchestra until he passed away.

He also worked with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) starting in 1992. He was an important guest conductor for them and later became their Emeritus Conductor in 2007. From 1991 to 1994, he was the conductor of the Radio Kamerorkest in the Netherlands. He continued to lead radio orchestras until 2013, conducting the final concert of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra.

Frans Brüggen was also a visiting professor at famous universities like Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley.

His Recordings

Frans Brüggen made many recordings. As a flautist, he recorded pieces by Jean-Philippe Rameau. As a conductor, he recorded symphonies by famous composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Franz Schubert. He also recorded music from Rameau's operas.

Frans Brüggen's Family Life

Frans Brüggen was married two times and had four daughters. His first marriage was to Ineke Verwayen, and they had two daughters, Laura and Alicia. His second marriage was to Machtelt Israëls, and they had two daughters, Zephyr and Eos. His nephew, Daniël Brüggen, is also a well-known recorder player.

Awards and Special Recognition

Frans Brüggen received several important awards for his contributions to music:

• The Honorary medal for Arts and Science of the Order of the House of Orange (2010)
• Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (2003)