Margriet Hoenderdos facts for kids

Margriet Hoenderdos (born May 6, 1952 – died October 14, 2010) was a talented Dutch composer. She was born in Santpoort, Netherlands. Margriet started her musical journey by studying piano at the Zwolle Conservatory. Later, she focused on composing at the Amsterdam Conservatory, learning from Ton de Leeuw. She also worked in the Conservatory's electronic music studio. In 1985, she finished her studies and was awarded a special Prize for Composition.

After her education, Hoenderdos worked as a composer. She also taught music to students both privately and at the music school in Zwolle. After 1987, she dedicated herself fully to composing music.

Her Unique Music Style

Margriet Hoenderdos's music is known for being very organized and precise. She deeply explored the basic nature of sound. She focused on how different sounds relate to each other to build her musical pieces. This created music that was not abstract, but lively, colorful, and even strong. Margriet made sure her personal feelings or experiences did not influence her compositions.

Since the early 1990s, she showed this focus by giving her pieces simple titles. They were just the month and year when she wrote them.

Es verjüngt sich nach unten (1983) is a piano piece for the right hand only. It explores how the speed of the music connects with how many notes are played at once.

In Lex inertiae no.2 (1989), a solo piece for viola, the musician's right hand does most of the work. It uses many different playing techniques.

De lussen van Favery (1990) was Margriet's musical answer to poems by Hans Favery. He specifically asked her to set his words to music. Instead of a traditional song, she created a woodwind quintet. It has nine short movements.

Maart ‘98 (1998) is a string quartet. It uses many sliding notes (called glissandi) that move at different speeds. This makes it hard for the listener to tell if a delicate sound is forming or falling apart.

Juli ‘06 (2006) is for a single soprano voice without instruments. It was inspired by a poem written by her partner, Bas Geerts. The poem was a reaction to political speeches, like one by President George Bush in 2003. This piece mixes different languages and is very challenging to perform.

Performances of Her Works

Oerknal, a group of musicians from different countries based in the Netherlands, featured Hoenderdos's music. For their 2017-18 season, they presented string quartets in a program called “Songs and Labyrinths.” This included her piece September ‘00. It is a ten-minute work with delicate sounds and strong musical blocks. It feels both calm and fleeting.

Selected Works

For Orchestra

• Het nieuwe verlaat for orchestra (1985)
• Hunker, schor en hasselaar for orchestra (1989)
• July '90 for orchestra (1990)
• Augustus '92 for large wind orchestra (1992)

For Chamber and Solo Instruments

• Blue Time for two pianos (1981)
• Camilla for flute solo (1983)
• Es verjüngt zich nach unten for piano solo (right hand) (1983)
• Bevalt u deze tuin [Do you Like this Garden] for guitar and cello (1986)
• Borrowed Flesh for organ (1986, rev. 1987)
• List for 11 wind instruments, piano and double bass (1987)
• ZICH-wederkerende bewegingen for 7 instrumentalists (1987)
• Gruis for Zwaanenburg alto flute (1987)
• Lex inertiae No.1 for harpsichord and 3 rattles (1989)
• Lex inertiae No. 2 for viola solo (1989)
• De lussen van Faverey for woodwind quintet (1990)
• Augustus '91 for piano solo (vorsetzer [automated]) (1991)
• December '91 for 2 Eb clarinets (1991)
• Juli '93 for string quartet (1993)
• Augustus '93 for string quartet (1993)
• Augustus '96 for solo piano (1996)
• July '96 for 6 percussionists (1996)
• January '97/DOORZICHTIG for saxophone quartet (1997)
• December '02 for viola solo (2002)
• Februari '03 for viola solo (2003)

For Voices

• Februari '96 for 6 male and 6 female voices (1996)
• July '97 for voice solo (1997)
• Juli ‘06 for soprano voice solo (2006)

Tape Music

• Bande Amorce (1983)
• Ballade op een balustrade (film score, dir. F. Jochems) (1984)
• De spiegelzaal (film score, dir. Jochems) (1985)
• Singularity IV (1999)