Straesser, Joep

Straesser, Joep, Dutch composer and teacher; b. Amsterdam, March 11, 1934. He studied musicology at the Univ. of Amsterdam (1952–55), then took organ lessons with Van der Horst (1956–59) and theory lessons with Felderhof (1959–61) at the Amsterdam Cons.; also received instruction in composition from Ton de Leeuw (1960–65). He was a church organist (1953–61). From 1962 to 1989 he taught at the Utrecht Cons.

Works

5 Close-ups for Piano (1960–61; rev. 1973); Music for Oboe Quartet (1962); Psalmus for Men’s Chorus, Winds, and Percussion (1963); 22 Pages for Wind Orch., Percussion, and 3 Men’s Voices, after John Cage essays (Hilversum, Sept. 14, 1965); String Quartet No. 2 (1966); Chorai for 48 Strings and Percussion (1966; Hilversum, Sept. 14, 1967; re-composed in 1974 for Full Orch. and retitled Chorai Revisited); Duet for 2 Cellos (1967); Seismograms for 2 Percussionists (1967; rev. 1979); Adastra, music for ballet (1967); Summer Concerto for Oboe and Chamber Orch. (1967; Graz, Oct. 24, 1969); Ramasasiri (Traveling Song) for Soprano, Flute, Vibraphone, Piano, and 2 Percussionists, on texts in the Papuan language (1967–68); Musique pour l’homme for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, and Orch. (1968; Amsterdam, Dec. 9, 1968); Missa for Chorus and Wind Instruments (1969); Intersections I for Wind Quintet and 5 Instrumental Groups spatially positioned (1969), II for 100 or More Musicians (1970; Amsterdam, April 3, 1971; except for percussionists, all orch. members improvise freely), III for Piano (1971), IV for Oboe, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1972), V (A Saxophone’s World) for 4 Saxophones (1974; rev. 1979), and V–2 for Bass Clarinet and Piano (1975); Sight-Seeing I, II, III for Flute and Prepared Piano (1969), IV for Double Bass (1970), and V (Spring Quartet) for String Quartet (1971); Emergency Case for Flute, Piano, and Percussion (1970); Enclosures for Winds and Percussion (1970; as a ballet, Rotterdam, Oct. 3, 1971); Eichenstadt und Abendstern, 6 songs for Soprano and Piano (1972); Encounters for Bass Clarinet and 6 Percussionists (1973); Chorai Revisited for Orch. (1975); Intervals I for Chamber Chorus, Flute, Cello, and Harp (1975–76), II for Chorus and Instruments (1979), and III: Longing for the Emperor, 5 songs for Soprano, Clarinet, Mandolin, Guitar, Percussion, Viola, and Double Bass, after early Japanese texts (1981); 3 Psalms for Chorus and Organ (1976); “Just a moment…” for Piano Trio (1978); “Just a moment again…” for Piano, 2 Percussion, and Strings (1978); Fusian a six, symphonic music (1980); Signals and Echoes for Bass Clarinet and Orch. (1982); Winter Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orch. (1984); lieber Erich M., Singspiel (1985–86); Verzauberte Lieder for Chorus and Orch. (1986); Triplum for Violin, Viola, and Cello (1986); Faites vos jeux for Organ (1986); Motetus for Chorus (1987); Chamber Concerto I for Cello, Winds, Harp, and Percussion (1991), II for Harp and Chamber Orch. (1993), and III for Flute and Chamber Orch. (1993); Sym. No. 3 (1992).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire