Patrick van Deurzen

Biography

Patrick Deurzen studied guitar with Dick Hoogeveen and Music Theory with Peter-Jan Wagemans and Jan Kleinbussink at the Rotterdam Conservatory. As a composer he is self-taught but attended classes of instrumentation Klaas de Vries with whom he has had regular work meetings. He also received some composition lessons from Wagemans. He worked as a guitarist, conductor, singer and wrote several articles on 20th-century music. Worked on several documentaries for the NPS, which include Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron and Alban Berg s violin concerto. Currently he is active as a composer and teaches at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and Codarts Rotterdam.

The idea that Pavlovian association is a feature that makes man unique is the starting point of Van Deurzens composing. Music will be meaningful if it is a network of associations. In his works Van Deurzen creates such a network through a dialogue with other music. As a tribute, but also to go through other compositions to come to an own language that remains recognizable. This could be music by Monteverdi, as in the fourth part of his Lamento della ... from his string quartet Seven(2006), but also Miles Davis in ' "Six: a line is a dot That went for a walk (2007), or Tom Waits inLove Song(2009) and funk music in the fourth part of hisFour solos for Bass clarinet(2000-01). Deurzen also often adds text that the musicians should recite to add a different level of meaning to the composition, as in his quintet Choral, Prelude & Fugue(2005) where each part contains texts of Don Quixote. In 2002 he won the Second international composition competition for choral music in Hasselt (Belgium),Deux poèmes the Baudelaire for a cappella choir, conducted by the Flemish Radio Choir.

Compositions