John Borstlap

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John Borstlap (born 4 November 1950, in Rotterdam) is a Dutch composer [1] and author[ citation needed ] on cultural subjects related to music and the visual arts. His work is rooted in German musical traditions[ citation needed ] and he is a proponent of a revival of tonal and classical traditions[ citation needed ].

Contents

Education

John Borstlap studied from 1968 through 1973 at the conservatory in Rotterdam, [2] composition with Otto Ketting and Theo Loevendie, and piano with Elly Salomé. He took a Masters Degree at the University of Cambridge (England) [3] [ self-published source? ]

Early career

After moving to Delft in 1976, Borstlap made a living by private piano teaching and accompanying ballet classes[ citation needed ], while carrying out extensive musical studies[ citation needed ], as well as studies in art history and Jungian psychology [ citation needed ]. The American pianist Christopher Czaja Sager, who had shortly before settled in the Netherlands, discovered some of his piano pieces which he performed many times, including radio recordings. [4] In 1981 Sager premiered Borstlap's Variations for piano and string orchestra (commissioned by the Johan Wagenaar Foundation in The Hague) with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra under Antoni Ros-Marbà with performances in Amsterdam and The Hague.[ citation needed ]

Cambridge and beyond

On the basis of two prizes he had meanwhile won[ citation needed ] with his Violin Concerto (at the Wieniawski Composers Competition[ citation needed ] in Poznan and the Prince Pierre de Monaco Competition[ citation needed ]), Borstlap successfully competed in 1984 for a year postgraduate study at Cambridge University[ citation needed ] on a full British Council Scholarship[ citation needed ], where he obtained his Degree of Master of Philosophy in 1986[ citation needed ]. At the music faculty he studied with Alexander Goehr [ citation needed ]. As Borstlap wrote in his book, The Classical Revolution (2013 / 2017), "understanding the Schönbergian heritage would mean understanding of the origin of musical modernism".

In 1990 the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra under Hartmut Haenchen performed Borstlap's first symphony, Sinfonia.[ citation needed ]

In the nineties Borstlap was involved in various projects, such as an extensive national concert tour of the Ludwig Trio for which he wrote a string trio, [5] and the production of a CD with his chamber music Hyperion’s Dream[ citation needed ]. In 1998 he organized a classical chamber music festival in Haarlem [ citation needed ]. While working on his music, his writings on musical and wider cultural subjects began to be published.[ citation needed ]

The beginning of the new millennium saw various performances of his elaboration of a Wagner sketch, Psyche, in Manchester, the Netherlands and Romania [ citation needed ], and the publication of a long essay: Recreating the Classical Tradition in the tome Reviving the Muse in which Borstlap formulated his latest ideas about the possibilities of a revival of the tonal tradition. [6]

In 2002–2005 Borstlap campaigned, together with two colleagues, for a reform of the national subsidy system for new music[ citation needed ]. A court case in 2012 against the national funding body for new music, which Borstlap won, ended a period of public contestation. [7]

Psyche received a successful performance by the Orchestre National de Montpellier in 2008[ citation needed ]. Since then, interest in Germany and Austria has grown[ citation needed ], resulting among other things in a commission by the Kammersymphonie Berlin for a classical symphony[ citation needed ]. In 2013 his book The Classical Revolution was published by the Scarecrow Press (New York), followed by a second edition[ citation needed ] in 2017 by Dover (New York). [8]

In 2016 his Feierliche Abendmusik (Solemn Night Music) received successful[ citation needed ] performances by the Dallas Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic under conductor Jaap van Zweden (a shared commission by the respective orchestras). [9]

Works

Orchestral / operatic music

Symphonies

Chamber music (selection)

Selected writings

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References

  1. Entartete Musik. Emanuel Overbeeke & Leo Samama. 2004. ISBN   9789053567159.
  2. "John Borstlap Biography". Last.fm.
  3. Borstlap, John. "Biography". johnborstlap.com. John Borstlap. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  4. "Leidse Courant".
  5. "Trio for strings: program note". Donemus.
  6. "Bias and Inanity in Arts Funding". Aristos. Michelle Marder Kamhi.
  7. "Bias and Inanity in Arts Funding: A Tale of Two Composers (Aristos, December 2012)". www.aristos.org. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  8. Daniel, Asia (2014). "Book Review "The Classical Revolution"". Academic Questions. 27: 111–115. doi:10.1007/s12129-013-9398-8 (inactive 1 November 2024). S2CID   242699103.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  9. "Dallas Symphony Announces 2015-16 Season and European Tour". D Magazine. 2015-02-23. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  10. "Henryk Wieniawski Composers Competition". Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society.
  11. "Violin Concerto no. 2, Dreamscape Voyage".
  12. Understanding Music. Roger Scruton. 2009-06-25. ISBN   9781441153555.
  13. "Dallas Symphony Orchestra European tour". Art & Seek. Jerome Weeks. 2015-02-22.
  14. "Library Catalogue". University of Toronto Libraries. 2006.
  15. "Classical Music Review". Gramophone.co.uk. 2013-01-09.
  16. Borstlap, John (2012-12-13). The Classical Revolution. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   9780810884588.