Diderik Wagenaar (born 10 May 1946 in Utrecht) is a Dutch composer and musical theorist.
Life and work
Wagenaar has lived and worked all his adult life in The Hague. Born to a musical family that includes Johan Wagenaar, he began playing piano at the age of eight and by the time he was fourteen had set his sights on a musical vocation. As a teenager in the early 1960s he loved Renaissance music, Bach, Ravel, and Thelonious Monk; at the age of eighteen he began studying music theory with Jan van Dijk, Hein Kien and Rudolf Koumans and piano with Simon Admiraal at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. As a composer he is essentially self-taught.
It was during his student's chamaar years in the mid-60s that Wagenaar began to develop as a composer. Although fascinated by the concerts given by Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna with the Hague Philharmonic, he admits to having "no real grip" at that time on the musical avant-garde, and began to look around for other starting-points for his own music. In addition to his fascination with jazz, an important encounter at that time was with the music of Charles Ives, which taught him the value of inclusivity. It also encouraged his tendency to attempt a synthesis between tonality and atonality, to connect previously disparate systems of musical thought. Today Wagenaar feels that the notion of a "music of inclusion" can be seen as an important aspect of the new Dutch music as a whole.
His music is closely linked with that of his friend Louis Andriessen and treats similar ideas in perhaps an even more rigorous manner. Though the ideas may be complex, they are always presented in a clear and straightforward manner. His other influences include Stravinsky, a key figure for the composers of the Hague school, but also importantly Monk and John Coltrane.
1973 (revised 1990) Praxis, symphony for two grand pianos with oboe ad libitum
1969 Kaleidofonen I, for alto saxophone and piano
? 2 liedjes: Slaapliedje voor Emanuel - Cradle song, for voice solo
Recordings
Huib Emmer • Diderik Wagenaar • Gilius van Bergeijk includes Kaleidofonen I performed by Gilius van Bergeijk (alto sax) and Gerard Bouwhuis (piano). LP, Ooyevaer Disk 36-31
Diderik Wagenaar: Composers' Voice Portrait Gerard Bouwhuis, Netherlands Wind Ensemble and Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Geert Van Keulen, Arie Van Beek, and Lucas Vis. La Volta, Stadium, Solenne, Liederen (Canzonas) and Metrum. Donemus CV 29
Diderik Wagenaar: Composers' Voice Portrait Ensemble Icebreaker. Metrum (arr. John Godfrey), Rookery Hill and Tam Tam. Donemus CV 94
ConSequenze includes La caccia. Done Composers' Voice KN2. Key Notes (Donemus' magazine) - Special release for subscribers only
Wie is bang voor Nederlandse muziek? includes Rookery Hill by Wagenaar performed by Ensemble Icebreaker (same recording as on Donemus CV 94). Donemus NM Classics 93007
Radio Kamer Orkest - Ernest Bour • Ed Spanjaard • Groot Omroepkoor - Kees van Baaren • Peter Schat • Theo Loevendie • Diderik Wagenaar - Aspects of Music from the Netherlands 17 includes Tessituur performed by Radio Kamer Orkest conducted by Ed Spanjaard. BFO/Radio Nederland
Music Box - 32 composities voor muziekdoos includes Speld. VPRO EigenWijs EW 9413
Rumori - De organisatie van geluid... - 1995/1996 includes Cat Music performed by Marijke van Kooten and Marin Mars
