Richard Rijnvos

(Tilburg, 1964)

John Snijders

John Snijders

The descriptive titles of his works, which often refer to cities or other locations, do not immediately reveal that Richard Rijnvos is first and foremost a radical composer. Someone who generates tones from non-musical, numerical sources such as magic squares and chessboards — and who loves to endlessly stack melodic lines on top of each other. This rigorous, dispassionate approach produces sensual works that bear a unique signature.

Since the mid-1990s Rijnvos has mainly created musical works that are part of a larger cycle. Since 2001, he has been working on various cycles simultaneously. Uptown|Downtown, completed in 2008, is an ode to urban life in New York City. A second cycle about Venice and a third, Riflessi, consist of ‘companion pieces’ to existing classics: works with the same unconventional scoring as the original from which they stem.

The composer has a fascination for geolocations and cartography. He is currently working on Amérique du Nord, commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, with whom he has been composer-in-residence since 2011. This will be the second part of Grand Atlas, a cycle in which each of the seven world continents is represented musically. The seventh part of the series, Antarctique, was first performed during the Holland Festival 2012, also by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The third part, Asie, premiered this year during the NTR ZaterdagMatinee performed by the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado.

Rijnvos has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Matthijs Vermeulen Award in both 2000 and 2011.

www.richardrijnvos.com