Margriet Hoenderdos was a Dutch composer. She was born in Santpoort, Netherlands, and studied piano with Thom Bollen at the Zwolle Conservatory. She continued her studies in composition at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Ton de Leeuw, and worked in the electronic studio at the Conservatory. In 1985 she ended her studies and received a Prize for Composition. After completing her education, Hoenderdos worked as a composer and taught music privately and at the music school in Zwolle. After 1987 she worked as full-time as a composer.
Composition style
Hoenderdos’ works are characterized by a rigorous methodological approach rarely encountered in contemporary Dutch music; a “radical research into the essence of sound”. The relationships between various aspects of sound determine the structure of her works, creating not abstract but vital, colourful and even obstinate music. Hoenderdos does not let her emotions or experiences influence her compositions. Since the early 1990s her exclusion of non-musical factors is also reflected in her titles, which are simply the month and year in which they were written. Es verjüngt sich nach unten for right handpiano solo is based on the relationship between tempo and density. In Lex inertiae no.2 for solo viola, the left hand has little to do while the right hand concentrates on various techniques. De lussen van Favery is Hoenderdos’ response to poetry by Hans Favery that he specifically asked her to set to music. Instead of creating a traditional song cycle to Favery’s words, she created a woodwind quintet, framed as nine short movements. Maart ‘98, for string quartet, relies heavily on uncoordinated glissandi of varying speeds, leaving the ear unsure whether a subtly coloured and delicate twine is taking form or steadily unravelling. Juli ‘06, scored for unaccompanied soprano voice, is inspired by a poem written by Hoenderdos’ partner Bas Geerts, in reaction to rhetoric from the White House, specifically President George Bush’s 2003 State of the Union speech. It incorporates a mix of languages and is challenging to perform.
Works Performed
Oerknal, a collective of international musicians based in The Netherlands, presented a program of string quartets called “Songs and Labyrinths” for their 2017-18 season, featuring Hoenderdos’ September ‘00, a ten-minute collage of delicate gestures and vertical sound blocks at once meditative and fleeting.
Reception
In response to works by Hoenderdos including De Lussen Van Favarey, Maart ‘98 and Juli ‘06, Samuel Vriezen said, “By their networks of structures these pieces create ambiguous labyrinths in which a striking music is hiding in plain sight. As you enter them by listening, I hope Hoenderdos' music will find you, and introduce you to its richly nuanced, ever changing universes.”
