Theo Verbey Explained

Theo Verbey (5 July 1959 – 13 October 2019) was a Dutch composer. His style could be considered to be associated with Postmodern music. Verbey was also orchestrated Alban Berg's Piano Sonata, Op. 1 in 1984 while still a student.

Biography

His earliest musical memories were of singing nursery rhymes with one of his numerous aunts. He later began playing the recorder and singing in the boys’ choir of his grammar school. He started composing music at the age of seven, writing small pieces for his school orchestra. While in high school, he also wrote some pop songs as well as music for a jazz/rock band of which he was a member.[1]

He studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague where he graduated in 1986. His principal composition teachers were Peter Schat and Jan van Vlijmen.[2] Upon completing his studies Verbey rapidly became one of the most performed living Dutch composers.[3] In 1987 he was awarded the Amsterdam Arts Fund's incentive award for young composers, and since received commissions from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the London Sinfonietta, the Residentie Orchestra, the Dutch Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and many others. Theo Verbey taught at both the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, as well as having been on the composition jury for the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels in 1992 and 1997.[4] His work shows high regard for structure, beauty, and a great historical awareness, as well as a special regard for instrumental color and subtle harmonies. Verbey was a member of a reading club devoted to the study of contemporary thought.

Projects

Later commissions included Traurig wie der Tod, a work for orchestra and chorus premiered by the Netherlands Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Netherlands Radio Choir, conducted by James Gaffigan, as well as Lumen ad Finem Cuniculi, written for philharmonie zuidnederland and conducted by Dmitri Liss. The Brodsky Quartet commissioned Verbey to provide a segment for their celebrated song cycle, Trees, Walls, Cities. Verbey composed 4 Preludes to Infinity for The Stolz Quartet, a work which is included on their CD, Dutch Masters and Their Inspiration. More recently, the duo Andrea Vasi & Sebastiaan Kemner performed Ballade, a work for trombone and piano written especially for them.

In 2007, Theo Verbey completed his second commission for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra: LIED, for Trombone and Orchestra, with Jörgen van Rijen as soloist. His Fractal Symphony was chosen by choreographer Regina van Berkel as music to accompany her ballet Memory of a Shape performed by Ballet Mainz in 2009. Van Berkel also based a second ballet based on Verbey's music, which was performed by the ballet company of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in February/March 2011 under the title Frozen Echo.[5] Memory of a Shape received its Dutch premiere in 2017, when it was performed by Introdans. In November 2010, Theo Verbey's piece Bandersnatch for cello and pianola was premiered by Larissa Groeneveld as part of the Amsterdam Cello Biënnale. It was Mr. Verbey's second commission for the Biënnale.[6]

In 2009/2010, Theo Verbey was Composer-in-Residence of the Brabant Philharmonic Orchestra, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In celebration of that orchestra’s 60th jubilee, Verbey was commissioned to compose Orchestral Variations which showcases each section of the orchestra both individually and within the ensemble.

Verbey also collaborated with Klangforum Wien on their Free Radicals program, providing a score for Man Ray's 1923 film, Retour à la Raison. This was not Theo Verbey's first contact with the medium of film: in 1994, film maker Alejandro Agresti used Verbey's piece TEGENBEWEGING as the basis of his short film which formed a segment of Hexagon, a film project made for the Holland Festival.[7]

In addition to composing his own works, Theo Verbey earned high regard for his orchestrations. One of his earliest successes, Alban Berg's Piano Sonata, Op. 1, has been performed many times by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others. Other orchestrations included an arrangement of Leoš Janáček's piano sonata 1. X. 1905. In 2006 Theo Verbey was asked by Amsterdam Sinfonietta to arrange the three remaining movements of Alban Berg's Lyric Suite for string orchestra.[8] At the invitation of ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) this version of the Lyric Suite was included in Amsterdam Sinfonietta's successful 2011 tour of six major European cities. Mr. Verbey was granted permission by the heirs of Igor Stravinsky to complete the orchestration of the unfinished 1919 version of Les noces for voices, pianola, 2 cimbaloms, harmonium and percussion. This version has been so successful that Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands chose it for her annual Queen's Day Concert in her palace in The Hague. Verbey also orchestrated three Mussorgsky song cycles (Sunless, the Nursery, and Songs and Dances of Death), which are regularly performed. He also arranged Scriabin's Preludes op. 33, as well as Three Choral Preludes by J.S. Bach for oboe, violin, viola and cello.

Educational activities

Theo worked at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague since 1984 as a teacher of Music Theory, where he was known as an intelligent and dedicated teacher with a strong commitment to the education of young musicians. In 1995, he joined the faculty of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, as well.[1]

As a teacher, Verbey was known for his extensive knowledge of the history and development of the art of instrumentation, as well as his precise arrangements and orchestrations. He was devoted to teaching, and took his obligation extremely seriously. He would work out his own solution to every orchestration assignment, so his students could look over his shoulder, as it were. Theo Verbey was held in high esteem by his colleagues, and there was no dispute about his authority as a theorist and orchestrator. He was also known for his kind and considerate approach to students outside the classroom. He demonstrated a similar regard for his colleagues, always being well informed and utterly professional. As a composer, he belonged to a dying species, the "composer-theorist." In the Netherlands, he represented one of the few remaining links between the two disciplines, which have been bound together throughout the history of music.[9]

Theo Verbey Foundation

In September 2020, the non-profit Theo Verbey Foundation was established to honour Theo’s artistic legacy by serving as a platform to preserve and distribute his work. By building a network of people who were connected with Theo, the foundation hopes to create a space in which people who knew Theo and loved his music can feel at home. The foundation collects, organizes, preserves, makes accessible and helps publish Theo’s teaching materials, scores, and performance recordings, and has also consulted with specialized institutions in the Netherlands and abroad to professionalize its activities in areas such as archiving, preservation, management and providing access. The Theo Verbey Foundation is a non-profit organization. The foundation’s board is made up of people whose lives were touched by Theo, and board members receive no remuneration; all funds received go directly to fulfilling the foundation’s objectives.[10]

Works

Orchestra/Large Ensemble

Vocal

Concerto

Solo and Chamber

Instrumentation

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: In Memoriam: Theo Verbey.
  2. Mijnheer, J. (2000). "Theo Verbey", The Essential Guide to Dutch Music
  3. Web site: Composer in the Spotlight: Theo Verbey". https://archive.today/20110720080812/http://www.muziekcentrumnederland.nl/en/contemporary/cov/theo-verbey/ . 20 July 2011. dead.
  4. Samama, L. "Verbey, Theo", Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  5. http://www.operamrhein.de/index.php?page=events&highlight=calendar&sub=detail&id_event_date=7285108&language=en_EN/ World premiere of Frozen Echo by Regina van Berkel
  6. Web site: Pagina niet gevonden | Cello Biënnale Amsterdam. amsterdamsecellobiennale.nl . 2010-11-29.
  7. http://www.idfa.nl/industry/tags/project.aspx?id=B80DD151-F283-4836-A08D-563FFFE97029 Projects
  8. http://www.universaledition.com/Alban-Berg/composers-and-works/composer/51/work/12574 Alban Berg – Lyrische Suite/ for string orchestra
  9. Web site: Newsletter. Dutch-Flemmish Society of Music Theory. dfsmt.net. Spring 2020. 23 July 2023.
  10. Web site: Foundation – Theo Verbey .
  11. Web site: Deuss Music - nieuw gecomponeerde kunstmuziek en opera - Werken - TheoVerbey.
  12. Web site: Theo Verbey - Compositions . 12 August 2016 . 17 September 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160917122934/http://www.theoverbey.com/web/repertoire.aspx . dead .
  13. Web site: Deuss Music - nieuw gecomponeerde kunstmuziek en opera - Componisten - TheoVerbey.
  14. https://theoverbey.instantencore.com/web/video_details.aspx?ItemId=2110529
  15. Web site: Death in Venice – Concertgebouworkest . 22 August 2020 . 24 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201024032835/https://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/en/concert/death-in-venice . dead .
  16. Web site: Deuss Music - nieuw gecomponeerde kunstmuziek en opera - Werken - TheoVerbey.
  17. Web site: Jansons and Eva-Maria Westbroek – RCO . 22 August 2020 . 13 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180113055040/https://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/en/concert/jansons-and-eva-maria-westbroek . dead .
  18. Web site: Deuss Music - nieuw gecomponeerde kunstmuziek en opera - Werken - TheoVerbey.
  19. Web site: Deuss Music - nieuw gecomponeerde kunstmuziek en opera - Werken - TheoVerbey.
  20. Web site: Universal Edition.
  21. Les Noces (1919 Version; Verbey completion)
  22. Web site: Universal Edition.
  23. Web site: Cappella Gabrieli - Rotterdam Chamber Choir - early music - polyphonic renaissance.
  24. Web site: Deuss Music - nieuw gecomponeerde kunstmuziek en opera - Werken - TheoVerbey.

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