Bernard Zweers

Bernard Zweers ( born May 18, 1854 in Amsterdam, † December 9, 1924 ) was a Dutch composer and conductor.

Life

Bernard Zweers ( spelling of the first name occasionally Bernhard ) was born the son of a local music dealer. Since his childhood he has been plagued by tinnitus. Nevertheless, he started with 14 years to compose and bought himself because his father did not think much of it, secretly theory books. A Mass for male choir and organ of the young self-taught artist has been performed in several churches. 1881 finally saw Zweers ' Symphony No. 1 under his own line premiered. Only after he took up studying music at Salomon Jadassohn in Leipzig. After returning to Amsterdam, he initially worked as a choral conductor, and from 1895 to 1922 as a professor of harmony and composition at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Among his students was one example Hendrik Andriessen ( father of the composer Louis Andriessen ). In his later years, an increasing deafness made ​​itself felt.

Work

Zweers sought a national- patriotic -oriented music and put his vocal works, apart from some church music compositions exclusively Dutch texts made ​​(eg by Nicolaas Beets and Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten Kate ). Stylistically mingle in his works borrowed from the Dutch folk music with a distinctly influenced by Richard Wagner melody and harmony. Zweers ' wife was a singer, for which he composed several songs. Chamber music he wrote, however, hardly.

Orchestral works

• Symphony No. 1 in D major (1881 )
• Symphony No. 2 in E flat major (1883 )
• Symphony No. 3 Aan mijn Vader Country (1890)
• Ouverture Saskia (1906 ), created on the occasion of a Rembrandt exhibition
• Incidental music to Gysbrecht van Aemstel (1892 )

Choral works

• Cantata De cosmos (1883 )
• Coronation Cantatas (1897-1898), in honor of Queen Wilhelmina
• Leo cantate (1902 )
• Aan de schoonheid (1909, with soloists and orchestra ).