Ruyneman, Daniel

Ruyneman, Daniel , Dutch composer; b. Amsterdam, Aug. 8, 1886; d. there, July 25, 1963. He began his study of music relatively late. He received training in piano from De John and in composition from Zweers at the Amsterdam Cons. (1913–16). In 1918 he was a co-founder of the Nederlansche Vereeniging voor Mod-erne Scheppende Toonkunst, which became the Dutch section of the ISCM in 1922. In 1930 he organized the Netherlands Soc. for Contemporary Music, serving as president until 1962; ed. its journal, Maandblad voor Hedendaagse Muziek (1930–40), until it was suppressed during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands; was general secretary of the ISCM (1947–51). Ruyneman made a special study of Javanese instruments and introduced them in some of his works. He was naturally attracted to exotic subjects with mystic connotations and coloristic effects; also worked on restoration of early music. In 1930 he orchestrated fragments of Mussorgsky’s unfinished opera The Marriage, and added his own music for the missing acts of the score.

Works

DRAMATIC: Opera: De gebroeders Karama-soff (1928); Le Manage (1930). incidental music: De Clown, “psycho-symbolic” play (1915). ORCH.: 2 syms.: No. 1, Symphonie brève (1927), and No. 2, Symphony 1953 (1953; Utrecht, March 14, 1956); Musica per orchestra per una festa Olandese (1936); Concerto for Orchestra (1937); Piano Concerto (1939); Violin Concerto (1940; Amsterdam, Feb. 23, 1943); Partita for Strings (1943); Amphitryon, overture (1943); Amatarasu (Ode to the Sun Goddess), on a Japanese melody, for Chamber Ensemble (1953); Gilgamesj, Babylonian epos (1962). chambers: 3 violin sonatas (No. 2, 1914; No. 3, 1956); Klaaglied van een Slaaf for Violin and Piano (1917); Hiëroglyphs for 3 Flutes, Celesta, Harp, Cup-bells, Piano, 2 Mandolins, and 2 Guitars (1918; the unique cup-bells, which some claim were cast by J. Taylor & Co., Loughborough, England, and which others claim were found by the composer in a London junk shop, were destroyed in a Rotterdam air raid in 1940, and perfs. of the work since then have substituted a vibraphone); Violin Sonata (1925); Divertimento for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, and Piano (1927); Clarinet Sonata (1936); 4 tempi for 4 Cellos (1937); Sonatina in modo antiquo for Cello and Piano (1939); Sonata da camera for Flute and Piano (1942); String Quartet (1946); Nightingale Quintet for Winds (1949); 4 chansons Bengalies for Flute and Piano (1950); Sonatina for Flute and Piano or Harpsichord (1951); Oboe Sonatina (1952); Reflexions II for Flute, Viola, and Guitar (1959), III for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano or Harpsichord (1960–61; reconstructed by R. du Bois), and IV for Wind Quintet (1961); 3 Fantasies for Cello and Piano or Harpsichord (1960). piano: : 3 Pathematologieën (1915); 2 sonatinas (1917, 1954); Sonata (1931); Kleine Sonata (1938); 5 sonatines mélodiques pour l’enseignement moderne du piano (1947). VOCAL: Sows le pont Mirabeau for Women’s Chorus, Flute, Harp, and String Quartet (1917); De Roep (The Call), a color spectrum of wordless vowel sounds for Chorus (1918); Sonata, on wordless vowel sounds, for Chamber Chorus (1931); 4 Liederen for Tenor and Small Orch. (1937); Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Kornets Christoph Rilke for Narrator and Piano (1946; orchestrated 1951); Ancient Greek Songs for Baritone or Bass, Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harp (1954); 5 Melodies for Voice and Piano (1957); 3 chansons de Maquisards condamnes for Alto or Baritone, and Orch. (1957); Reflexions I for Soprano, Flute, Guitar, Viola, Vibraphone, Xylophone, and Percussion (1958–59).

Bibliography

A. Petronio, D. R. et son oeuvre (Liège, 1922).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire