Vredenburg, Max

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Vredenburg, Max

Vredenburg, Max, Dutch composer; b. Brussels (of Dutch parents), Jan. 16, 1904; d. Laren, the Netherlands, Aug. 9,1976. He was taken to the Netherlands as a child and received an elementary musical education there. In 1926 he went to Paris and studied at the École Normale de Musique with Dukas; was a music correspondent for the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche courant (1936-40). He fled the Nazis and went to Java in 1941, where he was interned by the Japanese (1942-45) but was allowed to organize concerts with his fellow internee, Szymond Goldberg. After his liberation, Vredenburg settled in Amsterdam, where he was director of the Dutch section of the Federation Internationale des Jeunesses Musicales (1953-69) and also founder- director of the National Youth Orch. (1957-76). He wrote the book Langs de vijfLijnen (1947).

Works

Au pays des vendanges,wind quintet (1951); Oboe Concerto (1951); Akibafor Mezzo-soprano and Chamber Orch. (1951); Du printempsfor Mezzo-soprano and Chamber Orch. (1952); Lamentofor Viola and Piano (1953); Suite dansantefor Youth Orch. (1956); Horizons hollandaisesfor Orch. (1959); Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon (1965); piano pieces; many songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire