Music
Kronenburg has a lively
music life. In the country's two larger cities all sorts of music
fans come together to enjoy everything that is offered. Though some
well known popular artists and groups originate from Kronenburg,
they don't manage to make it to the number ones in the local hit
parades; foreign productions are much more favoured by the
Kronenburg public. The hopes of (beginning) Kronenburg bands are not
very high, which results in a lesser quality of music. The local
jazz-scene however thrives and - surprisingly - mostly in Dutch. A
Kronenburg jazz legend is the singer Patricia Boom (1950 - 1997),
who was very famous in the seventies and eighties with her band, the
Boomers. At this moment her large oeuvre (which was collected
on 23 gramophone records at the time) is being re-issued on cd.
After her passing away the band continued performing as an
instrumental ensemble. Other well known vocal artists are - amongst
others - Johnny Engels (1928 - 2001), Bernhard Sieger (*1963) and
Andrea Hennetved (*1970). Besides them there are many known
instrumental artists.

View over the city of Noordeinde |
Though Kronenburg has a
large number of composers who are famous in their own country, very
few of them manage to break through abroad. Some of them even could
have become known as the inventors of certain new developments in
classical music, which nowadays are supposed to be invented by
others. The twelve tone technique for instance was used in 1887 by
Otto ten Doornkaat (1863 - 1920) in his Dodekatoniko for
string octet, far before Arnold Schönberg would make it publicly
known. Ten Doornkaat however wasn't popular even in Kronenburg; in
modern times only his Concertino for two pianos and strings can be
heard frequently. For Kronenburg standards he was too modern and
even now atonal music is hardly accepted by the Kronenburg public,
the present day composer Michiel Talsma Tjallingha (*1972) booking
some success with this category of music. Kronenburg composers of
(semi-) atonal music who are known outside of Kronenburg, are the
members of the so called Seppian School. Amongst them is the
Seppian-Kronenburg composer Jan Ylieen (1902 - 1979), whose music
has been getting more attention from Kronenburg music lovers
recently.
The history of Kronenburg
classical music starts with the female composer Elina Tadema (1774 -
1815; after her marriage in 1794 Staegeman-Tadema). She was a
gifted violinist and pianist as well as a composer. She wrote some
large scale orchestral works before her marriage, amongst which a
symphony, two piano concertos, two violin concertos and a large
amount of string quartets. Her husband, Karl Staegeman (1764 -
1925), forbade her to continue her career and from that moment she
officially ceased her compositional activities. Visiting (female)
friends however she managed to compose some more works. Until her
early death at least twelve works were written: two more symphonies,
three more violin concertos and a third piano concertos, amongst
some other, minor compositions. Some of these pieces were discovered
as early as 1830, not long after Karl Staegeman's death. The fourth
violin concerto however was added to the list in 1998. A descendant
of a friend of the composer passed away in that year and the
concerto was discovered among her possessions. Staegeman-Tadema's
style was purely classical, especially in her later works, with a
quality comparable with that of European composers like Mozart,
Haydn and Beethoven. It is probably because of the intolerance of
Karl Staegeman that his wife's name is not mentioned with those of
the great composers.
Another composer, but from
a later generation, is Diderik van Meppel (1812 - 1849). While in
Europe romanticism has already begun for years, Van Meppel amazed
the Kronenburg music life in 1829 with a purely classical first
violin concerto. Although somewhat old fashioned, the composer
became instantly famous. In 1845 however he confessed himself to
romanticism with his third string quartet, and he subsequently
destroyed all his unpublished works.
The era of romanticism as
intended by European composers like Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and
Felix Mendelssohn, has, apart from Van Meppel, few followers in
Kronenburg. It is Bart Frama (1851 - 1892) who becomes the most
important supporter of the leading music from this period. Like
Edvard Grieg and Antonín Dvořák he uses popular music as an important ingredient of
his compositions. Kronenburg did not have any specific popular music
of its own at that time, so Frama had to invent it first. Many
Kronenburg composers have been influenced by Frama's style; in his
own generation he is however dominant.

A tram passing the Kronenburgerstraatweg, much to the
annoyance of the Seppian ambassador |
In 1889 the first symphony
of Martinus-Jan Hansema (1870 - 1959) premieres. This composer is
the most important Kronenburg late-romanticist, whose seventh
symphony of 1925 incorporated the country's national anthem. Hansema's music is
strongly influenced by Frama and Gustav Mahler, but has a unique
sound that many have tried to imitate without success.
The last well known
romanticist is Hans Aarnouts (1904 - 2002). He had to spend most of
his life in a wheelchair, giving him very much time to compose. He
refused to adapt his music to the new styles in music, composing
very many works in an accessible style. Aarnouts is often called
'the Kronenburg (Johann) Strauß', although he never wrote any short
orchestral waltzes or polkas. Especially Jan Ylieen could anger
himself about Aarnouts, not because of his conservative music style,
but mainly because of the popularity Aarnouts did manage to gain in
Kronenburg. Pure jealousy, of course.
Jan-Willem Ripperda (1871
- 1959) marks the border between romanticism and avant-garde.
Ripperda is a much favoured composer among music theorists and music
historians. His scores are most often just read and are seldom
performed in public, due to logistical reasons: in Kronenburg are
very few spaces that can host a complete Ripperda-instrumentation.
His symphonic tableau 'The Tower of Bable', op. 18, from 1924 is so
huge - the piece lasts approximately six hours - that theorists will
not be finished trying to explain the piece. Ripperda wrote, amongst
other thing, ten symphonies, the last seven of which have never been
performed yet; these have an average length of three or four hours.
The oldest composer writing
avant-garde music is Hubert Brogmann Wess (1883 - 1970). His
successors are, amongst others, Peter Hejkens, Ben Vikkens, Lars
Larsson (not to be mixed up with the Swedish composer of the same
name), Durk Eisses, Klaas Gjaltema and partly Hendrik Ame, who
confessed himself to dodecaphonism in the late nineties. Nowadays however
serial and minimal music are rising styles in Kronenburg, influenced
by foreign composers like Philip Glass, John Adams and others. Bruno
Gijssen, who broke through in 2003 with his 'Historia Mundi' for
solo singers, choir, organ and orchestra, is the main champion of
minimalism in Kronenburg. Followers of composers like Arvo Pärt and
Wojciech Kilar are Karel Droge, Bjorn Oldens, and partly Emma
Dijkstra-Juwes, who also writes music in the tradition of the
Seppian School.
A number of Kronenburg
composers don't fit in specific styles, like Christopher Lenferink,
who on one hand seems to follow a highly developed avant-garde
style, but on the other hand strangely puts late-romantic
ingredients in a rather peculiar mixture of tonal and semi-tonal
tapestry of sounds. Among his latest works are the large scaled
'Ecossaises' for piano and orchestra.
The works of Johannes
Dekker combine all possible styles. His first symphony was a chaos
of independent voices playing at the same time; his second is
largely romantic and inspired by popular melodies from the AGL
member states. His second string quartet on the other hand is
minimalist. The last years he seems to have found a steady style,
his opera 'King Midas' and the piece 'Hierarchy' for two pianos and
orchestra being excellent examples of his craftsmanship. Dekker
often provokes with politically influenced pieces, such as the opera
'Ühler', after the controversial former secretary general Marij
Ühler of the AGL.
Other forms of art
Kronenburg has known a number of prominent architects, but they
work mainly abroad. Buildings designed by Jannes Feenstra (*1954)
are very popular in the United States and Canada, and the gardens of
Magda Kloosterhoff (*1961) can be found in Venezuela and Brazil.
Kronenburg architects who were popular within Kronenburg, can be
found in the past and mainly as city architects. The architect of
the former houses of parliament, Gerard Klein Kambuer (1838 - 1915),
was one of the greatest architects the country has known, but also
Marcus Nanne Wolverink (1866 - 1939), who has designed workman's
houses in Waterburg and Groningen. For the construction of the new
town of Nijensteijn (1999) the Kronenburg government has been
working with Onno Nijensteijn (*1947), the architect who gave his
name to the town. He has already developed plans for some future new
cities, but lack of money seems to have put an early halt to the
building of these cities. Two artists who must also be mentioned
here, are the architect, graphic designer and painter Jan van
Oostrum (*1925) and Piet Tilman (1896 - 1974). Van Oostrum uses
rather modern techniques in his work, which includes some striking
kiosks in the city centre of Alexanderstad. Tilman is responsible
for the Koninginnebruggen (Queen's Bridges) that connect the
Westereiland to the city of Marianne.
There haven't been many
painters and draughtsmen in Kronenburg. Jan van Oostrum's paintings
Stilleven in een Metrostation (1969) and Adamsappels
(1984) enjoy some popularity. He mainly paints on request, and he
can be considered as one of the richer painters of North America.
Works by the impressionist Ewout Jolmes (1847 - 1903) and the
avant-garde Niels-Aage Mikkelsen (1881 - 1924) can be found in
almost every art museum in Alexanderstad, Friescheburg and
Oosterland.
Kronenburg hasn't produced
a lot of literature either. The country and its writers are
officially speaking and writing Dutch, but they are largely
overshadowed by the Dutch speaking communities in Europe. In 1994
the Kronenburg government decided not to adopt the new spelling of
Dutch, which made matters worse. Some brave writers have tried to
break trough, such as Ruud Bouwman (1924 - 1995) and Willem Janssema
(*1941), the latter of whom doesn't seem to have written anything
since 1981. Mery Dantuma (1945 - 2000) was somewhat successful with
her historical novels. Increasingly popular is literature in the
Kronenburg language, mainly by Frederik Bunnema (*1965) and Hink
Siemons (*1947). The latter has designed an official spelling for
the Kronenburg language. The best-known book by a Kronenburg writer
(in Dutch) is the novel Barbarism (1840) by Lodewijk Barthels
(1789 - 1855), in which he questioned slavery in the United States.
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