Jacqueline Oskamp: ‘Louis had that mischievous image, but behind it was a complex personality full of contradictions.’

Music publicist Jacqueline Oskamp has been working on her long-awaited biography of Louis Andriessen for over seven years. On 7 June, the time has come, when she will present the 495-page book Groots is de liefde during Dag in de Branding. For the occasion, Oskamp was invited to curate the 73rd edition. Even more so, she will receive the Theo Bruins Prize from the municipality of The Hague in the afternoon for her exceptional services to Dutch music.

First female laureate
‘That news came as a complete surprise,’ laughs Oskamp on a rainy April afternoon. ‘Of course I knew about the existence, but not that the prize was also awarded to writers and publicists.’ Indeed, anyone who takes a look at the list of laureates will mainly see the names of musicians. Conductor and composer Reinbert de Leeuw, pianist Gerard Bouwhuis and conductor and orchestra leader Wim Boerman preceded Oskamp. ‘That is a nice list to be among’, she agrees. ‘And of course I consider it an honour to be the first woman to receive the prize. It fits into a broader trend, in which female experts are becoming increasingly self-evident. I can only applaud that development.’

Life story
Speaking of expertise: in recent years Oskamp has written extensively and frequently about Dutch music. In 2003 Radicaal gewoon (Radically ordinary), a collection of interviews with eleven leading Dutch composers, was published, followed in 2011 by Onder stroom (Under current), an extensive sketch of electronic music in the Netherlands. In the well-received Een behoorlijk kabaal (2016), Oskamp placed 20th-century Dutch music in a broad cultural-social context.
For Groots is de liefde (Love is an excellent thing), she chose a different perspective: ‘It is a biography, so I explicitly wanted to tell Louis’ life story. Where did he come from? Why was he the way he was? And of course: How does that story relate to his music? That theme turned out to be extensive and layered enough. Especially in the case of Louis. He had a gi-gan-tic archive, you know. So the challenge was to make choices, not to take side paths, let alone side paths of a cultural-historical nature.’

Speaking for herself
For her research, Oskamp traveled twice to Basel, where a large part of Andriessen’s private archive has been housed at the Paul Sacher Stiftung since 2008. She viewed the remaining material during the corona period at Andriessen’s work address on the Keizersgracht. Oskamp: ‘In addition, I also spoke to a lot of people. Family, friends, fellow students, especially about his youth and time at the Conservatory. But I actually wanted to let Louis speak for himself as much as possible, through his letters and notes.’
What emerged from all that material? Oskamp: ‘To begin with, his life and work are much more closely intertwined than I had initially thought. Louis held the view that the work stands on its own, separate from the life and character of the creator. But when I was working on this book, I began to see more and more clearly that what was going on in his life did indeed end up in his music.’
Oskamp mentions the opera La Commedia as an example. ‘That work dates from the period when Jeanette [Yanikian, Andriessen’s wife, ed.] was already ill. He then writes about it that the music is about her. Not literally, of course, but the piece does touch on the theme that was playing a role in his life at that time: growing old, dying. When he later starts a relationship with Monica [Germino, ed.], the love between an old man and a young woman suddenly becomes a theme. In Anaïs Nin, for example. Or in La Giro, a piece about Vivaldi and his supposed love for a young singer.’

Personality full of contrasts
What Oskamp also wanted to highlight in her book is the layered nature of Andriessens as a person. ‘Louis of course had that tough image. Mischievous, lots of bravado, even a bit of a workerist, certainly in the seventies. But behind that was a complex personality full of contradictions. Yes, he was the internationally renowned composer, but as the youngest of the family he always remained a little boy. Yes, he was an unprecedented talent, but at his core he also turned out to be an insecure person who continued to yearn for confirmation throughout his life. And although he profiled himself as a modernist, he was never able to completely break away from his father’s Catholic soundscape. That is clear from Mysteriën, the piece he made for the Concertgebouw Orchestra.’
The legacy of his father Hendrik also resonates in the title, says Oskamp. ‘Groots is de liefde’ is the translation of Magna res est amor, a song by his father. It has always remained one of Louis’ favourite pieces. The title actually has a threefold meaning. It refers to Louis’ love for music, and his love for his family. But also to his turbulent love life. These are three themes that run like threads through the book.’

Concepts and literature
Andriessen himself runs like a thread through the programme that Oskamp curated for the 73rd edition of Dag in de Branding. For example, two pieces by him will be played during the book presentation: the unapproachable Hout and the lyrical Dances. Oskamp: ‘Those pieces show two very different sides of him. On the one hand, the tough Louis, on the other, his melancholic side.’
Speaking of contrasts.
Another line is the thinking in clearly defined concepts that formed an important starting point for Andriessen’s work. The opening concert in which Jochem van Tol and his Paper Ensemble explore the rustling sound possibilities of paper, ties in seamlessly with this, according to Oskamp. This also applies to the concert in which composer-in-residence Myrtó Nizami presents the final part of the philosophical performance Prima Materia. Andriessen’s love of literature resonates in the new project of the New European Ensemble (NEuE). For the occasion, the company collaborated with Scottish author Ali Smith. Four female composers wrote new work at the request of the NEuE, inspired by the four seasonal novels that Smith has published since 2016.

View the full program, compiled by Jacqueline Oskamp here. Info and tickets.